This post may contain affiliate links, view our disclosure policy.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins combine pumpkin and cheesecake into one of the best muffins ever. Moist pumpkin muffins bursting with warm spices are swirled with a sweet cream cheese filling. Perfect for pumpkin season baking.
Pumpkin and cheesecake were made for each other so be sure and try these other pumpkin cheesecake favorites like Cream Cheese-Stuffed Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, and Pumpkin Cheesecake Whoopie Pies.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
I am loving all the pumpkin recipes this time of year. I can’t get enough of them, especially when it comes to the beloved combination of pumpkin and cheesecake. It really is the perfect pairing with the fall flavors of pumpkin combined with the creamy and sweet cheesecake – it’s always so good.
These delicious pumpkin cream cheese muffins take a tender pumpkin muffin, dolloped in the center of each muffin is a sweet cheesecake mixture, and then two batters get swirled together to create one of my favorite and easy pumpkin muffins. Tastes just like Pumpkin Cheesecake but in handheld muffin form 😍
Simple Ingredients Needed
A simple recipe that has you mix the wet ingredients in one bowl, and the dry ingredients into another bowl. Then combine them together to form the pumpkin batter for the muffins. Plus the cheesecake batter which is a simple 4 ingredient cheesecake filling that gets swirled on top of the muffins. Here are the simple baking ingredients you will need.
Pumpkin Muffin Batter Ingredients
- 100% Canned Pumpkin Puree : You will use the entire can in this recipe! Which I love! Make sure you are using pure pumpkin and not the canned pumpkin pie filling.
- Granulated Sugar
- Vegetable Oil
- Large Eggs
- All-Purpose Flour : I use unbleached all-purpose flour for all my baking recipes.
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Ground Cinnamon
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Salt : I use fine sea salt.
Cheesecake Swirl Ingredients
- Cream Cheese : For the best taste and thick creamy texture, use full-fat cream cheese, and not lite or reduced-fat.
- Powdered Sugar
- Large Egg
- Vanilla Extract
How To Make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins (Printable Recipe Card)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan(s) with parchment paper muffin liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the pure pumpkin, sugar, oil, and large eggs. Use an electric mixer to beat until thoroughly combined, fluffy looking, and lighter in color; about 1-2 minutes.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
Add half of the dry ingredients into the larger bowl of wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until a few flour streaks remain in the batter. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined and no flour streaks or pockets remain in the batter.
Make the cheesecake swirl by adding the cream cheese, powdered sugar, large egg, and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl (I re-use the bowl that had the dry ingredients in it), and beat until creamy and combined.
Fill each muffin cup halfway with the pumpkin mixture. Add 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake mixture to each muffin cup. Add more pumpkin muffin batter on top of the cream cheese in each muffin cup to completely cover it. Each muffin cup should be almost full.
Use a toothpick to swirl the two batters together. Do not over swirl, just swirl the batters until you start to see the swirl lines of them combining.
Bake for 18-22 minutes. Use a toothpick to ensure the muffins are cooked thoroughly. The cheesecake will naturally be softer, so make sure you are testing the pumpkin muffin itself, and a toothpick inserted should come out clean with moist crumbs and no wet batter.
Let the muffins cool in the muffin pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature. These muffins can be eaten slightly warm, at room temperature, or chilled. They are delicious either way! Because of the cream cheese, the muffins should be stored in the fridge within 2 hours of being at room temperature. See notes for more details.
How To Store Pumpkin Muffins With A Cheesecake Swirl
Because of the cream cheese in the muffins, you want to make sure that you are not leaving them out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. They will start to soften the longer they are out at room temperature.
Bake the muffins and let them cool according to the directions. Once cooled to room temperature, serve the muffins within 2 hours, or place them in the fridge if you don’t plan on serving them within a couple of hours.
Put the muffins inside an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days. Eat the muffins chilled from the fridge or allow them to sit out at room temperature for a short time to soften. I think these muffins taste best when eaten fresh from baking within that couple of hours time slot. They are also really good chilled too.
Tips For Success
- Make sure that you don’t over swirl the two batters together. If you swirl too much, then you won’t be able to clearly see the cheesecake layer and the pumpkin layer, and the pretty swirl pattern they create. It will instead end up looking like a muffin with only one batter in it. They will still taste delicious but the look will be different.
