These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, pumpkin muffins stuffed with sweetened cream cheese and garnished with pumpkin seeds. Just like Starbucks, but better!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are a yummy breakfast treat that I could enjoy year round! But, there is just something about enjoying a warm pumpkin muffin on a crisp fall morning that I can’t get enough of!
I’ve noticed over the years that a lot of muffins are sometimes pretty dense. Not this muffin recipe, these are light and moist and that cream cheese filling just happens to set them over the top!
Garnished with pumpkin seeds these are just like your favorite Starbucks recipe, but one that you can make in the comforts of your own home!
I love when I am able to make some of my favorite restaurant recipes at home, it saves me time and money and who doesn’t love that?
These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are a staple around here and we make them at least twice a month, they are a great breakfast or even dessert.
If you are a fan of pumpkin, cheesecake and muffins then this recipe is perfect for you! They are easy, tasty and absolutely one of the best things you will taste.
Some of my other favorite muffin recipes we have on our site include: Chocolate Chip Muffins, Best Blueberry Muffins and Apple Banana Oat Muffins.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With readily available ingredients, these bake up quickly.
- The cream cheese center really offsets the muffins and gives them an over the top flavor and texture.
- These can easily be doubled and saved for later consumption.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
All-purpose flour
Granulated sugar
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Pumpkin spice
Pumpkin puree
Unsalted butter
Vanilla bean paste or extract
Egg
Pumpkin seeds, optional
Cream cheese
Milk
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Stir to combine, set aside.
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In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, melted butter, vanilla, and egg.
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Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour the wet mixture into the bowl. Stir with a large spoon until just combined and there are no dry pockets.
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Fill 12 prepared muffin tins evenly with the muffin mixture. Next, make the cream cheese filling.
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Place all of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix on medium speed until smooth.
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Place mix into a piping bag or a ziplock bag and cut off a small amount off one corner. Place the piping bag into the muffins one at a time and fill insides with the cream cheese. Evenly distribute cream cheese mixture along with all the muffins, leaving a little dollop on top of each.
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Take the pumpkin seeds and evenly distribute them around the outsides of the batter if desired.
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Bake for 17-19 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the bread part of the muffins comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the tin for 10 minutes, take them out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
DO I HAVE TO USE PUMPKIN SEEDS?
No you do not have to use pumpkin seeds, to make them like Starbucks then the pumpkin seeds are needed. But they are more or less just for decoration.
We personally love eating pumpkin seeds so we love them in this recipe, but you can absolutely leave them off if you are not a fan or can’t find any!
CAN I MAKE THESE WITHOUT THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING?
Absolutely! If you just want a plain Pumpkin Muffin then you can leave out the cream cheese filling. But trust me the filling is totally worth it!
CAN I SWIRL THE CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE?
If you want the cream cheese mixture throughout these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins you absolutely can take a toothpick and swirl it around.
This will make the cream cheese throughout the muffins instead of having it dolloped right in the middle, This is a personal choice so you can do what you’d like.
HOW TO STORE:
These can be stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag in the refrigerator where they will keep for up to 3-4 days.
You can also freeze these. Take any leftover muffins and place them on a sheet tray after they have cooled all the way.
Wrap the entire sheet tray with plastic wrap three times all around. Making sure they are completely sealed. Then, just pop it in the freezer and let them freeze completely. These will keep in the freezer for about 3 months.
Take out the desired amount of muffins you want to defrost, let them sit on the counter until they reach room temperature and voila!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Make sure that you use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- These can be doubled or tripled.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- The pumpkin seeds are optional.
- You can swirl the cream cheese mixture through the muffin if you’d like instead of placing it in the center.
If you love copycat recipes like me that are super easy to make, then you have to make a batch of my Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
- Pumpkin Crunch Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes
- Chocolate Glazed Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
If you’ve tried these PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (Starbucks Copycat!)
Ingredients
- 1½ Cup all purpose flour
- ¾ Cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1½ Cup pure pumpkin puree
- ¼ Cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish optional
Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Stir to combine, set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, melted butter, vanilla, and egg.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour the wet mixture into the bowl. Stir with a large spoon until just combined and there are no dry pockets.
- Fill 12 prepared muffin tins evenly with the muffin mixture. Next, make the cream cheese filling.
Cream Cheese Filling
- Place all of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix on medium speed until smooth.
- Place mix into a piping bag or a ziplock bag and cut off a small amount off one corner. Place the piping bag into the muffins one at a time and fill insides with the cream cheese. Evenly distribute cream cheese mixture along with all the muffins, leaving a little dollop on top of each.
- Take the pumpkin seeds and evenly distribute them around the outsides of the batter if desired.
- Bake for 17-19 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the bread part of the muffins comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the tin for 10 minutes, take them out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Make sure that you use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- These can be doubled or tripled.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- The pumpkin seeds are optional.
- You can swirl the cream cheese mixture through the muffin if you'd like instead of placing it in the center.
Comments & Reviews
Lev says
So delicious! And much better than the Starbucks version which is great but overly sweet.
Edith says
So so good, my husband loved them. Thank you so much for this recipe. ❤
Alissa says
Can i use canned pumpkin instead of puree?
Dana DeVolk says
Yes, however, there may be additional spices and sweeteners in it, so keep that in mind.
Savannah says
I made these by the recipe and the muffin that meets the cream cheese didn’t cook. It was this way in each of my muffins and I even put them back into the oven trying to cook the very inside but no luck. What am I doing wrong?
Dana DeVolk says
There really is no reason I can think of that the batter would be raw there, and never cook. Maybe it just looks moister from the cream cheese in that area, is that possible?
Rachel says
Hey Dana, This exact recipe was posted a month after yours on thecookinchicks.com and claimed as their recipe. Not cool!! These muffins are the bomb!!
Katrina says
Turned out super moist and soft and delicious. Easy to follow recipe. I think I’ll be making these all season! I too was spending too much at starbucks but no longer!
Vicki says
Absolutely the best!!!! I doubled the cream cheese filling, OMG!!!!! You are fantastic. Thank you for your recipes.
Pumpkin Spice says
These were so good!! They didn’t last long in my house at all! I doubled the cream cheese recipe and it was like a filling and a topping. So good!
Jana says
Looks delicious, would I be able to substitute the All Purpose Flour with Almond Flour instead?
Dana DeVolk says
I’ve never tried so I can’t say for sure, sorry!
Jean Waibel says
when muffins are cool ,try dipping tops in melted butter and cinnamon sugar
Sally says
How many eggs do we add..?
Dana DeVolk says
the recipe lists 1 egg
Kim says
It is soooo delicious!!! Thank you for a great recipe!
Trina Letawsky says
Just made these exactly as the recipe states and the batter was extremely thick and the muffins have an odd consistency. Definitely not like Starbucks.
Barb says
I made these today and they were easy and fabulous! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Jake says
Loved these! Did vanilla bean pods and the flecks in the cream cheese added a lovely aesthetic touch.
Also my first time piping into batter – next time I will give it a stronger initial squeeze so the cream cheese gets all the way to the bottom of the pan – a lot of mine only got halfway through.
Tessa Maurer says
I have not tried these muffins yet. I made them for thanksgiving. I will say the batter seemed very dry and it has a lot of cracks in it. I ended up adding a little milk and butter because it was so dry. I’m hoping they are good. I will return to let you know how it goes. Note: I did double the recipe and doubled the cream cheese recipe 4x because it wasn’t enough.