Bring on the pumpkin spice! These pumpkin muffins with cream cheese are a must-bake fall treat.
Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese
I’ve been spending time going through the blog archives and decided it’s time to freshen some of the older posts — sort of dust them off, give them a makeover and a chance to shine again. One of the most popular posts on the site happens to be these pumpkin muffins with cream cheese – there’s something about pumpkin that makes people go crazy this time of year. It’s like a pumpkin explosion on Instagram, Pinterest, and my subscription reader right now. So much pumpkin so little time!
So, what better way to celebrate the pumpkin season than with an updated recipe of one of my old favorites? The original was pretty good, but this time around I adjusted some of the original measurements (probably don’t need 4 eggs) and added some additional spices perfect for the season – nutmeg, allspice, and some cinnamon. I didn’t mess with the cream cheese part — each muffin has a amount of the creamy good stuff baked right in.
Tips for Making Pumpkin Muffins
- Use two bowls to make the batter. One to whisk the dry ingredients and another (larger bowl) to combine the wet ingredients. This makes it easier to combine all of the ingredients without overmixing the batter.
- For the cream cheese mixture – it helps to start with room temperature cream cheese, but if you forget to leave it out I recommend using an electric mixer to mix it with the sugar and egg. The beaters will warm up the cream cheese and will make it easier to mix.
- Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan. Each muffin mold should be filled about halfway. Top each with two teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture. I use a long toothpick to mix the cream cheese into the batter.
- The cream cheese will bake into the muffin at the top so, once baked they will be light orange in color with flecks and streaks of cream cheese.
- Cool the muffins in the muffin pan and then run a dinner knife around the edges to loosen it before lifting them out of the pan.
- The muffins will keep well at room temperature for two days. Or, you can keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- You can also freeze the pumpkin muffins. Just pop them in an airtight container and they will keep in the freezer for up to three months or so. You can thaw them at room temperature or pop them in the microwave to warm them up.
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More Muffin Recipes
Looking for more muffins to make for breakfast or snacks? Here are a few more favorite muffin recipes to try:
- Banana Walnut Muffins | These bakery-style muffins are topped with a crunchy streusel topping!
- Peanut Butter and Chocolate Muffins | These muffins are the perfect excuse to have chocolate for breakfast.
- Maple Gingerbread Muffins | These spiced muffins are perfect for the holidays!
Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Bring on the pumpkin spice! These pumpkin muffins with a cream cheese swirl are a must-bake fall treat.
Scale
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
For the Cream Cheese:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prep a standard-sized muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl dry. In a large bowl combine the sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth. If you cream cheese is cold it will be easier to use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese with the other ingredients.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin mold. Top each with about two teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture. Using a toothpick, stir the cream cheese into the muffin batter.
- Bake the muffins for 30-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan (run a dinner knife around the edges to loosen them) before transferring to a baking rack.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 190
- Sugar: 14.6g
- Sodium: 251.2mg
- Fat: 9.2g
- Saturated Fat: 6.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 24.2g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3.5g
- Cholesterol: 56mg
Keywords: pumpkin muffins, muffins with cream cheese, pumpkin spice muffins
The nutrition information in this recipe is an estimate only and was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Denise | Sweet Peas & Saffron says
These muffins look delicious! Bet they are so moist with the pumpkin and cream cheese combo 🙂
Charmin says
Pumpkin and cream cheese? I won’t have to go to Starbucks anymore. 😉
Nicole says
Even though pumpkin season is kind of over, I am still loving pumpkin cookies and muffins. I also love your swirl on top like lulu 🙂
Julia says
Oh, I am a nerd. I made your muffins, but added a streusel topping from another recipe, hense the maple/gingersnap cookie comment. As a side note, try adding a maple streusel topping, it tastes really good 🙂
Julia says
I made these this morning. They are so light and airy. I used some maple cookies instead of gingersnaps. To enhance the maple cookies, I added some maple extract to the batter. I can’t stop eating them. Great recipe!
tiny says
Wow, these look beautiful!
Simply Life says
Wow those muffins sound amazing…as always, gorgeous photos!
Mr. P says
Starting with pumpkin and cream cheese is always good. But I love that you could have this for breakfast too.
They look so appetising.
Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite says
Hey I posted a marbled pumpkin cheesecake on my blog today too!!!! T’is the season indeed!
lululu says
These muffins look so pretty with the swirl on top. The little touch of cream cheese really helps dress up the muffins.
Trix says
Pretty! (As in pretty tempting!)
Divina Pe says
That is a really great way to use leftover pumpkin. Love the finishing touch of cream cheese.
Souffle Bombay says
mmmm these look good, my eight year old in into pumpkin bread. I will whip some up for him. Thanks!
Sook says
How beautiful!
Jessie says
I am in love! I just adore the cream cheese swirl in these great muffins
MaryMoh says
Looks very delicious. I love pumpkin. But never thought of adding cheese. I’m sure that’s a lovely combination of flavour and look. Thanks for sharing.
Drick says
what a great way to enjoy leftovers – and a great recipe.. they look sooooo good to eat!
Marillyn Beard says
Looks great! Love the cream cheese in there… oh yum!
Sanjana says
These look so delicious! Then again anything with pumpkin and cream cheese has gotta be indulgent and totally wonderful! Great job… loving your recipes!
pegasuslegend says
these are gorgeous muffins! they look light and so delicious!