Want a more budget-friendly way to get your pumpkin spice fix than going to Starbucks for a PSL? Then you’ve got to make a batch of these Pumpkin Muffins. These muffins are moist, subtly sweet, full of warm spices, and have a hidden dollop of sweet cream cheese in the middle. They’re totally indulgent and you get a whole batch of twelve pumpkin muffins for about the price of one pumpkin spice latte. Plus, they’re freezer-friendly so you thaw one at a time to have with your morning coffee from now until the end of pumpkin season! 🙌
What Are Pumpkin Muffins Like?
Pumpkin purée is kind of magic because it can be added to both sweet and savory dishes (like pumpkin soup!), and it attracts moisture, which helps keep baked goods super soft, tender, and moist. The pumpkin flavor is slightly earthy with a subtle sweetness that, when paired with the warm pumpkin pie spice, is absolutely COZY. Bake up a batch of these pumpkin muffins on a weekend morning to make your house smell amazing and have the coziest of cozy fall experiences. 🥰
Ingredients for Pumpkin Muffins
Here’s what you’ll need to make this incredible pumpkin muffin recipe:
- All-Purpose Flour: Flour gives the batter strength and body. It’s the vehicle for all that pumpkin-y goodness!
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These muffins get a one-two punch of leavening to help them bake up light and airy, despite the density of the pumpkin purée.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice and Vanilla: A simple mix of pumpkin pie spice and warm vanilla extract is all you need to flavor these delicious muffins.
- White Sugar & Brown Sugar: A combination of white sugar and brown sugar gives the muffins sweetness with a slightly warm richness from the molasses in the brown sugar. The sugars also help keep the muffins moist.
- Eggs: Eggs also help leaven baked goods when the water in the eggs turn to steam in the oven. When the egg solidifies as it bakes, it helps the muffins hold their puffed shape.
- Pumpkin Purée: Pumpkin purée provides color, flavor, and moisture to the muffins. It’s the star of the show!
- Cooking Oil: Oil helps the muffins stay moist and tender, and gives the muffin an extra rich flavor.
- Cream Cheese & Sugar: A little dollop of sweetened cream cheese in the center of each muffin makes them extra special! But you can skip the cream cheese filling and make plain pumpkin muffins if you prefer.
How to Store Leftovers
This recipe makes a batch of 12 muffins, but that’s no reason to not make them for yourself if you live alone. Simply let the muffins cool completely to room temperature, then transfer to an air-tight food storage container. They’ll last about three days in the refrigerator, or you can freeze them for about three months. Thaw and reheat the frozen muffins with a quick 30 seconds in the microwave, or let them thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Quick, easy, homemade muffins on demand!
Pumpkin Muffin Variations
You can take this basic pumpkin muffin batter and add so many different twists. Here are a couple of fun ideas for making this recipe your own:
- Skip the cream cheese center and fold in chocolate chips
- Top the muffins with a mixture of coarse sugar and cinnamon
- Add chopped pecans to the batter or on top of each muffin
- Make a quick cinnamon sugar glaze (powdered sugar + cinnamon + milk) to drizzle over the muffins (I did this during testing and while it didn’t look so pretty, it made them taste like cinnamon-coated donuts!)
- Add a streusel topping
Pumpkin Muffins
Servings 12 muffinsIngredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.28)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda ($0.01)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice ($0.10)
- 2 large eggs ($0.18)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar ($0.17)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar ($0.26)
- 1 15oz. can pumpkin purée ($2.19)
- 1/2 cup cooking oil ($0.44)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.59)
Cream Cheese Filling (optional)
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature ($1.10)
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar ($0.04)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, oil, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the bowl of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and stir together just until combined. A few small lumps are okay, just try not to overmix.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and sugar for the cream cheese filling.
- Grease a muffin tin or line with muffin liners. Fill each well in the muffin pan about ⅓ full. Add a small dollop of the cream cheese to each well, in the center of the muffin batter. Divide the remaining muffin batter between each well, covering the cream cheese. Each well in the muffin pan should be filled about ¾ full.
- Bake the muffins for about 24 minutes, or until fully puffed in the center and slightly cracked on top.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes before gently removing them from the muffin pan and allowing them to finish cooling on a wire rack.
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Equipment
Nutrition
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How to Make Pumpkin Muffins – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice until evenly combined.
In a separate large bowl, stir together one 15oz. can of pumpkin purée, 2 large eggs, ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup cooking oil, and 1 tsp vanilla extract until smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir them together just until combined. A few small lumps are okay, just be careful not to over-stir.
To make the cream cheese filling, stir together 4oz. room temperature cream cheese and 2 Tbsp white sugar.
Grease a muffin tin or line with paper liners. Fill each well in the tin about ⅓ full with pumpkin batter, then add a dollop of the sweetened cream cheese on top. Fill the rest of the way with the remaining pumpkin batter. Or, if choosing not to do the cream cheese filling, simply divide the pumpkin batter among the 12 wells of the muffin tin.
Bake the muffins in the preheated 350ºF oven for about 24 minutes, or until the muffins are fully puffed in the center and cracked slightly, and a little golden on the edges. Let them cool for about 5 minutes in the muffin pan before gently transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
How much time in the oven wud u say for mini muffins?
We haven’t tested it, but they should be good at about 13-15 minutes!
I was thinking of adding chocolate chips to the batter to jazz up the muffins since I don’t have any cream cheese, do you think that would work?
For sure!
Tried this for the first time and it tasted great! Will add more pumpkin spice for the spice taste :)
Question – how do i get a crunchier muffin top? Mine are quite soft. Thanks!
These are meant to be soft! But you could always add a streusel topping if you want some crunch, or even candied pecans or walnuts!
Simple to make and taste very good, I ran out of oil however and subbed same amount of water. It still tasted very good
These are the best pumpkin muffins I’ve ever eaten !
Yum! I subbed applesauce for the oil. I was able to get 18 muffins out of this recipe! So good! I’ll try adding pecans next time.
I’m super late in shopping for thanksgiving and was hoping to make these, but the only cream cheese in stock is the whipped cream cheese. Is it possible to substitute the regular cream cheese for whipped cream cheese?
Oh, that’s hard to say, unfortunately. The whipped cream cheese has a lot of air in it, so I’m not sure it would work the same in the crust.