Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Moist, warmly spiced Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with a sweet cream cheese center, fresh orange zest, and buttery walnut streusel. Includes instructions for tall, bakery-style muffin tops and high-altitude baking.
Servings: 15 muffins
Calories: 253kcal
Equipment
- Medium bowls
- Large bowl
- Muffin tin
- Muffin Tin Liners
Ingredients
For the Cream Cheese Filling:
- ½ cup cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp orange zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Walnut Streusel Topping:
- ¼ cup walnuts finely chopped
- ½ cup flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp butter melted
For the Pumpkin Muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp nutmeg freshly ground preferred
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cup canned pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup neutral oil avocado or canola
- 1 ½ tsp orange zest
Instructions
Prepare the Cream Cheese Filling:
- Make the filling. In a medium bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, orange zest, and vanilla until smooth. Refrigerate while you prepare the streusel and muffin batter.½ cup cream cheese, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ tsp orange zest, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Make the Walnut Streusel:
- Make the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine the walnuts, flour, and sugar. Add the melted butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces. Set aside.¼ cup walnuts, ½ cup flour, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 3 tbsp butter
Prepare the Pumpkin Muffin batter:
- Preheat the oven. Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack positioned one level above the center of the oven. Line a nonstick muffin pan with paper liners.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp nutmeg
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, and orange zest until well combined.1 ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 ¼ cup canned pumpkin puree, 3 large eggs, ⅓ cup neutral oil, 1 ½ tsp orange zest
- Finish the batter. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.
Fill the muffin cups:
- Add the first layer of batter. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each muffin cup, using just enough to cover the bottom.
- Add the cream cheese filling. Place about 2 teaspoons of chilled cream cheese filling in the center of each muffin.
- Cover with batter. Spoon another generous 2 tablespoons of pumpkin batter over the cream cheese, making sure the filling is covered.
- Add the streusel. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of walnut streusel over each muffin.
For Tall, Bakery-Style Muffin Tops or High-Altitude Baking
- Start at a high temperature. Bake at 400°F for 4 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F.
- Finish baking. Continue baking for 16–19 minutes, or until the muffins are set and a toothpick gently inserted into the muffin portion comes out mostly clean. If the streusel begins to brown too much, loosely cover the muffins with aluminum foil for the remainder of the baking time.
- Cool before serving. Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes. This gives the muffins and cream cheese centers time to set while still allowing you to serve them slightly warm.
For Standard Altitude Baking:
- Instead of using the temperature-change method above, bake the muffins at 350°F for 21–25 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the muffin portion comes out mostly clean.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
- High-altitude baking: I developed the 400°F-to-350°F baking method while baking at over 4,000 feet. Starting at the higher temperature helps the muffin tops rise before the structure sets. If you prefer, you can bake the muffins at 350°F for the entire baking time; the tops may be a little flatter, but the muffins will still be delicious.
- Cream cheese filling: Depending on how generously you fill the muffins, you may use all the cream cheese filling in the first 12 muffins. If so, simply bake the remaining batter as 3 pumpkin muffins without the cream cheese center.
- For muffins without cream cheese: Skip the filling, fill each muffin cup about ¾ full, add the streusel, and bake at 350°F for 20–25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- If your muffins sink: Muffins can fall in the center if the cups are overfilled or the muffins are underbaked. Be sure to leave room for the batter to rise and bake until the muffin portion is fully set.
- Storage: Because of the cream cheese filling, store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let them sit briefly at room temperature before serving, or microwave for about 5–7 seconds to take off the chill.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 211mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 3405IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg