These are the original swirled pumpkin cream cheese muffins with sweet cream cheese that melts into the tops of moist pumpkin muffins as they bake. Ready in just 30 minutes, make a double batch because these muffins are guaranteed to be a new family favorite!
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Test Kitchen Review
See what our test kitchen had to say!
Brittany
Super moist with tons of spiced pumpkin muffin flavor, we love these easy muffins! Make sure you let your cream cheese come to room temperature before starting, the swirl was lumpy in my first batch because I did not wait. They were great warm and at room temperature, but I personally love them best chilled straight out of the fridge!
Why I Love These Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
Don’t worry, while I did update the photos, this is still the original recipe that went viral and made everyone start swirling cream cheese into the tops of their pumpkin muffins! I make these bad boys every. Single. Year. I don’t think my kids (or Jorge) would forgive me if I didn’t make at least one batch in the fall. Judging by the amount of glowing reviews these pumpkin cream cheese muffins have received over the years, I think it’s safe to say they’ve become a tradition in many homes, and here’s why:
- Impressive: If you are looking for a touch of sophistication, these swirled beauties are sure to impress with thick ribbons of cream cheese that melt right into the top of the pumpkin muffins as they bake.
- Quick and Easy: These muffins come together in just 30 minutes using budget-friendly pantry staples you likely already have on hand.
- Extra Moist: These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are pure melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Just like my pumpkin bread recipe, they use an entire can of pumpkin to keep them moist, with no leftover pumpkin to worry about.
- Crowd-Pleaser: You might want to make a double batch, because these pumpkin cheesecake muffins disappear FAST!
If you love pumpkin as much as I do make sure to also check out my cinnamon-sugar donut pumpkin muffins, sweet pumpkin streusel muffins or these pumpkin oatmeal muffins.
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this recipe for cream cheese pumpkin muffins. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Flour: All-purpose flour works best! Be sure to fluff the flour, then measure it by spooning it into a measuring cup. Don’t dip the cup straight into a packed bag of flour, or you will make overly dense muffins!
- Pumpkin Puree: I use a 15 oz can of pumpkin. Make sure it is pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling which is already sweetened.
- Sugar: I use a combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar for the best consistency and sweetness, but you can use just one kind of sugar if you prefer.
- Vegetable Oil: For an extra-moist muffin I recommend using oil, however you can use melted and slightly cooled butter instead.
- Cream Cheese: Use full-fat cream cheese (not low fat) for the best taste and texture.
- Egg Yolk: This is used for richness and to help with the texture of the cream cheese swirl.
- Pumpkin Spice: To make your own, combine 4 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp allspice. If you don’t have all the ingredients on hand, you can also use just cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg instead!
How to Make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
I like to have everything I need measured and ready to go before I start baking! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Whisk to combine the pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
- Combine: Slowly whisk the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, until there are no lumps. Do not over stir, just until the batter comes together. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4ths of the way full.
- Cream Cheese Mixture: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Swirl: Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture and use a toothpick to swirl it into the batter. You can also just drop it by rounded spoonfuls to the centers of the muffin batter, swirling is optional!
- Bake: Bake muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the pumpkin party comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs stuck to it.
Chef’s Tips & Variations
- Caution: Don’t overfill cups with muffin batter as the cream cheese dollop will make up some of the volume.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: It’s important for the eggs and cream cheese to be at room temperature so they combine smoothly and the cream cheese mixture swirls easily into the top of the muffins. To speed up the process, eggs can rest in a bowl of warm water and cream cheese can be cut into small cubes.
- Don’t Over-Mix: Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients gently, just until combined. If you over stir the batter, it can overdevelop the gluten and cause dry muffins.
- Dollop: Don’t have time to swirl the cream cheese into the top of each muffin? Try adding a dollop of the cream cheese filling to the center of the batter instead.
- Add Nuts: You can stir chopped pecans or walnuts into the muffing batter or sprinkle the tops with pepita seeds, also known as pumpkin seeds.
- Bake A Loaf: If you would prefer to bake a loaf of bread instead of muffins, head over to my pumpkin cream cheese bread. It’s the same recipe, but baked into a loaf!
Yield: 18 standard muffins
Best Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
⭐️Test Kitchen Approved!⭐️These decadent swirled pumpkin cream cheese muffins are topped with sweet cream cheese that melts into the tops of the pumpkin muffins as they bake. Ready in just 30 minutes, this moist pumpkin muffin recipe will be a new family favorite!
Ingredients
Muffin:
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil, or melted and cooled butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Swirl:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Place paper baking cups into muffin pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture, until there are no lumps. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture and use a toothpick to swirl it into the batter. This will not look smooth, but it will bake up much prettier. You can see exactly how I did this in the video below. You can also just drop it by rounded spoonfuls to the centers of the muffin batter, swirling is optional!
- Bake muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the pumpkin part comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs stuck to it. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve warm or let cool completely to store.
