Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
Simple pumpkin muffins topped with cinnamon streusel and filled with sweetened cream cheese. The perfect fall treat for pumpkin-lovers!
It’s officially PSL season, and these Pumpkin Muffins with cream cheese filling are a must-bake for pumpkin-lovers. Topped with cinnamon streusel and filled with sweetened cream cheese these muffins are full of fall flavours. Perfect for brunch or a morning break with a cup of coffee or a mug of milky tea.
Why you’ll love these pumpkin cream cheese muffins
- Perfectly spiced with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon give these muffins that unmistakable pumpkin spice flavour without overpowering the pumpkin.
- Topped with cinnamon sugar streusel. A delicious, buttery, brown sugar crumb topping adds a sweet cinnamon crunch that stands out against the tender, moist muffins.
- Filled with soft, sweetened cream cheese. Softened cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar forms a filling that’s smooth, sweet, tangy, and creamy.
How to make pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Add muffin cup liners to your muffin tin (you can use a standard 12-cup tin or oversized 6-cup tin). In a small bowl, make the streusel topping by mixing all the streusel ingredients together until crumbly.
Next, make the muffin batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (excluding the sugar). In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar with all the wet ingredients until well combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined and all the flour has been incorporated. Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups (a cookie or ice cream scoop works great here).
Sprinkle generously with streusel topping and press it in lightly to keep it from falling off while the muffins rise in the oven.
Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and continue baking for 15-17 minutes for standard-sized muffins (or 22 minutes for oversized), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
While the muffins are cooling, make the cream cheese filling. Using electric beaters or a stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar together until creamy and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag. Using a paring knife or an apple corer, cut out a cylinder from the top of each muffin and pipe in the cream cheese filling. Enjoy!
More pumpkin muffin success tips
- Use 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. These two canned pumpkin products look remarkably similar and are typically right next to each other on most store shelves. However, pumpkin pie filling includes added sugar, spices, and thickeners which we’re not looking to add here, so make sure you’ve got 100% pure pumpkin before you get started.
- Make your own pumpkin pie spice. For homemade pumpkin pie spice, combine 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon + 2 teaspoons ground ginger + 1½ teaspoons ground nutmeg + 1 teaspoon each ground allspice + ground cloves. This will give you plenty of pumpkin pie spice for all your fall baking needs.
- Try these easy ingredient swaps. Whether it’s for health reasons or because it’s what you have on-hand, you can easily swap vegetable oil for melted coconut oil in this recipe, and use unsweetened soy milk in place of whole dairy milk.
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If you’re looking for more fall baking recipes, don’t miss these chewy ginger molasses cookies, these soft and fluffy cinnamon buns, or the BEST cinnamon snickerdoodles.
Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup whole milk (or unsweetened soy milk)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the streusel topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cream cheese filling
- ½ cup cream cheese, softenend
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin, or oversized 6-cup muffin tin.
- Make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.
- Make the muffin batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar with all the wet ingredients until well combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined and all the flour has been incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups. Sprinkle generously with streusel topping and press it in lightly.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and continue baking for 15-17 minutes for standard-sized muffins or 22 minutes for oversized, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
- Make the cream cheese filling: Using electric beaters or a stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese and confectioners' sugar together until creamy and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag.
- Once the muffins have cooled completely, using a paring knife or an apple corer, cut out a cylinder from the top of each muffin and pipe in cream cheese filling.
