Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins: moist spiced pumpkin muffins are topped with sweet cream cheese that melts into them as they bake and only take 30 minutes!

If you are looking for the best pumpkin muffins ever, get yourself ready, because these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are going to make you fall in love.

The base of these muffins is an extra moist pumpkin muffin that uses an entire can of pumpkin puree. 

Then we top our pumpkin muffins with swirls of sweet cream cheese that melt right into the top as they bake. 

You might want to make a double batch, because these pumpkin cream cheese muffins tend to disappear FAST!

PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH A WHOLE CAN OF PUMPKIN

One goal I have when making a pumpkin recipe is using an entire can of pumpkin, whenever I am able to.

I know we can’t always help it, but I hate when a recipe only uses part of a can of pumpkin puree and I have to open an entire can.

I worked on this pumpkin muffins recipe until it was perfect and uses a whole 15 oz can of canned pumpkin for 18 muffins.

Since we are only making 18 muffins total, each muffin is loaded with lots of real pumpkin flavor! 

PUMPKIN MUFFIN INGREDIENTS:

Like most pumpkin baking recipes, you want to use pure canned pumpkin puree. You do not want to buy a can of pumpkin pie filling. 

I use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar, but you can use all of one or the other if you choose. 

The brown sugar adds a little molasses to the muffins and adds moisture to the muffins and flavor. 

The last key to these epic pumpkin muffins is the tablespoon of pumpkin spice! Don’t skip it!

Or, if you don’t have it on hand already, you can use cinnamon and a healthy pinch of nutmeg in place of the pumpkin spice.

Cream Cheese Swirl

With the cream cheese swirl in these pumpkin muffins, it’s almost like having a cupcake for breakfast…but for a bonus, they self frost themselves as they bake!

To create the cream cheese swirl, you need a few ingredients:

• cream cheese
• granulated sugar
• egg yolk
• vanilla extract

Beat together all ingredients until smooth and then swirl it right into the top of the pumpkin muffin batter before baking.

To swirl it in, I like to drop a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture and then I use a tooth pick to drag the cream cheese towards the edges.

How to store Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These Pumpkin Muffins have to be stored in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese swirl.

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.

A few people have asked about freezing these muffins and this year, I gave it a whirl. 

I found they lost some of their appeal after freezing, the cream cheese swirl just does not do well in the freezer.

So while you can’t freeze them, the recipe thankfully only takes 30 minutes to make start to finish! 

These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins are my favorite pumpkin muffins, ever. 

The whole family LOVED these muffins and they were all gone in just a couple of days. It was actually pretty impressive how many muffins two little girls could eat! 😉

Make sure and leave a review/comment below when you try this pumpkin cream cheese muffin recipe!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.