Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Soft, spiced pumpkin muffins with a creamy cheesecake center. Baked hot then finished low for a bakery-style dome.
Equipment
- 12-cup standard muffin pan
- Paper muffin liners
- Two large mixing bowls
- One small mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- Cookie scoop or tablespoon
- Toothpick or cake tester
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
Pumpkin Muffin Batter
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- ½ cup neutral vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 ounces full-fat brick cream cheese softened
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Optional Crumb Topping
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Beat cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Chill in the freezer while preparing the batter.
- For the topping, stir brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter together, then mix in flour with a fork until crumbly. Refrigerate.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl.
- Whisk brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, oil, milk, and vanilla in a separate bowl until smooth.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold just until flour disappears. Rest batter 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Line muffin pan with paper liners.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each liner. Add 1 tablespoon of chilled cream cheese filling to the center. Cover with more batter, filling liners near the top.
- Sprinkle crumb topping over each muffin, if using.
- Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes. Lower oven to 350°F (175°C) without opening the door. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the side comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
Chill the cream cheese filling until firm before filling the muffins — this keeps it centered instead of sinking or spreading into the batter.
Approximate Nutrition (per muffin): Calories: 245 | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Sodium: 220mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation only.