Tender pumpkin muffins stuffed with a sweet cream cheese filling. These are topped with a sweet and crunchy cinnamon streusel!
OK, I know what you’re thinking: Enough with all the pumpkin stuff already. I have an excuse though: my husband and daughter weren’t able to find regular cans of pumpkin puree at the store, so they bought a GIANT can of it instead. I had to use it all up before it went bad, so here I am.
A few weeks ago, we bought some pastries from a local bakery that we like. This is the same bakery that makes the amazing everything croissants that I recreated. During this recent visit, Addie ordered a pumpkin cream cheese muffin. It was this huge, fluffy pumpkin muffin that was bursting with a sweet cream cheese filling. And it was topped with some crunchy streusel. You knew I had to recreate it, right?
I found a promising recipe and attempted it, but I made a few adjustments. The muffin was not quite as good as this one, and I decided that I didn’t make enough streusel. All in all, we enjoyed the muffins, but the next time I will make a few minor changes so it tastes more like the muffins we had from the bakery. Don’t get me wrong – these are some fantastic pumpkin cream cheese muffins. I just think that I can make them even better.
Husband’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Pumpkin cream cheese muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
Cream cheese filling
- 4 ounces (½ package) cream cheese softened
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- pinch salt
Streusel
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
Make the filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the powdered sugar and salt. Transfer the filling to a smaller bowl and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Make the muffins
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease or line a standard muffin pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, salt and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, and applesauce. Fold in the dry ingredients until everything just comes together. Do not over mix.
- Transfer a little bit of batter into a muffin well, making sure to completely cover the bottom. Dollop a spoonful of the cream cheese frosting into the center. Then fill the muffin well with more batter until it is about ¾ full. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Make the streusel
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour in the melted butter and mix well. Put spoonfuls of streusel on top of the muffin batter, covering as much surface as you can.
- Bake the muffins in your preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or the center is no longer jiggly (a toothpick inserted in the middle will yield melty cream cheese frosting). Allow the muffins to cool before serving.