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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin cream cheese muffins with a cinnamon streusel crumble and a cream cheese swirl baked into the tops. Moist pumpkin batter is gently folded and portioned for a domed, golden finish.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 47 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Calories: 360
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For pumpkin muffins
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 0.33 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
For cream cheese filling
  • 6 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
For streusel
  • 0.25 cup flour
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp cold butter

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a 12-cup muffin tin for easy release.
Make the cream cheese filling
  1. Beat cream cheese filling ingredients until smooth, then refrigerate for better swirl control.
Make the cinnamon streusel
  1. Rub cold butter into flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon until crumbly with a sandy texture.
Mix the pumpkin batter
  1. Whisk all dry muffin ingredients together until evenly combined and no streaks of spice remain.
  2. Whisk all wet muffin ingredients together separately until smooth and uniform in color.
  3. Fold wet into dry until just combined, stopping as soon as no dry flour pockets remain.
Fill and top
  1. Fill each muffin cup halfway with pumpkin batter to create room for the filling.
  2. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese filling to the center of each cup without spreading it to the edges.
  3. Cover each with remaining batter so the filling is mostly enclosed.
  4. Top each muffin with streusel, pressing very lightly so it adheres.
Bake
  1. Bake at 375F for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and tops look domed and golden-orange.

Notes

For the neatest cream cheese swirl, refrigerate the filling until you prep the batter, then portion quickly so it stays thick. Store muffins airtight in the fridge up to 4 days; rewarm 10-15 seconds in the microwave. Freeze baked muffins up to 2 months; thaw overnight in the fridge. For a dairy-light option, use reduced-fat cream cheese in the filling (texture may be slightly softer).