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Perfect Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins: Easy Streusel Recipe

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These pumpkin cream cheese muffins with streusel topping are a happy accident that turned into a fall favorite. The cream cheese creates tangy pockets throughout the tender pumpkin muffin, topped with a buttery, crunchy streusel.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (220g)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar (100g)
  • ½ cup vegetable oil (120ml)
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (240g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 oz cream cheese (113g), softened
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour (60g) for streusel
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar (50g) for streusel
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar (50g) for streusel
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon for streusel
  • ¼ cup cold unsalted butter (57g), cut into small cubes

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line your muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Make the streusel first. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter cubes. Use a pastry blender or your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized butter pieces. Pop this in the fridge while you make the batter.
  3. Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
  4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Stir in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
  5. Soften the cream cheese. If you forgot to take it out of the fridge, microwave it for about 10-15 seconds until it’s soft but not melted. Cut it into small cubes.
  6. Combine wet and dry. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two additions, folding gently with a rubber spatula. Mix until just combined—a few streaks of flour are fine.
  7. Add the cream cheese. Fold in about half of the softened cream cheese cubes into the batter. Don’t overmix—you want visible streaks of cream cheese.
  8. Fill the muffin cups. Use a cookie scoop to divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Each cup should be about ¾ full. Then dollop the remaining cream cheese cubes on top of the batter, pressing them in slightly.
  9. Add the streusel. Take the streusel out of the fridge and sprinkle it generously over each muffin. Use your fingers to press it gently into the batter so it sticks.
  10. Bake. Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. The tops should be golden brown and the streusel should look crispy.
  11. Cool. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Room temperature ingredients matter. Don’t overmix the batter. Use a cookie scoop for even muffins. Check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer. Let the streusel chill until the last minute. Use a light-colored metal pan for even browning.

Nutrition

Keywords: pumpkin muffins, cream cheese muffins, streusel muffins, fall baking, pumpkin cream cheese muffins

Find it online: https://yumbelle.com/perfect-pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins-easy-streusel-recipe/