EASY Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Here’s a great pumpkin cream cheese muffin recipe to warm you up this fall season. It comes to us from the B Street House Bed & Breakfast in Virginia City, NV. There are two things in this recipe that make your taste buds leap off the charts — it’s spicy like gingerbread and it has a cream cheese surprise in the middle. Plus they’re EASY to make! Hit the “jump to” recipe button above or scroll through for more tips and tricks.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins – Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s a list of the ingredients you’ll need to make these pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling. It may look like a long list, but it’s mostly spices.

• cream cheese
• flour
• dark brown sugar
• pumpkin pie spice
• cinnamon
• ground cloves
• nutmeg
• ground ginger
• cardamom
• baking soda
• salt
• cooked or canned pumpkin
• vegetable oil
• eggs
• molasses
• vanilla extract
• chopped walnuts

Secret Ingredient – Cardamom

When I first made these back when I had an inn, there was one particular spice that I didn’t have in my pantry. And while I was shopping for ingredients my jaw it the floor at the price of cardamom. Our local grocer carried only one brand of cardamom, and the sucker was twelve bucks for a little jar. Small town living, I guess!

This inspired me to do some research.  What’s the story behind this pricey spice? I googled it and found that my $12 bottle was a bargain.  Some spice shops online were charging upwards of $67. I’ve just renamed this recipe Fall Harvest Food Of The Gods. The cardamom truly makes this muffin the epitome of “pumpkin spice” and is the secret ingredient, for sure.

How To Make Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

1 – Preheat Oven and Prep Muffin Tins

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees (325 if it is a convection oven). Then, prep your muffin tin by lining with 12 paper baking cups. If you’re not using paper cups, grease or spray the muffin tin with butter-flavored oil spray.

2 – Stir Together Dry Ingredients

Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices) to a large mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk, stir together the dry ingredients until they’re well blended. Make sure to beak up any clumps from the brown sugar.

3 – Mix Together Wet Ingredients

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until the yolks are well blended. Then add the pumpkin, oil, molasses, and vanilla.

4 – Blend Together Batter

Using a fork or spatula, stir pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients until blended. Then spoon the muffin batter into the paper cups or baking tin and fill them only 3/4 of the way full.

5 – Prepare The Cream Cheese

Using a sharp knife, divide cream cheese into 12 equal portions. It’s easiest to do this if the cream cheese is cold right out of the refrigerator. One it gets soft it becomes kind of sticky.

6 – Add Cream Cheese To Muffins

Put one portion of cream cheese in the middle of the muffin batter for each muffin, pressing down lightly. Add a spoonful more of batter on top of each muffin to cover the cream cheese.

7 – Finish And Bake Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Sprinkle the top of each pumpkin muffin with chopped walnuts. Then bake at 350 (325 for convection) for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the side of the muffin part (The cream cheese in the middle will be soft). Let cool for a bit then serve!

 

 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

More Recipes You’ll Love!

• Sweet Potato Muffins
• EASY One Bowl Pumpkin Bread
• Quick and Easy Microwave Oatmeal
• Cherry Almond Oatmeal Bake

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The recipe for pumpkin muffins originally published on my innkeeping blog, Inn The Kitchen, on Oct 29, 2011. Updated for The Travel Bite.