Light and tender small batch pumpkin muffins swirled with a layer of cheesecake both in the batter and on top of the muffins.
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pumpkin cheesecake muffins (small batch)
It’s officially fall which means it’s time for pumpkin everything, which I’m definitely not complaining about. These pumpkin cheesecake muffins are perfectly delicious and super easy to make – they start out with a super moist pumpkin pie spiced pumpkin muffin that’s made with oil so it’s *extra* tender, and they’re filled with a super rich and creamy vanilla cheesecake batter.
why you’ll love these pumpkin cream cheese muffins:
- They’re small batch: meaning it makes the perfect amount to have fresh muffins for a few days to yourself.
- They’re super moist: as all muffins should be.
- The *thick* layer of cheesecake: it’s not just cream cheese in these muffins, it’s a thick layer of cheesecake filling!
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before starting the muffins.
Mix the batter carefully
It is super important to not overmix the muffin batter. Overmixing the batter leads to more gluten development which is not desirable in these muffins. Not only will you get those pointy tops on the muffins, but you will end up with tough and chewy muffins.
keep a close eye on the muffins while they bake
Muffins like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. Start checking at 14 minutes with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out wet, check them again in 2 minutes and so on until only a few moist crumbs stick to the toothpick.
how to get bakery style muffin tops
One trick to getting those nicely domed muffin tops is (mostly) all in your oven’s temperature! Bake the muffins at 425°F / 220°C for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C and continue baking until done. The super high heat will make the muffins rise nice and tall! You will also want to bake them lined in every other tin on the muffin pan, and fill them to the very top. This recipe makes the perfect amount of batter to fill every muffin liner straight to the top for those perfect muffin tops!
Another trick, that’s optional, is resting the muffin batter. After making the muffin batter, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking. This will give time for the starches in the flour to absorb the moisture in the batter and will give you more flavorful, higher-rising muffins. Most baking powder is – but – just make sure your baking powder is “double acting” if you try this method.
how to evenly distribute your muffin batter
My favorite way to evenly distribute muffin batter is to use cookie scoops! Works perfectly every time. So long are the days of eyeballing which muffin may need a little more batter.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for small batch pumpkin cheesecake muffins:
pumpkin muffins:
- All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
- Baking powder: for helping the muffins rise.
- Baking soda: for helping the muffins rise.
- Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the muffins.
- Pumpkin pie spice: for flavor! I use store-bought pumpkin pie spice but you can also use your own mix if desired. If you don’t want to go out and get pumpkin pie spice, an equal amount of cinnamon will give you some good flavor as well.
- Vegetable oil: or any other neutral oil, for tenderizing the muffins.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening and helping lock in moisture.
- Canned pumpkin: for flavor! Make sure you are using 100% pure pumpkin.
- Egg: for binding and for moisture.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
- Greek yogurt: for moisture and tenderizing the muffin batter. You can also substitute in regular yogurt or sour cream.
- Pepitas: optional, for topping and for a little crunch.
cheesecake filling:
- Cream cheese: the base of the cheesecake. I recommend using full fat cream cheese, but Neufchatel will work here as well!
- Egg yolk: takes the filling from cream cheese to cheesecake consistency.
- Granulated sugar: we will only use a little bit of sugar here to sweeten up the cheesecake filling.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
how to make small batch pumpkin cheesecake muffins
Here’s a few images of the process of making these small batch pumpkin cheesecake muffins. You can find the full recipe at the end of this blog post!
- Beat together the cheesecake ingredients, then set them aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients.
- Then mix in the dry ingredients.
- Layer the pumpkin muffin batter and the cheesecake batter between six parchment liners. Bake, serve, and enjoy!
small batch pumpkin cheesecake muffins recipe q&a
can I double this recipe?
Of course! Obviously they will not be small batch anymore but small batch isn’t always what we need. Simply double all of the ingredients in the recipe to make 12 delicious muffins. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.
how to store muffins
Like most baked goods, these muffins will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Small Batch Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling
- 120 g cream cheese room temperature (½ c.)
- 25 g granulated sugar (2 tbsp.)
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- ½ tsp. vanilla
Pumpkin Muffins
- 50 g vegetable oil (¼ c.)
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 30 g greek yogurt room temperature (2 tbsp.)
- 150 g pumpkin puree (⅔ c.)
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 120 g all purpose flour (1 c.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 35 g pepitas optional (¼ c. + 1 tbsp.)
Instructions
Cheesecake Filling
- Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Alternate lining a muffin pan with 6 parchment liners.
- In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and set it aside.
Pumpkin Muffins
- To a small mixing bowl, add the oil, sugar, egg, greek yogurt, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk together until the mixture is cohesive and well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently mix the ingredients together just until no flour streaks remain.
- Distribute the muffin batter evenly between the six parchment liners.
- Snip the end off of the piping bag and pipe the cheesecake batter into the middle of the six muffins. Once you reach the top of the muffin, swirl the bag to swirl the cheesecake batter on top of the muffins. (Optional: top the muffins with pepitas).
- Bake the muffins at 425°F for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
I really enjoyed this one! They came out perfectly and I rather enjoy the recipes that are specifically small batch.
Okay! I’ll be sure to do that. I did read online that when making mini muffins, they need to be baked in less time than the original version. They say about 10 to 13 minutes. Thank you so much for all the advice! I greatly appreciate it. Now I am all set to make them this Sunday! 😀
Hello! Thank you so much for the advice on the sugar and baking powder! 😀 I’m so sorry for disturbing you with all these questions. I just wanted to make sure to make the muffins good. I just need to ask one more question and I’m all set, no more questions. I was checking my pantry to see if we had any of the ingredients to make the muffins, and I saw that we had self-rising flour. Is it okay to use self-rising flour in place of all-purpose flour, or is it best to use all-purpose flour as the recipe says? Thank you again for all your help! I greatly appreciate it! 😀
Hi! No worries 🙂 I would definitely recommend using all purpose flour, self-rising flour has baking powder & salt already in it at different amounts than the recipe so it wouldn’t work out properly.
Exactly as I thought. Good thing I did buy all-purpose flour. Thank you so much! 😀 I am now all set to make the muffins this week! I am also planning on making them into mini muffins for my coworkers, in which how many minutes is best to bake a mini muffin version of the pumpkin cheesecake muffins as I read that mini muffins will need less time to bake than regular-size muffins. Thank you so much for all your help! 😀
Hi! I have not tested these as mini muffins but I would start checking on them for doneness with a toothpick around 10 minutes.
Hello again! 😀 I just noticed when reading the recipe for the cheesecake filling, I need vanilla. Is that vanilla extract?
Yes it is vanilla extract 🙂
Okay! Great! That’s exactly what I thought. And then I just have a few more questions and I’m good to go in buying the ingredients. My family and I use a brand of light brown sugar called Zulka. Is it okay to use that in place of granulated sugar? If not, what brand of granulated sugar is the best and most affordable? And for baking powder, I keep finding ones that say double acting. Is it okay to use baking powder that say double acting and what would be the best and affordable brand to get? And if not, what brand of baking powder is best to get that is not double acting? Thank you again for all your help! This has been really helpful! 😀
Hi! Yes you can sub in brown sugar with no issues. If you wanted get granulated sugar any brand will work great but my personal preference is Florida Crystals sugar! And yes most baking powder is double acting and that’s the standard one to use in baking – any brand will work here as well! 🙂
I was actually going to choose Libby’s as a coworker recommended that before. So, I’ll go with Libby’s! Thank you so much! 😀
Hello, I need to ask for some advice on making the muffins as I am hoping to make them this month. I once wrote a message on Instagram a couple of days ago, but never received a response. Anyway, I need to ask for advice on some of the ingredients. For cream cheese, what brand do you recommend that is best and is lactose-free? I want to use lactose-free ingredients in case any of my coworkers are lactose intolerant. For the egg, what size egg should be used? I read that large eggs are best to use for baking, but I want to make sure. Also, to beat the cream cheese, do I use a mixer, the small one that is usually hand-held? For the pumpkin pie spice, I was looking on Walmart.com so that I can purchase it there, but I got a little confused. There is a pumpkin pie spice that is a spice and then another that is an extract. Which do I get? And do you have a video of how to make the muffins? I am hoping to start learning to make them during the Veteran’s Day holiday, but I am going to buy the ingredients on Friday, Nov. 8. Yet, I need to know the correct ingredients to buy and how to beat cream cheese.
Hi Ana, sorry I missed your message! IG messages are not the best at showing up. I don’t typically used lactose-free ingredients in my bakes but I’ve heard great things about Violife cream cheese! And for the sour cream, lactaid sour cream would work great. And yes – large eggs are always the size used in baking unless otherwise specified. You can use a small hand-held mixer to beat the cream cheese or you can do it by hand (it would just take a bit more arm work, of course!) And for the pumpkin pie spice, you’ll just want the spice, not the extract. As for the video, the only one I have is the reel on my Instagram. I hope this helps!
Thank you! This has helped a lot! Thank you so much! I’m not sure where I can find Violife cream cheese, but so far I found a lactose-free cream cheese of a brand called Green Valley. Thank you so much for all your help and have a great day! 😀
Hello again! 😀 I actually need to ask one more question. For the pumpkin puree, what brand do you recommend?
I usually use Libby’s but honestly any store-brand pumpkin puree works great as well!
Could I make this in a loaf tin? I don’t have a muffin pan but I have leftover egg yolk and mascarpone.
Excited to try and I love your recipes!
Hi Zara! I don’t see why you couldn’t make these in a loaf tin – it just won’t fill up the loaf all the way like a typical loaf recipe would.
Love this recipe! Happy fall🍁🍂
Yes I made these today , they are so good , flavorful , fluffy moist but not heavy at all . They came out exactly as yours .You are a lovely baker , Erin. I’ve also made your cinnamon bun scone recipe about 5 times , I never had any thing so delicious ever. ☺️
Oh my goodness! This muffins are so moist and yummy!! I w I’ll definitely make again!!
Thank you so much Yvonne! 🙂
i’m makin this tonight butttt i don’t have any pumpkin . i’ll substitute w sweet potatoes though sooo excited thank you for the recipe 🫶🏾
Exciting! Thank you so much for making them, I’d love to hear how they turn out!