A soft pumpkin muffin, fragrant with ground cinnamon, meets a hidden center of sweetened cream cheese and a buttery crumb topping. This trio turns a simple muffin into a bakery-style treat that fits the cooler months.
Info
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 large egg
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pumpkin Batter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook's Note)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Set the oven to 350 degrees F and place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.
- Make the cream cheese filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar and sour cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated, about 1 minute more. Transfer the mixture to a resealable bag or a small pastry bag and set aside at room temperature.
- Make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until combined. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix with a fork until just combined. Add the flour and mix with the fork until evenly distributed and small, pea-size clumps form. Do not overmix or the mixture will turn into a paste. Set aside at room temperature.
- Make the pumpkin batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and baking powder until combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, oil, vanilla and egg until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Divide the pumpkin batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters of the way up. Snip the end of the resealable bag or pastry bag, then insert the tip into the center of each cup about three-quarters of the way down and squeeze about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the center of each muffin. The muffin cups should be filled almost to the top after piping in the cream cheese filling. Sprinkle the muffins evenly with the crumb topping, pressing gently into the batter to adhere.
- Bake until the muffins puff, the crumb topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean (avoid the cream cheese filling when testing with a toothpick), about 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
When measuring flour, spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)
