2/23/13 Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins | Annie's Eats

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10.08 pumpkin cream cheese muffins
2010
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If y ou hav ent noticed, I make a lot of breakfast treats. Muffins, scones, bagels, etc. I bake lots
and lov e em all. But these these are my fav orite of all. The reigning champ of breakfast
treats. These are definitely one of the main food-related reasons I look forward to fall. Sure, I
can make them any time but they seem to taste best on a crisp fall morning when the sun rises a
little later than the day s before.

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2/23/13 Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins | Annie's Eats

I believ e originally these were meant to be a knock-off of a Starbucks bakery item. Iv e nev er
had the original so I hav e no basis for comparison, but its hard to imagine them being better
than the homemade v ersion. The streusel topping is not as chunky as some, and instead sort of
melts during baking to create a crackly cinnamon-sugar topping that giv es these an ex tra little
something. Be sure to mix and freeze the filling in adv ance so that it is ready to go when y ou
want to make the muffins. They may take a bit more time than y our av erage muffin, but are
totally worth it in the end. This is not a new recipe to the blog, but one that needed a little
updating with better pics and a printer-friendly v ersion. I hope y oull enjoy rediscov ering this
recipe, a true fav orite of mine.

Pum pkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Y ield: 24 muffins

INGREDIENTS

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar

For the m uffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnam on
1 tsp. ground nutm eg
1 tsp. ground clov es
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pum pkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pum pkin puree
1 cups v egetable oil

For the topping:

cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. ground cinnam on
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners sugar in a medium
bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mix ture to a piece of plastic wrap
and shape into a log about 1 -inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around
the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least
slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the ov en to 350 F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a
medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, clov es, pumpkin pie spice, salt and

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2/23/13 Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins | Annie's Eats
baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mix er combine the eggs, sugar,
pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mix er on low
speed, add in the dry ingredients, mix ing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to
blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two
forks until the mix ture is coarse and crumbly . Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to
use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to
cov er the bottom of the liner (1 -2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24
equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mix ture into each muffin well. Div ide the
remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cov er
completely . Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mix ture ov er each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serv ing. (It
may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets v ery hot!)

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Discussion Com m unity Share

JH R 5 months ago
I've made these several times and they are always a hit! the first time I made
them, I didn't have time to freeze the filling. They turned out so well, that I don't bother
freezing the filling at all. Instead, I fill a piping bag and put that in the fridge. When I'm
ready, I just pipe the filling on top of the bottom layer. They turn out perfectly, and
they're much easier to make.
20 1 Reply Share

Pa tty a year ago

I was wondering if you think these would work in a mini-muffin pan? Has
anyone tried that? Also, I had an idea for freezing the filling. Instead of shaping into a
log and slicing, could you pipe the filling into 24 little balls on a sheet tray and then
freeze? In theory I think it is easier but I do not know if it would work. If I try these
ideas, I will let you know the outcome!
18 1 Reply Share

To n i a Patty a year ago

I made these as mini's - they worked great. I love the idea of freezing the
cream cheese as little balls - I actually put the cream cheese in a small plastic dish
- froze it and scooped out 1/4 tsp balls with a metal 1/4 teaspoon.
6 3 Reply Share

An n i e Patty a year ago

I think they would be difficult as a mini muffin simply because the
amount of filling would have to be very, very small and is more likely to leak out.
I like the piping idea though, that could certainly work.
1 Reply Share

Pa tty Annie a year ago

I tried the piping method for the filling and it worked like a charm!
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I tried the piping method for the filling and it worked like a charm!
I greased a cookie sheet, put a piece of waxed paper down, then greased the
wax paper with crisco. I put the filling in a piping bag and piped 24 dollops.
I checked them after two hours and they were frozen! And they popped
right off of the wax paper. It was so easy. I highly recommend that method.
4 Reply Share

Be tt 11 months ago
I love these muffins. I have made them twice now. I did substitute Tofutti
Cream Cheese and Pamela's Baking Gluten free flour as I can't have either of those. I
don't know what it does to the original. But everybody loves them with the
substitutions. Thanks a million!
Bett
3 Reply Share

C a rl y Bett 5 months ago

Thanks for sharing your substitutions. I have dairy-allergic kids and
would love to try these with the tofutti cream 'cheese'. :)
0 Reply Share

Ste p h a n i e a year ago

I finally got around to making these and they are just as fantastic as I was
expecting them to be! Definitely a little labor intensive, but well worth the effort! And,
bonus, I made the whole recipe and I'm planning to stash a good number of them in the
freezer to eat later, yum!

A few tips:

Don't be afraid to "overfill" the muffin wells. This looked like a lot of batter, but I went
ahead and filled the wells generously and the muffins turned out perfectly and I had
exactly the right amount of batter!

Also, sprinkle on plenty of the crumb topping. I actually baked these in two batches
because I only have a single 12 cup muffin tin, I still had a lot of the crumb topping
after baking off the first batch so I added a more liberal amount the for the second
batch and those definitely turned out even tastier than the first! Don't be afraid to pile
the topping on there! I ended up with quite a bit of it leftover and I definitely wish I had
added more on the first batch.

As far as refrigeration, I baked these off last night, left them sitting out, and served
them late morning the next day. They tasted totally fine and the texture was great! I
went ahead and put the leftovers in the fridge though because I was worried about
letting the cream cheese sit at room temp long term, definitely don't want these babies
going bad before I've had a chance to enjoy the rest!
8 3 Reply Share

N a n cy a year ago
I am not a big fan of oil--especially canola oil which was the very first
genetically modified foodstuff we had foisted on us---Can-ola is genetically modified
rape seed oil from Canada.
Anyway, the butter worked well, I reduced it to just a tad more than 1 cup and of course
melted it first, and made these delicious pumpkin muffins that much more richly
delicious in taste and a great 'mouth feel' as they say!
Nancy
Mid-Michigan
17 11 Reply Share

Cindy G Nancy 5 months ago

Grapeseed oil is a great oil for cooking, baking and frying. It contains
many essential fatty acids and can withstand temps up to 500 degrees. I use it
whenever a recipe calls for an oil that is heated. I agree with you that canola is not
a great oil.... an ingredient in it is what they use it to put that shiny gloss on
magazine pages!
0 Reply Share

To n i a a year ago
I made the pumpkin cream cheese muffins as "minis" - added 1 tablespoon of
amaretto to the cream cheese mixture and cut back on the powered sugar. These were
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amaretto to the cream cheese mixture and cut back on the powered sugar. These were
quite a hit this morning at work. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
2 1 Reply Share

H e a th e r 4 months ago
I made these last night! So so soooo yummy! I reduced the oil to 3/4 cup and
added an extra 1/2 cup of pumpkin and they turned out great!
1 Reply Share

Ji l l Fa u l d e r McOw e n 5 months ago

I made these yesterday for a potluck and they were a huge hit. Thank you!
1 Reply Share

Je s s i ca Ga rci a 6 months ago

I just made these and they are absolutely delish!! I substituted Splenda for the
sugar and half the oil with applesauce and they turned out great
1 Reply Share

Lis a a year ago

Hi Annie,

Do these need to be refrigerated after baking because of the cream cheese filling? I
want to mail some to a friend but it will take 2 days to get there and I'm not sure about
the filling.
3 3 Reply Share

An n i e Lisa a year ago

Please see the FAQ page.
1 Reply Share

Ja n e @ C o tta g e a t th e C ro s s ro a a year ago

Hello! I saw this recipe on Pinterest. I just made these yesterday and they
were a huge hit. May I have permission to use your photo on my blog? I will link to
your blog for the recipe. Our muffins disappeared so fast I didn't have time for a photo!
0 1 Reply Share

An n i e Jane @ Cottage at the Crossroa a year ago

I suppose that's okay as long as you include a photo credit and link. So
glad you enjoyed them. We just made them this morning!
0 Reply Share

Su s a n n a h 3 months ago
I just made these and they seemed to fall into themselves in the center.
Did anyone else have this problem? I'm not sure why they did that. I think I followed
the recipe exactly.
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Susannah 3 months ago

They probably just needed to bake a little longer. Every oven can vary
slightly in temperature. Hope that helps :)
0 Reply Share

Sh a n a 4 months ago
Made these a couple of weeks ago and we really enjoyed them! I took someone
else's tip on filling a piping bag and just making 24 balls and put that in the freezer--
very easy that way. Thanks for another great recipe!
0 Reply Share

Debbie 4 months ago

Hi Annie- I read your FAQ page and all the other comments so I do not believe
this question has been addressed...but I sometimes like to make my baking items
"healthier". I usually substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil in most recipes. Would
you recommend this being ok? Do you think the muffin will be completely different if I
do that? Thank you for your feedback.
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Debbie 4 months ago

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a n n i e s e a ts M o d Debbie 4 months ago
Hi Debbie,
I have actually done the applesauce substitution for half of the oil in this recipe,
and it's now my standard. I typically don't like to do a 100% sub because I find
the texture to be mildly affected and the muffins stick to their wrappers more,
but it does sub very well in general with no effect on the final product. Enjoy!
0 Reply Share

Ke l l y F 4 months ago
Not that these need any more hype, but I finally made them this weekend and
I'm soooo glad! The recipe is perfect. As others have mentioned, there's plenty of
topping, so use as much as you want. I piled mine on and still had leftovers. Next time
I'll probably use a little less, as the topping started to crack and fall off of some of the
more heavily topped muffins. Either way, totally delicious!
0 Reply Share

dana 4 months ago

I made these today for the first time. I just sampled one and I LOVED it! I had
a problem with the cream cheese as I put it in the freezer for 3 hrs. and it came out still
soft. But I just scooped a good dollop onto each first layer of the muffin and then
finished as the recipe called for. They came out great. Next time I will try the piping
bag method. That seems easier.
0 Reply Share

