Hello friends! I am really happy you’re here today. If you found your way here via Style at a Certain Age and Kelly’s Kitchen, I hope this new blog will entertain and inspire you! This week I celebrated my birthday, so I felt something a little sweet was in order. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are just the ticket for a not-too-sweet treat. Especially in the fall.
Being that my birthday is at the beginning of November, it’s always on or around an election day. In fact, I was born the day Jimmy Carter was elected. I always like to ask my mom if she managed to get herself to the polls on time! Rest assured, both of my parents say they made it to the polls. Another hallmark of my autumnal birthday is pumpkin pie. More often than not, I had a pumpkin pie instead of a cake for my birthday. So, I have a soft spot for pumpkin pie!
Which led me to Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. I love the sweet savory combination that comes from slightly sweetened cheese. Whether ricotta or cream cheese, it’s such a satisfying flavor. This recipe is easy and comes together quickly, so you will be enjoying the pumpkin goodness in no time!
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper or silicone baking cups. Then, like most bakes, you will mix your wet ingredients and sugars separately from your dry ingredients. So let’s start there. Pumpkin, oil, vanilla, eggs, brown and white sugar all get mixed together in a large bowl.
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and the spices (nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon) together in a smaller bowl and whisk together to thoroughly mix. Set this dry mixture aside.
Before we add the dry ingredients to the wet, let’s mix our 8 ounces of softened cream cheese with 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar. Mix this together well and set aside.
Then slowly add the flour and spice mixture to the pumpkin sugar mixture. Mix well, but don’t over mix the batter.
Now it’s time to fill the muffin tin. Fill the cups 3/4 of the way up with the pumpkin batter. Then add about a tablespoon of the cream cheese mix. Top with another dollop of pumpkin batter.
I was a little nervous at this point because I filled these muffin cups way passed the top! I was convinced it was going to be a gooey mess. But, trust me it was ok. Finally, create a swirl in the top by using a toothpick or skewer. This not only looks pretty, but it incorporates the cream cheese with the top layer of pumpkin batter.
Into the oven they went. I watched intently, waiting for them to breach their cups and make a huge mess. It’s moments like this that you always want to be sure to have a sheet pan under your baking tin. I baked them for about 18 minutes and they came out beautifully.
Not too sweet but just sweet enough! Perfect with a cup of coffee for breakfast. I only have 1 muffin tin with 12 cups and I had some pumpkin batter (but no cream cheese mix) leftover. If this is the case for you and you don’t feel like doing plain pumpkin muffins, I would either make extra cream cheese mix to do another few muffins – or maybe make a tiny pumpkin loaf. Or, even better, save the batter and make some pumpkin pancakes (which is what I will do!)
Thank you so much for stopping by Djalali Cooks today. Your support means the world to me and I look forward to sharing so much more with you! Remember, you can find all of the past Kelly’s Kitchen recipes on Style at a Certain Age. And you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook. Take care and be well, everyone! xo Kelly
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
(7 votes, average: 3.71 out of 5)
Loading...Not-too-sweet, pumpkin spice adds the fall flavor, while the cream cheese plays a slightly savory role to give these muffins a satisfying richness. Perfect with a cup of coffee.
Ingredients
- Muffin Batter:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (pure pumpkin puree)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used Grapeseed Oil)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used Vanilla paste)
- Cream Cheese:
- 8 oz cream cheese (If you can find it, use the pre-whipped cream cheese. It's so much easier to work with!)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used Vanilla paste)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place paper or silicone baking cups into muffin pan.
In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt until well combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Set aside.
Slowly add the four mixture to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until there are no lumps. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.
Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture. Add another dollop of pumpkin batter and use a toothpick to swirl it together.
Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Beth Crawford
November 7, 2020 at 2:33 pmThis looks wonderful !! I am gluten free so I will try it with King Arthur gluten free measure for measure flour.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:47 pmHello Beth! King Arthur gluten free flour is a great substitute, I love all their flours – high quality and predictable. Let me know how the muffins turn out for you; I think you will love them! Thanks so much for writing in today, have a beautiful weekend. xo Kelly
introducing Djalali Cooks | Style At A Certain Age
November 7, 2020 at 1:17 pm[…] today is an exciting day since it’s the first blog post created by my daughter-in-law. i couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce to Djalali Cooks. yes, kelly’s kitchen has transitioned to its own media presence and blog. for those of you who loved kelly’s weekly recipes please follow her on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, or her blog Djalali Cooks. […]
Agata N
November 7, 2020 at 1:50 pmHi Kelly, can I substitute canned pumpkin for my homemade pumpkin purée?
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:32 pmHi Agata, of course you can make that substitution! Homemade puree is great! Thank you so much for tuning in today, have a great weekend! xo Kelly
Agata N
November 7, 2020 at 1:52 pmSorry I meant substitute with
Angela Grafe
November 7, 2020 at 2:02 pmSehr schön! Many thanks for recipe, love to try!
Have a wonderful weekend
Angela
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:33 pmHi Angela, Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a lovely weekend, xo Kelly
Kendra Lisalda
November 7, 2020 at 2:05 pmTwo of my favorite things – pumpkin and cream cheese!! This is all me and I can’t wait to make them for my family.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:34 pmHello Kendra, I hear ya! This is such a good recipe when you want something sweet, but not too sweet! Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend! xo Kelly
Renee Napier
November 7, 2020 at 2:21 pmHi Kelly! These muffins look wonderful! I can’t wait to bake them. Also, I got here via Beth. I have enjoyed your recipes in Kelly’s Kitchen. Wishing you the best! Keep on cookin???
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:35 pmWelcome, Renee! Thank you so much for following me over to Djalali Cooks. I am super excited to share recipes with y’all! Have a great weekend! xo Kelly
Sylvia Espinoza
November 7, 2020 at 2:22 pmHappy Birthday & Congratulations, Kelly! It was your birthday, and we got the gift! Wonderful surprise. You already know I’m a fan, and a proud one. Wish you continued success! Today’s recipe sounds very original. You’ve brought us such joy in 2020. Want to share that I also had a birthday this week. It was a milestone birthday! Very thankful to be gaining new knowledge and wonderful recipes at my age from a fellow early November baby 🙂
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:37 pmHi Sylvia! Thank you so much for your continued support! And how wonderful that we share our birthday month. Thanks again for following me to Djalali Cooks! See you here again soon, xo Kelly
Paula Kopczynski
November 7, 2020 at 2:26 pmKelly, cannot wait to try these! Is there a way you can make the recipe’s pinterest able? Thank you and looking forward to more good recipes!
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:38 pmHello Paula, Thanks for stopping by today. You can see my recipes on my Pinterest page, where you can pin them directly to your boards. Here is a link for you: http://www.pinterest.com/kellydjalali
Thanks so much and have great weekend! xo Kelly
Maureen
November 7, 2020 at 4:15 pmCongratulations on your new website ,Kelly and a belated Happy Birthday. I will definitely be making these muffins this week.
I have to tell you that I have never had the slightest inclination to either make or order mushroom soup in a restaurant. However , your recipe last week , intrigued me because of the ingredients. I made it and we loved it! I did substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream and I used a mixture of mushrooms. Can’t wait to make it and enjoy it again! Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 4:37 pmHi Maureen, THat’s wonderful – I have a made a mushroom soup convert of you! 🙂 I am so glad you tried it and liked it! Greek yogurt is a perfect sub for the sour cream. I am already dreaming of making it again, haha! Thank you so much for your support, take care xo Kelly
Paula
November 7, 2020 at 2:37 pmLooks really good. I’m going to make these. Happy Birthday! I have enjoyed your recipes.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 2:47 pmThank you so much, Paula! Let me know how the muffins turn out for you – they’re a definite crowd pleaser here. Have a lovely weekend! xo Kelly
Josephine Riddle
November 7, 2020 at 3:00 pmCongratulations Kelly on starting your own blog! I have enjoyed your recipes on Style, you can count me as a Beth sent me girl. I celebrated my birthday on Wednesday so Happy Birthday to us? I look forward to making the muffins, and to following you, I know you will rock it.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 3:28 pmHello Josephine, Happy Birthday to you! Thank you so much for your support! I am forever grateful for the opportunity Beth has given me with Kelly’s Kitchen and now, Djalali Cooks. Thanks again for your support! xo Kelly
Sharon Olsen
November 7, 2020 at 3:32 pmI have made several of your recipes, happy family! I will save this one for thanksgiving morning to have while watching the parade.
Thank you!!!!
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 3:42 pmHi Sharon! I am so happy you have enjoyed my recipes! These muffins are perfect for Thanksgiving morning! Thanks so much and have a great weekend! xo Kelly
Phyliss T Brassey
November 7, 2020 at 3:34 pmCongratulations! So exciting and yet another Djalai (?) presence to watch and follow.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 3:42 pmHello Phyliss, Thanks so much! I am really excited for this new cooking adventure, thank you following along! xo Kelly
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 3:43 pmHi Phyliss, Thank you so much for following along! I am very excited for this new cooking adventure! Have a wonderful weekend, xo Kelly
Carolyn
November 7, 2020 at 3:57 pmCongratulations, Kelly, on starting your own blog. I enjoyed your Saturday recipes on Beth’s blog and look forward to following you here. This muffin recipe looks delicious!
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 4:06 pmThanks so much, Carolyn! These muffins are delicious, I am sure you’ll love them! Thanks again for your support, xo Kelly
VAMama
November 7, 2020 at 4:02 pmCan you add a “follow” button so that we can get email notifications when a new post is up? I have good intentions but often forget to return to blogs I like!
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 4:09 pmHey there, VAMama, I will look into a “follow” button for the blog, but you can certainly follow me on Facebook or Instagram to get notifications when a new post is up. Also, I have a newsletter in the works that you will be able to subscribe to and be notified of new posts. Thank you so much for your support! Have a great weekend, xo Kelly
Marty
November 7, 2020 at 4:03 pmKelly. These sound wonderful. Can’t wait to try recipe. I have enjoyed your recipes. Congratulations on going out on your own and Happy Birthday.
I have followed you from Beth’s blog.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 4:11 pmHi Marty, Thank you for following along! I so appreciate your support. Trust me, you will love these muffins! Thanks again and have a lovely weekend, xo Kelly
Deborah Husband
November 7, 2020 at 4:29 pmHi Beth, congratulations on your own blog!
I have now made two batches of your Hungarian mushroom soup and everyone has raved about it and asked for the recipe.
And Happy Birthday! My birthday is in October, which in Canada usually falls around our Thanksgiving so I’m used to pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake for my birthday. What’s not to love about pumpkin and cream cheese?
With your leftover pumpkin you mentioned you would make pumpkin pancakes, do you have a recipe for that?
Deborah Husband
November 7, 2020 at 4:30 pmSorry – should re Hi Kelly!
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 4:41 pmHello Deborah, I am so happy the Hungarian Mushroom soup has been such a hit! Happy belated birthday to you, as well! I don’t have a recipe for the pancakes, actually, there isn’t one (haha!) I simply thinned it out to a pancake batter consistency (which it was pretty close to anyway) with a little milk or water, then made pancakes the usual way on a griddle. They were fluffier (more cake-like) than a typical pancake, but they were delicious with pure maple syrup and lots of butter! Thank you so much for writing in and for your support! xo Kelly
Sangita Madan
November 7, 2020 at 4:32 pmCongratulations on your blog and wish you continued success! Looking forward to all your recipes.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 4:42 pmHello Sangita! Thank you so much! I look forward to sharing even more recipes and ideas with you! Have a great weekend, see you here again soon! xo Kelly
Kelly
November 7, 2020 at 6:05 pmCongrats on your new blog! I’d like to make this for a Thanksgiving breakfast with some favorite neighbors. I don’t have pumpkin pie spice, but I do have nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. How can I use them instead of the tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice?
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 6:17 pmHi Kelly, Thank you so much! Instead of the pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice use: 1 tsp, ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/8 tsp ground cloves. If you don’t have the ground ginger, you can sub in mace, which has a peppery flavor that will add the warmth the ginger would bring to the party. No mace? Maybe just add another 1/8 tsp of cinnamon and see what happens! I bet it will still be delicious. Thank you again for popping by, it’s good to hear from you today. Take care, xo Kelly
Cheryl
November 7, 2020 at 6:18 pmCongratulations Kelly on your new blog.
I’ve been following your Saturday posts since the beginning and love your recipes. I’ve bookmarked or printed many of them. Thank you for such yummy food.
.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 6:24 pmHi Cheryl, Thank you so much for following from the beginning! I am super excited to have the opportunity to share ideas and recipes with all of Beth’s readers. I look forward to seeing you again here soon! Take care and have a wonderful weekend! xo Kelly
Susan Goins
November 7, 2020 at 7:56 pmThese muffins look great! I’ve got to try.?
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 8:19 pmHi Susan, Yes indeed! Give them a try, I am sure they will be a hit. Thanks so much for tuning in today! Have a great weekend, xo Kelly
Annemarie
November 7, 2020 at 8:28 pmHi Kelly,
Congratulations on your new blog! There is no doubt you will be a big hit. I’ve enjoyed your Saturday posts on Beth’s blog and have tried several of your recipes and have received compliments every time. These muffins look delicious and I WILL be baking them this week. When I do I will have to take some over to my son-in-law who is my “pumpkin loving buddy” so we can share a new, tasty pumpkin tradition.
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 8:50 pmHello Annemarie, It’s good to have a pumpkin loving buddy! My husband doesn’t like it much, but he did like these muffins! It really makes me happy to know that you have tried some of the recipes from Kelly’s Kitchen, and that they’ve been a hit! Do please let me know how you and your son-in-law like the muffins. Thank you so much for your wonderful support! Have a great weekend! xo Kelly
Julie Greene
November 7, 2020 at 10:53 pmHi Kelly,
Congratulations on your new blog! I know it is going to be great because Kelly’s Kitchen was great. You have a wonderful gift for explaining all the steps and telling us what to do with leftover ingredients. I will look forward to your posts.
Julie
Kelly Djalali
November 7, 2020 at 11:24 pmHi Julie, Thank you so much for your support! I am excited to share more tips, tricks and recipes with you!
Have a great weekend! xo Kelly
Jan
November 8, 2020 at 6:27 amThese look delicious! I can’t wait to try them. Is this the only recipe on your site so far? I clicked on the other headings, and there are no recipes there.
Kelly Djalali
November 8, 2020 at 7:54 amHi Jan, Thank so much for stopping by. Yes, at the present, there is only one recipe on Djalali Cooks. Prior to launching the first post yesterday, I had only been posting to Kelly’s Kitchen on Style at a Certain Age. You can find all of those posts here:
http://www.styleatacertainage.com/category/kellys-kitchen/
Thank you again for writing in, and there’s a lot more to come! Subscriptions to the blog will be available this week, so stay tuned! xo Kelly
Ann Feldman
November 8, 2020 at 1:03 pmI made these muffins this morning, and they’re the best muffins I’ve ever made! I used the King Arthur GF flour, and they were perfect. Please add a Follow button to your blog so I won’t miss any of your amazing recipes! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Kelly Djalali
November 8, 2020 at 2:13 pmHi Ann, Wow! I am so happy you loved the muffins! I will have a subscription available this week – stay tuned! Thank you so much, xo Kelly
Donna
November 8, 2020 at 8:13 pmI don’t like things too sweet and I love pumpkin! I’m also a November birthday girl. Happy birthday to you!???
Kelly Djalali
November 8, 2020 at 9:42 pmHappy Birthday to you, Donna! This recipe sounds perfect for you, I do hope you give it a try. Let me know how it goes for you. Have a great evening, xo Kelly
Peggy
November 11, 2020 at 2:36 amI’m going to try these, they look great. One suggestion is in the directions: on step 5, add the instruction “add the flour to the pumpkin sugar mixture…”. Because the prior step relates to the cream cheese and you don’t want people to add flour to the cream cheese mixture! You have this “add flour to the pumpkin sugar” previously in the text; just add that to the step by step instruction. Just a small suggestion. Looking forward to seeing more recipes.
Kelly Djalali
November 11, 2020 at 8:22 amGreat catch, Peggy! Thank you. The change has been made 🙂 xo Kelly
Gail Crossland
November 15, 2020 at 8:25 amI made these muffins last week after I saw this post. They are delicious!! I must eat gluten-free, so I substituted Cup4Cup gluten-free flour and they were perfect! Our 4 year old grandson and 18 month old granddaughter loved them as well! I will be making this recipe again for sure. Thank you, Kelly.
Kelly Djalali
November 15, 2020 at 8:39 amHello Gail, thank you so much for writing in to let me know you made the muffins and they were a hit with the little ones too! Next time I make them, I am going to try gluten free flour. Thanks again for your support, have a lovely Sunday, xo Kelly
Liz
November 24, 2020 at 11:32 amHi Kelly,
Made these yesterday and added raisins to the batter. Turned out fantastic! Thanks for the recipe. Looking forward to more.
Kelly Djalali
November 24, 2020 at 11:54 amHi Liz, I love the idea of adding raisins! I have half a dozen of these muffins that I just pulled from the freezer, so I am anxious to see how they held up. Thanks for writing in to let me know you gave these a try. Have a wonderful week! xo Kelly