Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Topping
I LOVE FALL
It’s Fall! I love Fall. Every September I start to crave Fall, the cooler temperatures, the changing leaves and the food (like pumpkin muffins!) that warms your body and your soul. Fall has always been my favorite season. I’m sure it stemmed from my birthday being in October but as I’ve aged it’s been more about the way the season makes me feel. It feels like home and a fresh start (even more so than the new year) and warmth always.
This year I was especially in need of the Fall feeling. I was really craving the fresh start that I knew this season would bring. I put my Fall decor up a couple of weeks ago, we’re closing our pool a month earlier than usual and I’m buying some pumpkins this weekend. Speaking of pumpkins — I’ve been loving pumpkin spice flavored everything. I was never that into pumpkin flavored foods and drinks before but this year I AM ALL IN. I make a pumpkin spice latte every morning (see my recipe here), I put pumpkin puree in my yogurt (pumpkin spice parfait recipe coming soon!) and I just mastered the most delicious pumpkin muffin recipe.
ALMOST LIKE A PUMPKIN CUPCAKE
This pumpkin muffin recipe is similar to my Healthier Pumpkin Bread recipe but fluffier and with a cupcake-like texture. I prefer to use maple syrup as a sweetener in my baked goods. I will use traditional and added sugars sparingly because I think that too much sugar can overpower the other flavors of the baked good. And a lot of sugar makes me crash HARD especially while pregnant. The muffins are sweetened with equal parts maple syrup and brown sugar. They have the perfect level of sweetness while not overpowering the pumpkin flavor. If you prefer a sweeter muffin, you can adjust the sugar to your liking by adding more brown sugar or maple syrup!
Also — there’s a cinnamon cream cheese topping! There’s something about pumpkin and cream cheese that is so good to me. The flavors pair so well together I knew I had to include cream cheese in some way in this recipe. When I first tasted the muffin, it tasted like a pumpkin cupcake, thus the idea for a frosting type topping was born. The cinnamon cream cheese topping is also sweetened with maple syrup and has the perfect hint of cinnamon. You can add the frost the topping on the muffin (my preferred way), dip the muffin in the topping (Ry’s preferred way) or eat the topping with a spoon you stole while your mama was busy (Luca’s preferred way).
INTRODUCING MY NEW CREATIVE DIRECTOR FOR FOOD PHOTOS
I know you want to get to the recipe so you can get to baking but I’ll add one more note about these photos. I was setting everything up to take the photos yesterday when Ry joined me and officially named himself my Creative Director. I’m admittedly more into the baking (and the eating) and writing parts of the food blogging process. I struggle a bit when it comes to creative direction with food photos so I was all about it. He had very specific ideas about how he wanted to showcase the muffins. He insisted we include a shot of the cinnamon cream cheese topping with the muffin on the side as it was how he enjoyed the muffin most.
I love how the photos turned out! I think I’ll be contracting with Ryan Diehl, Dad, Husband, Software Engineer, Musician, History Buff & Creative Director for every food photo shoot moving forward 🙂
Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Topping
Equipment
- large bowl
- 2 small bowls
- whisk or spatula
- muffin tin
Ingredients
Pumpkin Muffins
- ⅓ cup melted unsalted butter can sub EVOO or coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1¼ cup organic pumpkin puree make sure to use pure pumpkin puree & not pumpkin pie filling!
- ¼ cup milk I used whole milk but I think any cows, oat or nut milk would be fine
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice if you don't have pumpkin pie spice you can use a mix of cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg (or whatever you have on hand — the cinnamon is the most important for me!)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1¾ cup flour I used unbleached organic white flour
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Topping
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1 pkg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Pumpkin Muffins
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C).
- Melt butter in microwave or on stove top.
- Add melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk until combined.
- Beat 2 eggs well and add to the bowl. Mix until combined.
- Mix in milk, pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Line a muffin tin with liners (if using). Spoon the muffin batter until each is ¾ full.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick/cake tester comes out clean.
- Top with cinnamon cream cheese topping. Enjoy warm!
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Topping
- In a small bowl, add softened cream cheese, vanilla and maple syrup. Mix well until mixture is soft and creamy.
- Add the cinnamon and mix again.
- Top each muffin with as much topping as you want! Or dip the muffin in the topping! Or eat it by itself with a spoon 🙂
