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Pumpkin Muffins (Or Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins)

These are the best pumpkin muffins I've had.
Course: Breakfast, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Author: Lovely Little Kitchen
Servings: 10
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Print Recipe

Ingredients  

  • 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 15oz can pumpkin puree
  • ½ cup *coconut oil (melted)
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Cheesecake Filling:

  • 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions: 

  • Preheat the oven to 375°. Line and grease a 12-muffin tin and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
  • In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, and vanilla.
  • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until everything is incorporated. Do not overmix.

Optional Cheesecake Filling:

  • In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. (Make sure the cream cheese is softened, otherwise you will have lumps.)
  • Once fluffy, add the egg and gently beat just until combined.

Muffin Assembly:

  • Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full of pumpkin batter.
  • If adding the optional cheesecake filling: scoop the cream cheese mixture into a gallon ziploc bag, cut one of the corners, press the cut corner down to the bottom of the muffin cup, and squeeze about 1 Tbsp of filling into the center of the muffin.
    *You definitely need to make sure the cheesecake filling is at the bottom of the muffin. I tried to just add a dollop to the top of the muffin batter, but it just spread out over the top of the muffin while baking and was like a baked frosting. (Good but not what I intended.🙂)
  • Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Notes:

Make ahead: You could make these ahead of time and freeze them.
Right out of the oven, these have a candy-like, crispy top, but are very moist in the middle. A day after baking, they are still very, very moist.
*Coconut oil - You definitely don't have to use coconut oil. I used canola oil and it was just fine. But the coconut oil does seem to make it more moist and fluffy.