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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin cream cheese muffins with a sweet cream cheese swirl and cinnamon streusel. Baked to a tall, domed golden-orange top, with a tender pumpkin crumb and a toothpick-clean 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: 310
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 the pan and filling
  1. Preheat oven to 375F, then line a 12-cup muffin tin. Visual cue: the oven indicator should fully reach 375F before you start filling.
  2. Beat the cream cheese filling until smooth, then refrigerate. Visual cue: the mixture should look glossy and free of lumps.
Make streusel and batter
  1. Make streusel by rubbing cold butter into the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon until crumbly. Visual cue: you should see small, sandy clumps rather than a paste.
  2. Whisk muffin dry ingredients together. Visual cue: the spices and leaveners should be evenly speckled through the flour.
  3. Whisk muffin wet ingredients together separately. Visual cue: the eggs, pumpkin puree, sour cream, vanilla, and oil should look uniform.
  4. Fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Visual cue: stop mixing as soon as no dry streaks remain to avoid tough muffins.
Fill and bake
  1. Fill each muffin cup halfway with batter. Visual cue: create a shallow base layer you can top with filling.
  2. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese filling to the center of each muffin, then cover with remaining batter. Visual cue: the cream cheese should be mostly hidden under the batter.
  3. Top each muffin with streusel. Visual cue: you should see a visible cinnamon crumb layer across the domes.
  4. Bake at 375F for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Visual cue: tops will be golden-orange and spring back lightly.

Notes

Pro tip: keep the streusel butter cold so it stays crumbly instead of melting into the muffins. Store baked muffins in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days; rewarm in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Freeze baked muffins up to 2 months. For a dietary swap, use a plant-based cream cheese in the filling for a lactose-free option (check consistency so it still softens easily).