These perfect Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffins are the best way to kick off the Fall season. Infused with warm Fall spices and swirled with a smooth and luxurious cream cheese topping, these sweet pumpkin muffins will be your absolute favorite pumpkin recipe.
It is officially Fall so I guess its time to start churning out all the pumpkin recipes! These pumpkin spice cream cheese muffins are a great way to use up those leftover cans of pumpkin puree. I have tried so many pumpkin muffin recipes and I could never quite get them to be moist enough. They would always turn out dry and crumbly but after trying several recipes and now coming up with a combination of my favorite ones I think I think it comes down to one secret ingredient.
The secret ingredient to avoiding dry muffins is YOGURT. Thats right! YOGURT! I have come to find it is truly is a magical ingredient in baking. The addition of the cream cheese swirl makes these muffins so delectable that they work for breakfast, a snack or even dessert. It is important to use "pure" vanilla extract. Many brands will use artificial ingredients so not all vanilla extracts are created equal. Here is my favorite pure vanilla extract I like to use.
The best part about this recipe making so many muffins is that they freeze great and you only need to let them come to room temperature for about 30 min to enjoy them. Although mine never last long enough to freeze since they are a wonderful snack for toddlers as well. I hope you love these muffins as much as my family and I do.
Why did my muffins deflate?
This is a very common issue I used to have and I finally found the fix for the perfect muffin. Everything changed when I started the oven temperature at 425 degrees for 7 minutes and then lowered it to 350 degrees to let it finish cooking. The burst of high heat, sets the top of the muffin and allows it to rise quickly. Once I tried this method my muffins come out perfect with rounded tops every time.
In addition to the high initial heat, it is extremely important to make sure not to over mix your muffin batter. If your ingredients are still cold and have not come to room temperature, you run the risk of over mixing. This was the case the first time I tried to incorporate yogurt with the rest of the wet ingredients. The cold yogurt took a very long time to combine into the batter and as a result, too much air was incorporated. The additional air pockets created by over mixing caused the muffins to deflate after removing from the oven. The solution is mixing as little as possible and stop as soon as the ingredients have been combined.
Can't get enough pumpkin recipes? Try these!
The BEST Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Creamy Whipped Pumpkin Spice Mousse
Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffins
Equipment
- 1 Small Toothpick
Ingredients
Muffin Batter
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Plain Yogurt
- ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 cups Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 Large Eggs
- 15 oz Can Pumpkin Puree (Libbys preferred)
- 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil
Cream Cheese Swirl
- 8 oz Softened Cream Cheese
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg Yolk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line two 12 cup muffin tins (24 total) with paper liners or lightly spray with non stick spray
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt with a whisk
- In another medium mixing bowl, combine canned pumpkin, yogurt, 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, 2 whole eggs, and oil
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold with a spatula to combine (do not over mix)
- Fill each cup ¾ of the way to the top.
- For the cream cheese topping, in a bowl, combine 8 oz room temp cream cheese, granulated sugar, egg yolk and vanilla
- Place a 1 teaspoon dollop of the cream cheese mixture on top of each batter filled cup
- With a toothpick, swirl the cream cheese into each muffin in a figure 8 pattern until slightly mixed
- Bake at 425 for 7 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350 (do not open the oven door) and bake for 8-10 more minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- After letting set for 5-10 minutes, remove from the muffin tins and let cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Do not over mix your batter. Make sure to fold the dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients and not whisk them
- Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature otherwise it will be too thick to mix with the muffin batter
Amanda says
My favorite thing about fall is pumpkin and these muffins did not disappoint! If you are looking for a fall breakfast crowd pleaser, try them out!
Danielle says
These are so insanely GOOD!!
Maria says
What size of pumpkin puree is used in this recipe?
Elizabeth.cipolla1 says
My apologies! It calls for a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree. I have updated the recipe accordingly.
Thanks!