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These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are just like the one’s you can get at Starbucks but BETTER because they’re homemade and less expensive to make!
Each soft and tender pumpkin muffin has a dollop of cream cheese filling baked inside – they are so good! Make these copycat muffins and you’ll want to skip the expensive coffee shop ones.
Starbucks Pumpkin Muffins Copycat
Every fall I am SO excited when Starbucks has their pumpkin cream cheese muffins but lately I’ve been making my own and I am loving having my freezer stocked so I can have them all year. These homemade pumpkin cheesecake muffins are so much better than Starbucks; Pumpkin muffins are soft and moist with the perfect amount of pumpkin spice. There’s a little scoop of cream cheese filling so you get that cheesecake flavor and creaminess in every bite.
Ingredients Needed
For this recipe I adapted my mom’s banana bread recipe, which I’ve used as a base for so many quick breads and muffins. It’s a really easy recipe and turning it into pumpkin muffins was a breeze.
- Instead of butter, I like to use vegetable oil in this recipe. Butter is a little heavy and so using oil makes muffins that are airier and fluffier.
- For the pumpkin be sure to buy canned pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling. They are two different things! Pumpkin pie filling has other ingredients while puree is just… well, pureed pumpkin.
- The muffins are flavored with pumpkin spice which is usually a combination of ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and sometimes allspice. I make a lot of pumpkin baked goods during the fall season and it’s just easier to use a spice mix – less measuring!
- Cream Cheese – make sure it’s room temperature to avoid lumps in your cheesecake mixture.
How to make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Add pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, and vegetable oil to a large bowl. Stir until combined then add pumpkin spice and eggs.
- Stir in salt, baking soda, milk, and flour and mix until combined. Place batter into muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- The filling is so good – like a little bite of cheesecake in each muffin! Just combine softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl.
- Drop one tablespoon of the mixture onto each muffin before they go in the oven. As the muffins bake, they will puff up around the cream cheese filling. When you take them out the filling will be peeking out and will be soft and creamy when you bite into it.
Variations & Substitutions
- You can skip the pumpkin seeds if you want.
- Any milk or nondairy milk will work in this recipe.
- You can make gluten free muffins by substituting GF 1:1 AP flour.
Expert Tips
- Let the muffins cool for at least five minutes before serving them – they are so delicious warm from the oven!
- For really tender muffins it’s best to mix it by hand just until the dry ingredients are absorbed into the wet ingredients. With a mixer you risk overmixing the batter.
- Make sure your cream cheese is softened to avoid lumps!
Storage
Store muffins in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You can also freeze them for a few months.
FAQ
In order to achieve the look that I have, make sure to make a little divot in the muffin batter, then place the cheesecake in that little indentation. Flatten the cheesecake slightly, pressing it into the batter.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
For the Muffin
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (79ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (244g) pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup (59ml) milk
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces (226g) cream cheese softened
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pumpkin Seeds optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin tins with liners.
- Stir pumpkin, oil, and sugar together in a large bowl. Do this by hand – don’t use a mixer. Stir in eggs, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda. Stir in 1 cup flour, then stir in milk, then stir in remaining 1 cup flour.
- Divide evenly among muffin pans, filling each liner 1/2 full. Make a small indentation in the top of the muffin with the back of a spoon, a little holder for the cream cheese filling.
- Stir together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
- Drop 1 tablespoon onto the top of each muffin. Use the back of a spoon to spread the cheesecake mixture into the little indentation you made and adhere it to the muffin batter. Sprinkle with 4-5 pumpkin seeds, optional.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the muffin part comes out with just a few crumbs stuck too it.
- Cool at least 5 minutes before serving. Store in refrigerator. Muffins can be frozen for quick breakfasts!
Recipe Notes
- You can keep them in the refrigerator, too, but they will keep for a long time in the freezer. It’s such a treat to pull one out and warm it in the microwave for a sweet afternoon snack.
- It might be tempting to use a hand mixer for this recipe but I don’t recommend it. For really tender muffins it’s best to mix it by hand just until the dry ingredients are absorbed into the wet ingredients. With a mixer you risk overmixing the batter.
- Make sure your cream cheese is softened to avoid lumps!
Recipe Nutrition
Copycat Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe with a cheesecake filling! These easy muffins are a Starbucks Copycat and are the perfect easy breakfast or brunch muffin recipe for fall!
Wow. I never had the original at Starbucks, just stumbled across your recipe. I used half a Hokkaido Squash cut into cubes, put in the microwave for a minute and then pureed with a hand blender. Your recipe is awesome!
Great recipe thank you! Great taste and they look pretty!
I used less sugar in the filling, and made extra filling because that’s my favorite part. Next time I will also fill the muffin liners 2/3rds full instead of half full. (I did half full this time, and mine rose above the liners but they would have been prettier with more of a muffin top.)
Thanks again 🙂
I just tried the cheesecake pumpkin recipe and they turned out great. If you do want to skip the cheesecake filling like I did (since I didn’t have cream cheese on hand), just fill the muffin tins up to 3/4s full. My muffins ended up taking 17 minutes to bake. Candying the pumpkin seeds either to mix into the muffins or just to top makes the muffins even better. Thanks for the recipe
I made these with what I had on hand so I used organic light brown sugar instead of regular sugar, organic coconut oil subbed for the vegetable, unsweetened almond milk and organic sprouted whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. For the filling I used organic powdered sugar subbed for the sugar and along with the pumpkin seeds I sprinkled cinnamon on top too. They were so easy to make and the taste is something you truly could not buy from a cafe! 😉 Thank you for posting your wonderful recipe!
Yes please!! Next time I will also try oil instead of butter, haven’t tried that before!
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