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Best Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins Recipe

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These copycat Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins are everything you want from a fall baking project: impressive enough to share, simple enough to make on a Tuesday morning, and delicious enough to disappear before lunch. The combination of tender pumpkin cake, tangy cream cheese center, and crunchy streusel topping is honestly unbeatable.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ¾ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (50g) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup (240g) pumpkin puree (100% pure pumpkin)
  • ½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 8 oz (226g) block cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup (30g) all-purpose flour (for streusel)
  • ¼ cup (50g) light brown sugar, packed (for streusel)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (for streusel)
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes (for streusel)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C) and line your muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Make the cream cheese filling first. In a small bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract together until completely smooth. Use a teaspoon to scoop out 12 equal portions onto a small plate or parchment-lined tray. Freeze for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the batter.
  3. Whisk the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt. Whisk until evenly distributed.
  4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth and fully combined.
  5. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula using gentle, sweeping motions. Stop as soon as no streaks of flour remain. A few small lumps are fine.
  6. Fill the muffin cups. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Each cup should be about half to two-thirds full.
  7. Add the cream cheese filling. Take the cream cheese balls out of the freezer. Gently press one into the center of each muffin cup, pushing it down slightly so it’s surrounded by batter.
  8. Make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse sand with some pea-sized butter pieces remaining. Sprinkle generously over the top of each muffin.
  9. Bake the muffins. Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake at 425°F (218°C) for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C) and continue baking for 13-16 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the muffin part (not the cream cheese center) comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. The tops should be golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed.
  10. Cool properly. Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Don’t skip the freezer step for the cream cheese filling—it keeps the filling suspended in the center. Use a light hand with the streusel; a generous tablespoon per muffin is plenty. Watch your oven temperature closely; if muffins brown too quickly, tent with foil for the last 5 minutes. For best results, use block-style cream cheese, not the spreadable kind.

Nutrition

Keywords: pumpkin cream cheese muffins, copycat Starbucks muffins, pumpkin muffins, cream cheese filled muffins, fall baking, bakery style muffins

Find it online: https://emmastirs.com/best-copycat-starbucks-pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins-recipe/