Super fluffy pumpkin muffins stuffed with a sweet cream cheese filling in the center! They taste like fall in a dessert and it’s unbelieveable how moist they turn out. The creaminess of the filling and the crunch from the pumpkin seeds is just the perfect combination of texture and flavors!
There was one year in college where I lived off these muffins for a solid three months. I would go to Starbucks right across from campus every morning right before my class to study and of course order a pumpkin cream cold brew and a pumpkin cream cheese muffins. Definitely not a cost-effective habit so of course I had to make my own version of both recipes. I shared these muffins last year on Youtube and now it’s finally making its way to Youtube with a minor tweak here and there! Let’s make it.
The Cream Cheese Filling
The first step in making this recipe is preparing the cream cheese filling for the center of these muffins. It only requires four ingredients and about 5 minutes of time.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure it is at room temperature or softened. Otherwise, the filling will be clumpy rather than smooth.
- White Granulated Sugar: Unlike cream cheese frosting which typically uses powdered sugar, we will be using granulated white sugar.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor purposes, of course!
- All Purpose Flour: This helps to thicken up the filling and provide structure so it doesn’t deflate.
Just combine it all together using a paddle attachment on a stand mixer or use a hand mixer until completely smooth. Don’t over mix it otherwise it will be too airy and deflate later in the oven.
Now just set it aside to work on the batter!
The Muffin Batter
My favorite part about this recipe other than them being yummy of course is that they’re actually pretty easy to make. The batter can be made in one large bowl so that means less dishes for us!
Start out by adding all the wet ingredients to a large mixing bowl. That includes the following:
- granulated white sugar
- light brown sugar
- large eggs
- vegetable oil
- whole milk
- pumpkin puree
- vanilla extract
Whisk together until completely smooth.
Now we’ll add all the dry ingredients to the wet all in the same bowl. That includes the following:
- all purpose flour
- pumpkin spice
- cinnamon
- baking soda
- baking powder
- salt
Whisk together vigorously or use a hand mixer to combine until you have a smooth batter consistency. Now that the filling and batter are both prepared, the muffins can be assembled.
Assembling the Muffins
To assemble the muffins, you’ll need a cupcake tray. This recipe makes about 16 muffins. You can either use two trays or just one tray but bake in two rounds.
Fill the cupcake tray with muffin liners. Add enough batter to each so that it almost full, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to the top. If you don’t fill them up enough, you just won’t get that signature muffin top look but it will still be fine overall.
Then add the cream cheese filling to a piping bag fitted with a tip. If you don’t have a piping tip, you can go without one. If you don’t have piping bags, just use a ziplock bag and cut the tip off.
Insert the bag in the center of the cupcake and fill it to the top with the cream cheese filling. Repeat with the rest. Then add pumpkin seeds around the filling and pop in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
Once it’s out of the oven allow it to cool to room temperature and then enjoy!
If you tried this recipe and loved it, drop by down below and let me know how you liked it with a rating and comment! Feel free to also leave a question there about this recipe and I’ll get right back to it.
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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
CUPCAKE BATTER
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
OTHER
- pumkin seeds, chopped
Instructions
MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING
- Beat together cream cheese, white sugar, vanilla extract, and all purpose flour using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or use a hand mixer for about 2 minutes until it’s smooth. Set aside. Don’t beat too much or else it will be too airy and deflate later.
MAKE THE BATTER
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- To a large mixing bowl, add all the wet ingredients – white granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, whole milk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Whisk until completely smooth.
- To the same bowl, add all the dry ingredients – all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk vigorously together until you have a smooth batter with no clumps.
- Prepare a cupcake tray with liners.
- Fill each cupcake/muffin about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Since these are muffins, you want to almost fill it up so that when they bake, you get a signature muffin top look.
- Transfer the cream cheese filling to a piping bag with a tip.
- Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake and fill it to the top with the filling. Repeat with the rest.
- Sprinkle pumpkin seeds around the corners of the muffin.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Take out of the oven gently and allow it to cool for half and hour before enjoying!
Notes
- The flour in the cream cheese helps to stabilize it so it doesn’t sink after baking!
- Store these muffins in the refrigerator in an air-tight container since the cream cheese filling has dairy in it and needs to stay cold.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you make this recipe, leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out. I love hearing from you!
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