Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are moist, spiced pumpkin muffins swirled with cream cheese filling and topped with toasted pecans.
Servings: 12 muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Swirl:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pumpkin Muffins:
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
- ⅓ cup finely chopped pecans
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- Make the cream cheese swirl. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla with an electric mixer until completely smooth. Set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and ginger.
- Combine the wet ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, Greek yogurt, melted butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth.
- Make the muffin batter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Fill the muffin cups. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about ⅔ full. Spoon about 1½ tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture onto each muffin. Using a toothpick or skewer, gently swirl it into the batter with just 2–3 passes. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
- Bake. Transfer to the oven and bake the muffins for 20–24 minutes, or until the pumpkin portion is set and a toothpick inserted into the muffin (avoiding the cream cheese swirl) comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Serve. Remove the pumpkin muffins from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Notes
- Bring the cream cheese to room temperature before mixing so you get a nice, smooth swirl.
- Avoid overmixing the batter to keep the muffins light, moist, and tender.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 172mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 3614IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 2mg
