Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin season is here! Ah, fall. That special time of year when pumpkin-flavored everything stretches as far as the eye can see. If you’re not a pumpkin-lover this time of year is the stuff that nightmares are made of. But the rest of us have been anxiously waiting until it’s OK to bust out the fall decorations and pumpkin recipes. Like these pumpkin cream cheese muffins.

I love my pumpkin bread recipe and make it every year. But this year I wanted to get a little creative and try something different.

Pumpkin and cream cheese go together like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend (#couplegoals). I thought about doing a cream cheese frosting. But frosting can get messy and I’m really not that good at making it look pretty. That’s more in Alex’s wheelhouse than mine.

So I went with a cream cheese filling instead because it’s like a happy surprise just waiting for you in each one.

Aislynn needed some “Grandma time” a few weeks ago so we gave this recipe a test run. There is nothing that kid likes more than a project and especially if it involves being in the kitchen. We learned a few things during the process, like putting less batter in the bottom and more on top of the filling layer.

I made a few adjustments and whipped up another batch and oh my goodness, CAN I JUST TELL YOU HOW GOOD THESE PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS TURNED OUT? Yes, I’m type-shouting because they are so yummy!!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Jump to Recipe

These are really easy to make, which is always high on my list of priorities. You won’t need a mixer for the pumpkin batter itself but I’d recommend using one for the cream cheese filling so it’s nice and smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°.

For the filling:

Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla on medium speed until it’s smooth.

Next, in a large bowl mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, sugar, and water together until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. I always use a whisk for the dry ingredients because it helps to really combine it all together and a little air to the mixture.

Now slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir until just blended.

Line a muffin tin with either paper liners or silicone baking cups (I have these and love them). If you’re using paper liners, lightly spray them with cooking spray. It doesn’t take much but it makes it easier to get the muffin out and prevents sticking. I had some paper liners left over from Aislynn’s birthday so that’s what I used this time but normally I love using the silicone baking cups.

Here’s the part that took some trial and error. Fill each muffin cup about 1/3 full with batter. You want the bottom to be completely covered but the cup shouldn’t be too full.

Put a spoonful of the cream cheese filling in the center of each cup.

Now cover the filling layer with more pumpkin batter and fill the cup. Alex taught me this is the way to properly fill a muffin tin. When the student teaches the teacher.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until muffins are rounded and gorgeous.

Cool on a wire rack or until you can’t wait any longer to try them!