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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. Similar to the Starbucks pumpkin muffin, but so much better. Promise, these muffins melt in your mouth. Soft pumpkin bread made with pumpkin butter, canned pumpkin, sweetened with maple syrup, spiced with warming chai, swirled with sweetened whipped cream cheese, and topped with sugared ginger pieces. Yummmmmy is all I can say! Enjoy these just as they are, or serve with a smear of sweet butter. Perfect for all of the autumn weekends ahead!
In all honesty, I am a few days earlier than I’d like with this recipe. But October 1st is Sunday, so we’re close enough to enjoy a few pumpkin recipes! Are we excited? I am very excited. I love pumpkin recipes just as much as you all, but I like to space them out, not overwhelm you all with everything pumpkin.
Plus, as I’ve shown, I adore apple recipes in the fall too. It’s not just pumpkin season!
But we’re happy pumpkin season is here. And you all – these muffins, I made them just this week and I had to share them today. These are so yummy and perfect. I’m so excited about them!
I’ve been brainstorming pumpkin recipes for what feels like months. To be honest, I feel like I’m always thinking about fall recipes. Between game day, Halloween, and the holidays, it’s such a busy time and we’re all cooking and baking so much!
Funny enough, the Starbucks fall menu is always a form of inspiration for me. They launch fun drinks and pastries that certainly get everyone excited. I can’t decide if I should make a latte this season, but I knew I wanted to make my own pumpkin muffin!
Here are the details
Step 1: make the batter
Per usual, this muffin is easy, and hopefully, you have most of these ingredients on hand. First, mix the wet ingredients. I use melted coconut, then either maple or honey to sweeten, vanilla, eggs, pumpkin butter, and pumpkin puree.
I used spiced pumpkin butter, not just pumpkin purèe. This IS KEY. Pumpkin butter is more reduced down than pumpkin purèe and contains less moisture.
You can use my homemade pumpkin butter. Or pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Amazon, or your local market…though I’m partial to mine. Just make sure your pumpkin butter is spiced for best flavor.
For the dry ingredients, I use white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt. Now mix the wet and dry ingredients.
Next, fold in some candied ginger pieces. These are my secret for this recipe. They’re SO good inside the muffin batter. They melt into the muffin whole while baking and make every bite sweet and gingery. So delish with the pumpkin.
Step 2: whip the cream cheese
Next up, whip the cream up with some maple or honey.
Now take a spoon and dollop the cream cheese into the center of each muffin. Certainly nothing fancy here. Don’t stress about making it perfect.
Step 3: mix the sugared ginger
The final step is the topping. Instead of an over-indulgent streusel topping, I did something so much easier and I think even more delicious.
I took candied ginger pieces, finely chopped them, and mixed the ginger with a small amount of cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle this mix over the muffins just before baking. It’s the perfect pairing with the warming chai-inspired spices within the muffin batter.
Step 4: bake away
As the muffins bake, your kitchen will smell incredible. Better than both a fall and Thanksgiving candle combined!
Is there anything more wonderful in the fall? Perfection.
Finally, serve these with tea, coffee, hot cocoa, or even a steaming mug of cider for the quintessential fall treat!
Looking for other sweet fall recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
6 Ingredient Spiced Pumpkin Butter
Cream Cheese Swirled Brown Sugar Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Chai Pumpkin Cake with Maple Browned Butter Frosting
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Butter Bread
Lastly, if you make these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories Per Serving: 249 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup pumpkin butter
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons candied ginger pieces
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
Sugared Ginger Topping
- 1/4 cup candied ginger pieces
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.2. In a bowl, stir together the coconut oil, 1/2 cup maple/honey, vanilla, eggs, pumpkin butter, and pumpkin. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in 2 tablespoons candied ginger. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pan.3. In a bowl, whip together the cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of maple/honey. Dollop 1 rounded teaspoon into the center of each muffin, pushing the cream halfway into the muffin, but not fully. 4. Mix 1/4 cup candied ginger and cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle over each muffin. Bake 18-20 minutes, until the tops are just set. Enjoy warm with butter (if desired).
Ohhh, my favourite things in these muffins (ginger & cinnamon). The cream cheese puts that over the top. Don’t suppose one would be able to make these gluten free?
Hi Sara! I bet these would work well with a 1:1 ratio of GF flour! xT
Second time making these muffins. I love them so much 💕
Thank you so so much Sharman! xT
OMG delicious, used butter instead of coconut oil, still super moist and absolutely delicious 😋
Hi Helen,
Wonderful!! Love to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and thanks a lot for making it! xT
can i substitute ap flour for whole wheat flour
Hi Barbara,
Yes, that would be just fine for you to do! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you enjoy this recipe! xT
Hello, is there a substitution for the eggs? My daughter is allergic to eggs and I really want to make her these muffins. Thank you.
Hi Diane! I haven’t ever tried this without eggs before, but I would maybe suggest applesauce or flax egg! xT
For me, This was really missing sugar. Texture was nice
Can these be made gluten free?
Hi Mindy! I haven’t ever tried these with GF flour but let me know if you give it a try! xT
I made these and absolutely love them! Delicious! I’m wondering how long they are good for and if I can freeze them?
You could totally freeze them! These should be good for about 4-5 days! xT
Loved these! I didn’t have pumpkin butter, so I just replaced it with more pumpkin puree (making 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree in total), increased the spices and added 1/4 cup coconut sugar. The substitution worked perfect. The muffins were light in texture and mildly sweet.
I only ended up using about 5 oz of the cream cheese and it gave us a ratio we enjoy. Using all of it would have probably overwhelmed the pumpkin flavor.
Hi! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for trying it out! xT
These were insanely good. Like…wow. Pretty sure the four people I served these two yesterday all agree they are the best pumpkin muffins they have ever had.
I decided to do a sugar crumble on top because I wasn’t sure if my kids would like all the ginger, but next time around I’m definitely adding more ginger back in.
Highly recommend. People are already asking for the recipe.
Wow, thank you Liz! So glad you’re enjoying this recipe! xT
These are heavenly! The cream cheese makes them so decadent and the ginger is just perfect. I was hoping they would be as scrumptious as they look and they are! They hit the spot to satisfy our pumpkin spice cravings. 🙂 This recipe is a keeper and I’ll be making them again. So glad I found it and I’m looking forward to making others from your website.
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! Have an awesome weekend! xT
These look delicious! I can’t wait to try. What would be the best way to store these? Should they be kept on the fridge?
Yes, I would keep in the fridge or covered on the countertop! xT
Hi there! Can i sub coconut oil for butter?
Yes! xT