Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with Streusel

Yes, it is pumpkin season, and the famous pumpkin-cream cheese-streusel combination finds its way yet again into many baked goods. I do have a delicious recipe with that combination up on my site in Creamy Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake form, but have come to realize that a muffin size version of that dessert is always much needed.

These muffins are crazy good; the pumpkin and spices are balanced perfectly and the cream cheese center tangy and sweet.

How to Know When These Muffins Are Done Baking:

The only tricky part about these muffins is knowing when they are done; the cream cheese layer stays wet throughout baking. Stick a wooden skewer into the muffin all the way to the base to check on the muffin layer – if there is still wet pumpkin batter on the skewer, it will need to bake longer.

Storing Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins can be stored in plastic wrap or an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. Before serving, I like to gently warm the muffins (a few seconds in the microwave works great), just until the cream cheese filling is no longer cold.

More Pumpkin Recipes:

• Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze
• Pumpkin Pound Cake with Chocolate
• Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with Streusel

Servings: 15 muffins

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Soft and tender pumpkin muffins with a creamy cream cheese filling and a cinnamon streusel topping!

Sarah Kieffer

5 from 14 votes

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Filling

• 6 ounces [170 g] cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Streusel

• 3/4 cup [107 g] all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup [180 g] toasted pecans
• 1/3 cup [65 g] granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup [65 g] light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons [70 g] unsalted butter, melted

Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 1/3 cup [265 g] granulated sugar
• 1 cup [227 g] unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup [112 g] vegetable or canola oil
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch cloves
• 1 3/4 cup [249 g] all-purpose flour

Equipment

• Flexipan Muffin Mold

Instructions

For the filling

• In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the streusel

• In the bowl of a food processor, combine the pecans, flour, granulated and brown sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse a few times until combined and the pecans are broken down, 5 or 6 pulses. Pour the melted butter over the top and pulse again until the butter is incorporated, 3 or 4 more pulses.

For the muffins

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350F [180C]. Grease or place liners in two twelve-cup muffins pan – or if you are using my preferred silicone Flexipans, do NOT grease. See note.
• In a large bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, pumpkin, oil, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cloves together until smooth. Add the flour and use a spatula to stir it into the batter. Switch to a whisk and whisk the batter to eliminate any remaining flour lumps, about 10 seconds.
• Fill the cavities of the muffin pan 1/3 of the way full. Place a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in the center of each cup. Top each cup with batter, so it just covers the cream cheese, and there is about 1/4 inch [6 mm] of space left in the cavity for the streusel (see notes about scoops for filling muffin tins).
• Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the streusel evenly over the tops of each muffin. Bake for 20 to 26 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (it should be clean of pumpkin – there might be some cream cheese filling on the skewer, which is normal).
• Move the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool, and when the pan is cool enough to handle, carefully remove the muffins from each one. Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack. (Although, if you cut into one when it’s still warm, I completely understand.)

Notes

Notes

This recipe will work using a traditional 12-cup muffin pan or a Flexipan Nonstick Silicone Muffin Mold. (Use code SarahK20 for 20% off your purchase.) After using many different muffin pans over the years, I have to say that the Flexipan is a fabulous choice for this recipe. The muffins also bake up evenly, and don’t get the tough outer edge that can often happen in a regular tin.  The wells are just slightly deeper than a regular muffin tin, so all of the muffin batter, cream cheese center, and streusel topping fits perfectly inside. I highly recommend. 

I used a Vollrath 1 1/3 oz scoop (red handle, size 24) for the muffin base – 1 scoop filled the bottom to about 1/3 full, and then a half a scoop over the top to cover the cream cheese. I used a Vollrath .33 oz (orange handle, 47404) for the cream cheese filling. 

You may have some streusel leftover, if so you can freeze it in a ziplock bag for up to 1 month.