Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (gluten-free, whole grain, all-purpose options)
These pumpkin cream cheese muffins have a generous amount of filling and a streusel topping! Can be made with gluten-free, whole wheat or all-purpose flours. Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for making today’s post possible!
These are some seriously moist pumpkin muffins. They’re probably more cupcake than muffin. If you want them more hearty and muffin-like and less fluffy, you can use half applesauce / half oil in place of all the oil. I’ve tried it, but I much prefer the all oil version.
And the cream cheese filling makes them so ridiculously delicious! Unlike some cream cheese or cheesecake goodies that require chilling before serving, these are delicious straight from the oven.
You could skip the streusel if you’re short on time, but not the filling. ;) Unless you’re dairy-free and just want a yummy pumpkin muffin or cupcake recipe! For dairy-free, you’d also need to omit the streusel.
My pumpkin cupcakes are also a delicious option! They’re probably my favorite cupcake recipe ever. And for the streusel lovers, check out my pumpkin pie bars, which have a streusel crust and topping!
If you’re grain-free, you can try using the batter I used in my paleo pumpkin donut holes, but I haven’t tried it in combination with the filling in these pumpkin cream cheese muffins. If you try it out, I’d love to hear how it goes! If you aren’t grain-free, you’ve got three different flour options for this recipe.
Up until maybe 1 1/2 years ago, my recipes were either whole wheat or gluten-free. But not both. But then I got a lot of requests for gluten-free versions of the whole wheat recipes, which led me to Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, which you can use cup for cup in place of all-purpose flour. You don’t have to add a thing! It really couldn’t be any easier.
I had tried some of the gluten-free flour blends here in Germany and thought they were pretty awful. Having flour shipped to Germany isn’t cheap, so I read loads of reviews before deciding on this one.
People wrote that this was the best gluten-free baking blend they had ever used, and some even claimed that recipes sometimes came out better with this flour than with wheat flour. That was hard for me to believe, so I had to give it a try.
And they were right. I think the gluten-free version of these pumpkin cream cheese muffins is actually a tiny bit better than the whole wheat version. They were moister. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t opt for the whole wheat version if you can tolerate gluten. They’re still amazingly moist and delicious. :) And to be honest, my taste testers didn’t even notice a difference between the three types of muffins (all-purpose / gluten-free / whole wheat).
If you prefer a loaf version, check out this healthy pumpkin bread! Or want a low-carb version? Try these low-carb pumpkin cream cheese muffins!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (gluten-free, whole grain, all-purpose options)
Ingredients
For the cream cheese filling:
- 12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese
- 6 tablespoons raw sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
For the streusel:
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar or raw sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (31-34 grams) flour see notes
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter
For the batter:
- 2 cups (250-268 grams) flour see notes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs 50 grams each, out of shell, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) brown sugar or raw sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 3/4 cup (177 ml) olive oil (or another neutral-tasting oil that's liquid at room temp)
- 15 ounce (425 gram) pumpkin puree canned
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two cupcake pans with 20 paper liners.
- Prepare the filling. In a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat all filling ingredients at medium speed until light and fluffy. Set aside.12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese, 6 tablespoons raw sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch salt
- Prepare the streusel. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the sugars, cinnamon, flour and salt until combined. Use your fingers to add in the butter until well combined. Set aside.1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar, 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup (31-34 grams) flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter
- Prepare the batter. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). In another large bowl , mix together the eggs, and then add the rest of the ingredients (sugars through pumpkin puree). Stir until combined. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix just until combined (do not over mix!).2 cups (250-268 grams) flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 large eggs, 1 cup (200 grams) brown sugar, 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar, 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup, 3/4 cup (177 ml) olive oil, 15 ounce (425 gram) pumpkin puree
- Pour about 1 tablespoon of batter in each liner. Then add 4 teaspoons of filling (try to keep the filling in the middle of the muffin and not spread all over). Top with about 3 tablespoons of batter and 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 grams) of the streusel.
- Bake for 21-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the side comes out clean (being careful not to confuse raw batter with cream cheese filling). Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then very carefully remove them to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 1 day or refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Notes
- For the streusel flour, you can use 1/4 cup (34 grams) Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour or 1/4 cup (31 grams) whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
- For the batter, you can use 2 cups (268 grams) Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour or 2 cups (250 grams) whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
- If you live outside of North America and have the kind of cream cheese that’s meant for toast (that comes in a little plastic tub) rather than American style brick cream cheese, then get a 450 grams of cream cheese, place it in the center of a cheesecloth, and wring out the liquid until you have 340 grams of cream cheese left.
- If you use olive oil, the batter will taste like olive oil but the taste disappears after baking.
Excellent recipe- I made both wheat and gluten free versions to rave reviews. For Canadian readers, I use Bulk Barn’s 1:1 gluten free flour mix (in place of Erin’s suggested Bob’s Red Mills) and the muffins come out beautifully with an extra 3-4 minutes of baking time. The streusel topping also works very well with almond flour.
I love that you made both versions! Thanks for the tip for the Canadian readers. :) That’s interesting that almond flour worked in the topping! Did you use the same amount? Thanks so much for your feedback!
This batter also bakes well in a loaf pan! I used a pan that makes 4 mini loafs and baked them for 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees F. I used the pumpkin batter and then topped with the streusel. It is so moist that it is a crossover between a pumpkin bread and a pumpkin cake. So good!
Oooh! That’s great to know. So did you not include the cream cheese filling? Thanks so much for including the pan sizes and baking time + temperature! :) I’ll have to try that out. I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for your comment!
Nope, I didn’t use the cream cheese filling for the bread. I made a dozen of the muffins with all three parts, but then ran out of cream cheese filling and had a ton of batter left over because I’m bad at portioning (haha!). So, instead of wasting the rest of the batter I decided to try baking it as a loaf and it worked! Yay!! :) thanks for the recipe!
Haha. I’m bad at portioning, too. ;) And that’s some great info. Thanks again for your feedback!
The one thing I haven’t baked in pumpkin season is muffins and now I have to bake these! Good to know about the Bob’s Red Mill GF flour…I am experimenting sometimes with things for when my GF friends come to eat with us. These look fabulous!
You HAVE to try their flour! It makes GF baking so very easy. I hope you’ll enjoy the muffins! :)
Hi! I don’t know if you’ve been asked this yet, but do you share anything Paleo? Can I substitute the flour in these with coconut or almond flour? Thanks!
I hope I don’t miss your reply. I am disabled and don’t check my fb or tablet (email) as often as I should!
Connie
Hello! I have lots of paleo recipes. :) You can see them here: paleo recipes. The cream cheese and regular / brown sugar in these muffins (along with the flour, which isn’t interchangeable with paleo flours) isn’t paleo, but I mention a grain-free version possibility after the first picture in the post. I hope that helps! :)
Erin, do you know if they carry this particular flour in Canada? I’d love to try it. If not I can pick some up next time we travel to the states.
I found a Canadian site that sells BRM but didn’t see that flour there. But I know you go to the US often so you should easily be able to find it there. :) I know you’ll love it!
This has pretty much everything I want in a muffin! Yummy!
Right?! ;)
Wow. I made these yesterday (gluten free) and they were amazing! I am so glad I found your website.
Yay! I’m so very happy to hear that. :) I’m happy you found my website, too! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.