You will love these Starbucks inspired pumpkin cream cheese muffins! They are basic spiced pumpkin muffins with a sweet cream cheese baked center. These muffins are so soft and fluffy, they have the best texture and are full of fall pumpkin spice warmness.
Looking for more pumpkin muffin recipes? Try my chocolate pumpkin marble muffins, pumpkin coffee cake muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins or pumpkin streusel muffins.
This recipe was first published on September 13, 2021.
If you love the Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins, then this recipe is for you.
I know you are ready for all the pumpkin recipes! Like these pumpkin cake cookies. As soon as Starbucks drops there fall pumpkin menu items, it's like we have the green light to enjoy our fall favorites!
These cream cheese pumpkin muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch or an afternoon snack. Store them in your fridge and eat them throughout the week.
Everyone will love just how soft these pumpkin muffins are. They are an oil based muffin so they will be really light.
If you'd prefer to leave out the cream cheese filling, then try this simple pumpkin muffin recipe. And if you absolutely adore all things pumpkin and cream cheese I highly suggest making a batch of these pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
Want more pumpkin recipes? Try these better than Starbucks pumpkin scones, pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin cream sauce ravioli.
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Why I Love This Recipe
- Better Than Starbucks - These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are way better than the ones they sell at Starbucks. You can't beat a homemade, fresh out of the oven muffin. Just like my Starbucks inspired pumpkin scones (mine are better).
- Money Saving - You can make 12 muffins at a fraction of the cost that would run you at Starbucks.
- Freezer Friendly - Freeze them and enjoy them whenever you want! Simply heat them up in the microwave or thaw on a plate in your kitchen.
Ingredients
- sunflower oil - you can use another type of oil but I highly suggest sunflower oil, it's healthy and does't have a strong flavor which is perfect for baking
- brown sugar
- cane sugar - you can use regular white sugar also
- vanilla extract
- eggs
- buttermilk
- pumpkin puree - make sure you are grabbing canned pumpkin puree and not pumpkin mix (that has spices already in it)
- all purpose flour
- salt
- baking soda
- baking powder
- cream cheese
- pumpkin pie spice
- cinnamon
How To Make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Make the pumpkin batter. Mix up the pumpkin batter first. You can use a large bowl and a whisk, you don't need an electric mixer for this recipe.
Stir together the oil (82 grams if you have a scale), brown sugar, cane sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, buttermilk and pumpkin puree. Mix this all together until it's smooth.
Grab a sifter and overtop of your wet ingredients add in the dry ingredients. The flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.
You don't have to mix for minutes just until everything is combined.
Make the sweet cream cheese. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, cane sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until it's smooth and creamy.
Add this to a piping bag fitting with a round piping tip, or a ziploc bag with just a bit of the end cut off.
Preparing to bake. Use a 3 tbsp scoop to add the pumpkin batter into a muffin tin lined with cupcake wrappers. Stick the sweet cream cheese down about ½" and squeeze.
I used a frosting bag to add the sweet cream cheese. If you don't have that you can use a ziploc bag with the end cut off.
This recipe makes just enough for 12 muffins so use it evenly.
Baking. Start your oven at 400 degrees and bake for 5 minutes, then (without opening the door) turn the oven down to 350 and bake an additional 12-14 minutes.
Check with a toothpick, if it comes out clean the muffins are done.
Let them cool slightly and then eat!
How To Store
These should be stored in the fridge. Any time you have cream cheese in a recipe I think it's best to store it in the fridge just in case.
They should last 5 days still tasting fresh.
You can put them in a ziploc bag or an airtight container. If you want to freeze them, put them in a ziploc bag. To thaw, move them over to the fridge to slowly thaw out or put them on the kitchen counter. You can also put one in the microwave straight from frozen.
Pumpkin Recipes
- Stuffed Shells With Pumpkin Cream Sauce
- Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Roll With Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Cinnamon Rolls With Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Scones
- Pumpkin Bread
- 20 Min Pumpkin Ravioli
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
You will love these pumpkin cream cheese muffins! They are basic spiced pumpkin muffins with a sweet cream cheese baked center. These muffins are so soft and fluffy, they have the best texture and are full of that fall pumpkin spice warmness.
Ingredients
pumpkin batter
- 6 tbsp sunflower oil (82 grams) *see notes
- ¾ c brown sugar
- ¼ c cane sugar (or white sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ½ c buttermilk
- ¾ c pumpkin puree (measured as a liquid)
- 2 ¼ c all purpose flour
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
sweet cream cheese filling
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp cane sugar (or white sugar)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- In a large bowl whisk together the sunflower oil, brown sugar, cane sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, buttermilk and pumpkin puree until smooth and totally blended
- Place a sifter over the bowl of the wet ingredients and sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon
- Mix this all together until just combined
- Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and add 3-4 tbsp of pumpkin batter to each
- To make the cream cheese filling use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese, butter, cane sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt
- Add this to a piping bag with a round tip, or a ziplock bag with the end cut off
- Insert the tip of the piping bag ½” in to the pumpkin batter and squeeze a bit in evenly to each muffin
- Bake the muffins in the oven at 400 degrees for 5 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted at an angle
- Remove from the oven and cool, serve once cooled
Notes
Make sure to measure liquid ingredients properly with a liquid measuring cup, they shouldn’t be measured with a dry measuring cup - this includes the oil, buttermilk and pumpkin puree
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 520Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 339mgCarbohydrates: 98gFiber: 1gSugar: 78gProtein: 5g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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