These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are soft, moist and perfectly spiced! They have a cream cheese center baked right into the middle! Every bite is pumpkin spice heaven!

I used to slather cream cheese on my pumpkin muffins and I thought I was pretty baller.
I was wrong. I’ve lived a little and I’ve seen a lot, and I can assert with 100% confidence that baking the cream cheese right into the pumpkin muffin is where it's at.

This is living.
This is a super soft, moist pumpkin muffin stuffed with a cream cheese filling and baked to perfection. Plus, it’s an easy clean up because you can make these muffins by hand! You know I like to stuff my desserts with all the things, but the simple vanilla-spiked cream cheese filling on these muffins is just delightful. I look for almost any excuse to use my pumpkin pie spice mix these days, sitting back in the NY heat waiting for the crisp air of autumn to hit.
The orange of the batter of these muffins just makes me happy to begin with, that bright fall color brings a smile to my face, but nothing compares to the taste once they’re fully baked! One note I always make when folks make muffins, is be careful not to over mix. Gently fold those dry ingredients in there (yes, I’m also thinking of Schitt’s Creek when I say the word “fold”)! Can't wait for you to enjoy these.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 226 g Light brown sugar
- 460 g Sugar
- 200 g Vegetable Oil
- 4 Eggs
- 428 g Pumpkin puree
- 455 g All purpose flour
- 10 g baking soda
- 7 g baking powder
- 6 g Salt
- 3 tablespoons Pumpkin spice mix
- 6 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
- 28 g Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard muffin tins with liners.
- In a medium bowl beat cream cheese with sugar until smooth and then add vanilla. This can also be done easily by hand if the cream cheese is slightly softened.
Mix the Batter:
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin spice in a medium bowl. Whisk to incorporate, set aside.
- Whisk together light brown sugar, sugar, oil, and eggs. Whisk in puree.
- Whisk in dry ingredients.
- Scoop or spoon muffins between the prepared liners. Using a small cookie scoop (about an inch wide), scoop cream cheese mixture into the center of each and press down slightly.
- Bake in preheated oven about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few clinging crumbs or they spring back lightly to the touch.
Video Instructions

Notes
- 12 g Cinnamon (1 ½ T)
- 6 g Ginger (3 t)
- 1 g Cloves (½ t)
- 1 g Nutmeg (½ t)
- 1 g Allspice (½ t)
Was unclear how much sugar to add to cream cheese - is it 460 grams or 26?
Hi Liz! Great question. The 28 grams is for the cream cheese filling, while the 460 grams is for the muffins themselves. Happy baking! ????