Ste p h a n i e 4 months ago

This were so wonderful. I made them this morning. The only issue I had was
the frozen log with the cream cheese; what a mess! I am not an experienced baker so
maybe that is why that part was so messy but other than that, they were easy. I had
some left over so I just made pumpkin muffins with no cream cheese and everything
turned out great. My husband is not much of a pumpkin eater and he has eaten 2
already! YAY! We will definitely make this again!
0 Reply Share

Wh i tn e y 4 months ago
Love these muffins!! I followed a suggestion below to freeze dollops of the
cream cheese mixture (placed on greased wax paper) to use instead of the log. It
worked like a charm! I had a bit of batter and crumb mixture left over, so made a mini
pumpkin loaf :) Will use this recipe again and again! Thanks.
0 Reply Share

re n a 4 months ago
Hi,
I'm going to make this delish looking muffins this weekend. I was thinking if i could use
whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular flour??
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d rena 4 months ago

Please see the FAQ page. Thanks!
0 Reply Share

Ma ri e .L a u re n ce 4 months ago
Loook reallyy Yummie !! I will try themm veryy Soon :)
0 Reply Share

ri g h ts i d e o u t 5 months ago
I made these for friends and coworkers yesterday and I've had nothing but
rave reviews! I've told them that anything I make from your website is guaranteed to
be delicious :) Love your site, love your recipes, and LOVE your photos. Thanks!
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d rightsideout 5 months ago

Thank you! So glad they were a hit.
0 Reply Share

C rys ta l 5 months ago

Do these need to be kept in the fridge since they have cream cheese inside?
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Do these need to be kept in the fridge since they have cream cheese inside?
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Crystal 5 months ago

Please see the FAQ page. Thanks.
0 Reply Share

D e b ra Pi w e k 5 months ago
My Whole family devoured these, even my selective younger son and my
oldest son even took a picture of them cooling in the pans, they looked so good! I am
bringing these to our next office pot luck lunch.Calorie count?
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Debra Piw ek 5 months ago

Please see the FAQ page regarding nutrition facts. Thanks! Glad you
enjoyed them :)
0 Reply Share

C h e ryl D 5 months ago

I have made these twice in the last 2 weeks. Thanks for an amazing recipe;
they have such nice flavour. My only change was to add two table spoons of light brown
sugar to the filling, which I froze. They are so good. And perfect for Thanksgiving
weekend here in Ontario.
0 Reply Share

L a u re n 5 months ago
Made these last night so good! I did not freeze the filling though, I put it in the
fridge while making the batter and topping then just scooped about a tbs on top of the
batter. Then I used a fork to swirl in a little, topped with about a teaspoon or so of the
topping and baked! So, it was more of a cheesecake topping than a filling but so good
when you don't have time to freeze!
0 Reply Share

El a i n e Fi tzp a tri ck 5 months ago

could the cream cheese be substituted for a pudding mixture? I can't eat
cheese.
0 Reply Share

Am y Elaine Fitzpatrick 5 months ago

Why don't you use that tofu cream cheese, it bakes up a lot like regular
cream cheese!
1 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Elaine Fitzpatrick 5 months ago

Please see the FAQ page regarding substitutions. Thanks.
1 Reply Share

Wi l l 5 months ago
These are just as wonderful as the ratings imply. I stuck by the recipe and even
though they are involved for muffins, they are SO worth the effort.

Only recommendation I'd add is to allow plenty of time for the cream cheese/sugar
mixture to freeze.
0 Reply Share

Ju d y Ta ra b e k 5 months ago
I am planning on making these muffins tomorrow and before I go to the
grocery store I have one question: Is pumpkin puree the same as the pumpkin in the
can? Thanks in advance for your help in this matter and I can't wait to make these
yummy looking muffins!
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Judy Tarabek 5 months ago

Yes, it is canned pumpkin though you can also make your own. Just be
sure not to get pumpkin pie filling in a can.
0 Reply Share

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Bi g C 5 months ago
I was wondering if anyone tried to make these vegan? I heard that you could
replace eggs with 3 T flax seed (ground) and 3 T water and 1/8 of a tsp of baking
powder. I guess vegan bakeries do it all the time.Anybody know about this?
0 Reply Share

Tra cy Je ffo rd s Ma rti n e z 5 months ago

Was wondering could you use Pumpking Pie filling?? Instead of the Pumpkin
Puree and spices.. Thanks..
0 Reply Share

a n n i e s e a ts M o d Tracy Jeffords Martinez 5 months ago

No, sorry. For best results, use the ingredients listed here. Enjoy!
0 Reply Share

Tra cy Je ffo rd s Ma rti n e z annieseats 5 months ago

Thanks hun! =-)
0 Reply Share

Em m y 5 months ago
I made these last night and they are amazing! I recommend making the filling
and the crumb mixture first, and then starting the actual batter. (My batter was sitting
around awhile.) For me, the measurements were perfect for 24 regular sized muffins.
What a great fall recipe!
0 Reply Share

ka re n d r2 5 5 months ago
Definitely must try this recipe ! Just wondering though, instead of eggs, could
I use a carton of eggs whites? If so, how many cups?
0 Reply Share

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