These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins are moist spiced pumpkin muffins that have a fluffy pillow of sweet cream cheese swirled in.

I love them. I live for them.

I have made many pumpkin muffins and other pumpkin goods in the past, including these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (Pumpkindoodles), but these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins are at the top of my list of favorites.

Pumpkin and cream cheese go together PERFECTLY.

Inside these fluffy and spongey pumpkin muffins is a little pocket of creamy, soft, sweetened cream cheese that is the most delightful surprise when you dive into these puppies.

I’m a huge fan of the whole pumpkin and cream cheese combo so it wouldn’t be a total shock that I consumed 3 muffins during this photo shoot.

This powerful and perfect flavor combo is so simple to make and fun too. Littles will get a kick out swirling the cream cheese around with a toothpick and becoming instant artists.

HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE

Spray a muffin tin and liner with non stick cooking spray. This will keep the muffins from sticking to the paper liners when they cool. Alternatively, if you have these silicon muffin liners, that is even better!
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese mixture. You can mix by hand or use a hand or stand mixer.
In a large mixing bowl, mix pumpkin muffin batter. I just used the handheld beater for this but you can mix by hand too.
I like to use a cookie dough scoop to portion muffin batter. The kind with a trigger that makes the batter drop out easily. This keeps the muffins all the same size so they bake up evenly.
Evenly distribute cream cheese by the tablespoon in the center of each muffin. Use a toothpick to swirl cream cheese into batter and bake.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

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Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Muffin

1 (15 oz) can of pure pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon baking soda (make sure it is not old or the muffins won't rise properly)
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Cream Cheese Swirl

1 (8oz) block of cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Assemble and spray your muffin tin
In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, brown and white sugars. Beat until just combined, do not overtax or the muffins will become dense as they bake
In a separate bowl, mix flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt
In another bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar (I recommend slowly incorporating the powdered sugar as you beat so it doesn't get all over the place. Ask me how I know)
I also recommend microwaving your cream cheese mixture to make it easier to swirl. I just zapped mine for about 15 seconds and it was perfect
In your prepared muffin tins, add a scoop of the muffin batter into each cup, filling about halfway
Next, add a dollop (about a teaspoon) of the cream cheese filling to the center of each muffin
Using a toothpick, swirl the cream cheese throughout the muffin creating a beautiful design. I like to dip the toothpick deep in the batter to bring up some of the pumpkin mixture so it bakes around the cream cheese
Bake for 18 minutes, check the doneness with a toothpick making sure the toothpick comes out clean. That is how you know they are done
Let cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!!

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Try out my Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting for this holidays!