Description
Moist and spiced pumpkin muffins filled with creamy maple cream cheese—an easy fall recipe perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Maple Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- Make the filling: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- Mix wet ingredients: In another bowl, whisk pumpkin puree, sugars, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- Combine: Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed. Do not over-stir.
- Assemble muffins: Fill each muffin cup halfway with batter, add 1 tablespoon of cream cheese filling, then top with more batter until ¾ full.
- Bake: Bake 20–22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted (avoiding filling) comes out clean.
- Cool & serve: Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature!
Notes
- Don’t overmix the batter—this keeps the muffins soft and fluffy.
- Use room-temperature cream cheese for a smoother filling.
- Add a streusel topping or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for extra crunch.
- Freeze muffins individually for a quick grab-and-go snack.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes