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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!
I love Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins… But these… I am IN LOVE with!!! They taste just like Starbucks ones but I know exactly what I am putting into these muffins and that makes them even more enjoyable to me. I did make some substitutions…
I used half brown sugar (packed), liquified coconut oil, and I added some flour to the cream cheese mix to give it more body.
Also, I didn’t follow the directions for mixing them together (it’s 2am & I didn’t even look at the directions until after I had started putting my wet ingredients together lol the dry was already mixed well in a bowl 🤦🏻♀️) but they still tasted Fantastic!!!
I think next time I will add just a tad bit more vanilla to the cream cheese mix to cut a little more of the tangy taste in the cream cheese.
All in all I will definitely be making these again!!!
I doubled the recipe and had enough for 12 full muffins and a 9×9 pan. Also, mine baked for about 21-22 mins because I added a oat, pecan, pumpkin seed crunch around the edges.
Thanks so much for these recipe!!!
These are little pumpkin treat gems. They turned out exactly like the photo and delicious! Can’t wait to test freezing them so I can indulge at will with a favorite cup of tea! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
This recipe is amazing. I have passed it on to so many friends. Delicious and super easy.
These muffins are PERFECT! I made these today to bring to my nana who loves pumpkin baked goods and they turned out amazing! Definitely follow the 1/2 full part of filling the cupcakes wells. I filled mine about 3/4 and they were so big the cream cheese spread over on one batch. Once I lowered to 1/2 they came out perfectly! Super simple ingredients and perfect results! I will definitely be making these throughout the fall.
These muffins were amazing… I doubled the recipe to make 24. I like muffin top so I was able to fill 24 muffins 3/4 of the way. I used a piping bag to place an even amount of cream cheese and I added extra pumpkin pie seasoning along with extra salt and added a tiny bit of salt to the filling. Next time I will add the pumpkin seeds around it so they will look authentic but they DO taste just like starbucks! I’m happy with this recipe!
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