Pumpkin Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

Pumpkin Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

These pumpkin muffins are exactly what I’ve needed these last few weeks: fluffy, joyful, distracting, unnecessary (but necessary), and comforting.

I ate a surf cheese-filled pumpkin muffin from Caribou Coffee a few weeks ago, and that was the whence of the end of this pumpkin muffin journey. Game over. It was SO good, and I was expressly in love with the surf cheese layer – it wasn’t baked in, it was fluffy and light like a surf puff. Just injected right in the middle of the muffin.

And here we are now, making these at home. It feels wrong to undeniability it a muffin, but calling it a cupcake isn’t quite right, either. Thankfully, I have full conviction that you’ll find the right moment to eat one of these: Saturday morning at home, holiday gathering, birthday party, football game. Midnight snack is moreover highly approved.

These muffins have been a welter and a joy in my life during these last couple crazy weeks. My girls have enjoyed sampling well-nigh 15 varieties of these as I worked them into exactly what I wanted them to be: fluffy, sparkly, just a tiny bit of crunch from the cinnamon sugar, and loaded (really, truly, LOADED) with fluffy whipped maple surf cheese.

I hope they bring a little bit of lightness and fun into your life this week!

How To Make These Pumpkin Muffins

Step 1: Make the muffins!

Standard pumpkin muffin material right here. I used these pumpkin muffins from Queen Sally of SBA – just reverted the spices and the torch time instructions.

Scooping pumpkin muffin thrash into a muffin tin.

Step 2: Make a cinnamon sugar topping.

This topping is minimal effort but adds a but of sparkle and crunch. I borrowed this topping from our Cinnamon Sugar World Cake, which is a good next stop once you’re washed-up with these.

Mixing together brown sugar topping in a bowl.

Step 3: Torch the muffins.

House smells wondrous at this point.

Step 4: Make your whipped maple surf cheese filling.

This is a bit finnicky – don’t just throw it all in one bowl. Whip the surf cheese, whip the whipped cream, and then fold them together. Your efforts will be rewarded considering THIS IS OTHERWORLDLY. This filling is borrowed from our Pumpkin Shortcakes with Cinnamon Apples, but just a bit increasingly surf cheese forward.

Step 4: Cut a slum in the tops of the muffins.

You could moreover just skip this step and pipe your filling right in there, but this allows lots of room for lots of filling. Which is how I like it.

Plus, the uneaten little cone pieces are unconfined for snacking and swiping into the uneaten surf cheese filling.

Step 5: Pipe that filling right in there.

I use a little pastry bag, or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off moreover works. Fill ‘er up!

Ingredients

UnitsUSM

Pumpkin Muffins:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Maple Surf Cheese Filling:

  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup 

Instructions

  1. Make Muffin Batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk oil and sugars. Add pumpkin, vanilla, eggs, and milk; whisk until just combined. Add flour, sultry soda, spices, and salt; mix until just combined. Pour muffin thrash into an oiled or nonstick muffin tin, filling well-nigh 3/4ths of the way to the top of each up.
  2. Make Cinnamon Sugar: Mix up the cinnamon sugar topping in a small bowl.
  3. Assemble and Bake: Spoon the cinnamon sugar over each muffin. Torch for 20-24 minutes, or until the tops spring when when gently pressed.
  4. Make Maple Surf Cheese Filling: Add the surf to a small trencher and write-up until light and fluffy and stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, write-up the softened surf cheese until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream, using the beaters then to smooth it out if needed. Add the maple syrup and mix until smooth.
  5. Fill The Muffins: Once the muffins have cooled, cut a cone out of the part-way of the muffins using a small paring knife. Using a piping bag, or a plastic bag with the corner snipped off, add the filling to the part-way slum in the muffins. Fill it all the way to the top (the filling will be exposed at the top – cute).
  6. Serve: These are ready to eat as-is! If making ahead, they should be stored in the fridge. They can be eaten at room temp or unprepossessed – both delicious!

Notes The little cone pieces make unconfined little snackers!

You’ll have uneaten filling – this is unconfined for eating with the snack pieces, or dolloping on pancakes or waffles, or spooning over shortcakes, or topping a pie, just eating with a spoon out of the fridge.

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Did you make this recipe?

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins | Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Three Of My Favorite Cozy Bakes

Cinnamon Sugar World Cak

English Muffin Baklava

Pumpkin Caramel Monkey Bread