- Use full-fat cream cheese for the best results. Low-fat and lighter options contain more water in them which can affect the creamy and thick texture of the cheesecake batter. Plus, full-fat cream cheese tastes so much better than the other stuff.
- I love using the parchment paper muffin liners when making muffins. They help the muffins bake more evenly and prevent the bottoms and sides from browning. I highly recommend using them, but you can also use regular paper liners too. I don’t recommend just using nonstick spray to spray the muffin cups, as I don’t think the pumpkin cheesecake muffins turn out as good that way.
- This recipe calls for 100% pure pumpkin which looks similar to the canned pumpkin pie filling – however, they are not the same thing and cannot be interchanged.
More Must-Try Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Crinkle Cookies
- Perfect Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Magic Cake
- Honey Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
- Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake
- Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Cake
- Pumpkin Pudding Pie
Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
Ingredients
Pumpkin Muffins
- 1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt (I use fine sea salt)
Cheesecake Swirl
- 1 bar (8 oz) full-fat cream cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a 12-cup muffin pan(s) with parchment paper muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the pure pumpkin, sugar, oil, and large eggs. Use an electric mixer to beat until thoroughly combined, fluffy looking, and lighter in color; about 1-2 minutes.1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin, 1¾ cups granulated sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, 4 large eggs
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon salt
- Add half of the dry ingredients into the larger bowl of wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until a few flour streaks remain in the batter. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined and no flour streaks or pockets remain in the batter.
- Make the cheesecake swirl by adding the cream cheese, powdered sugar, large egg, and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl, and beat until creamy and combined. *I re-use the bowl that had the dry ingredients in it to make the cheesecake swirl mixture.1 bar (8 oz) full-fat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 large egg, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fill each muffin cup halfway with the pumpkin mixture. Add 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake mixture to each muffin cup. Add more pumpkin muffin batter on top of the cream cheese in each muffin cup to completely cover it. Each muffin cup should be almost full.
- Use a toothpick to swirl the two batters together. Do not over swirl, just swirl the batters until you start to see the swirl lines of them combining.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes. Use a toothpick to ensure the muffins are cooked thoroughly. The cheesecake will naturally be softer, so make sure you are testing the pumpkin muffin itself, and a toothpick inserted should come out clean with moist crumbs and no wet batter.
- Let the muffins cool in the muffin pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature. These muffins can be eaten slightly warm, at room temperature, or chilled. They are delicious either way!*Because of the cream cheese, the muffins should be stored in the fridge within 2 hours of being at room temperature. See notes for more details.
Notes
- Make sure that you don’t over swirl the two batters together. If you swirl too much, then you won’t be able to clearly see the cheesecake layer and the pumpkin layer, and the pretty swirl pattern they create. It will instead end up looking like a muffin with only one batter in it. They will still taste delicious but the look will be different.
- Use full-fat cream cheese for the best results. Low-fat and lighter options contain more water in them which can affect the creamy and thick texture of the cheesecake batter. Plus, full-fat cream cheese tastes so much better than the other stuff.
- I love using the parchment paper muffin liners when making muffins. They help the muffins bake more evenly and prevent the bottoms and sides from browning. I highly recommend using them, but you can also use regular paper liners too. I don’t recommend just using nonstick spray to spray the muffin cups, as I don’t think the pumpkin cheesecake muffins turn out as good that way.
- This recipe calls for 100% pure pumpkin which looks similar to the canned pumpkin pie filling – however, they are not the same thing and cannot be interchanged.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!
Fabulous recipe! I decided to forego the muffins and make 2 loaves of bread. I thought we could eat one immediately and freeze the second loaf. Not a chance. We devoured both loaves in about 3 days. Will definitely make again before pumpkin season ends.
Awesome idea to do loaves of bread in place of muffins. I totally understand the struggle, when I make these muffins I don’t plan to have leftovers!
Hello. These sound easy and yummy. I was just wondering if they need to be kept refrigerated since they have cream cheese. Or can they just simply be left out on the counter? Thx
Does this recipe really ,make 36 muffins? I really am craving some pumpkin & cream cheese, just have to make sure I have room in my freezer!!
It does make 36 muffins based off when I made the recipe. I could vary slightly person to person depending on how full you fill your liners.
Can these be frozen?
I think that would work! Please let me know how they turn out after being frozen, I’m curious to hear how it goes.
I made these today ,the recipe was easy to follow and the muffins turned out great,my grandson loved them.Thanks for sharing this recipe.