Video
Notes
Storage: Store these pumpkin cream cheese swirl muffins in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I personally like these muffins best served at room temperature or slightly chilled, so I take them out of the fridge for a few minutes before serving to allow them to warm up.
No Pumpkin Spice? Make your own by combining 4 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp allspice.
Bake A Loaf: If you would prefer to bake a loaf of bread instead of muffins, head over to my pumpkin cream cheese bread. It’s the same recipe, but baked into a loaf!
Don’t Over-Mix: Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients gently, just until combined. If you over stir the batter, it can overdevelop the gluten and cause dry muffins.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 muffin, Calories: 241kcal, Carbohydrates: 32g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.04g, Cholesterol: 42mg, Sodium: 176mg, Potassium: 98mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 3888IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 32mg, Iron: 1mg
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I am going to try these with a brown sugar streusel topping…
Let us know how it turns out!
these muffins ARE SO GOOD. best pumpkin muffins i’ve had. i am going to try and make a healthy oat breakfast pumpkin muffin out of this recipe. hoping it works out bc these are delicious.
Would almond extract be good in the cream cheese mixture? Went to make the cream cheese mixture and realized I only had about 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract left and almond is the only other extract I have
Hmm, I would just skip adding more extract. I love almond extract, but I’m not sure how well it would pair with the pumpkin. If you ended up trying it though, I’d love to know how it turned out!
Can I freeze these?
Hi Christy, yes you can! They are best fresh, but still good once thawed again! I wrap them individually with plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer safe storage bag. Thaw them in the refrigerator before serving for best results.
[…] Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins […]
We LOVE sweetened cream cheese and wondered if doubling the amount would work? Might need less pumpkin batter and more muffin cups. But would the cook time change? Maybe try it in a loaf pan first?
Hi Coni! They could hold a little more, but not all *that* much more as structurally the muffin wouldn’t be able to support all the cream cheese. If you want to add more, I think more than swirling it, it would do better if you just dropped big spoonfuls in the center of the muffin. Meaning to add half the batter, then a big scoop of the cream cheese filling, then top it with more muffin batter. Hope this helps!
This recipe is a keeper. So moist. I will be making these again.
These are delicious! They’re so moist, and it’s a pumpkin pie! So good!
We absolutely loved these muffins! Perfect cream cheese to muffin ratio and the muffin itself wasn’t dry. Added this recipe to my book to make again! Thanks for the recipe!
Made these this morning. Astounding. Having difficulty resisting a second muffin before they even cool down.
Except for not being able to freeze these….they’re ABSOLUTELY perfect! Thanks for the fabulous recipe from this “non- baker”!
This recipe is the best!! I made it a ton of times now. Definitely try this recipe, my family and friends all loves it!
In my earlier comment, I forgot to mention that I use half apple sauce, half oil. I’ve also made these using full oil, and personally can’t tell the difference. And no complaints from anyone else I’ve shared with. Thanks again!
I’ve been making this since 2018 or 2019 (can’t remember), and they’re delicious.
I usually double the recipe and bake it in a rectangular 9×13 pyrex glass dish for about an hour–sometimes a minute or two more. I always check doneness first, and adjust my time accordingly. Also cover the top with foil about halfway through baking to keep it from getting overly brown/burnt.
Perfect, thank you!
If you’re searching for a recipe, your search ends here. These are SO good!!
I added a dash of maple extract to the batter, which was delicious. And I used brown sugar for cream cheese mixture (I ran out of white sugar). These were a hit! Will definitely be making again
I’ve made it in cupcakes, and I also made it in a loaf. It’s delicious, moist and better than anything you can buy outside the home. Thank you for the recipe.
These muffins (they’re a little closer to cupcakes honestly haha) are amazing. I decided to only use 1/2 c of brown sugar and 1/2 c of white sugar for the muffins, which is plenty sweet. I also used a little bit of anise and cardamom (scant 1/4 tsp each) which made for an interesting spicy flavor!
I did notice that they took about ~25 minutes to fully bake, but maybe that’s my oven. The cream cheese filling is seriously delicious, tastes just like pumpkin cheesecake. I may use more of the filling next time. Super easy recipe, house smells really pumpkin-y and delicious. 10/10, I am keeping this recipe on hand lol. Well done.
I am doing my best not to eat more than one muffin a day lol.
I love this recipe, delicious.
Thanks
Very tasty! I had only 1 cup of pumpkin puree and made up the rest with leftover homemade butternut squash puree – even though it was lumpier than ready-made puree, the overall muffin texture was still just fine. I wish I had kept beating the cream cheese mixture for longer as it was hard to swirl in, but I made do with two toothpicks in an egg beater pattern and while they don’t look as nice, the taste is still good.
Is it really a tablespoon of vanilla extract for the muffins? Not a teaspoon?
Yup, I really use a tablespoon. You can use a teaspoon if you prefer.