Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

I found this Carrot Muffin with Cream Cheese recipe a little while ago online. It's probably the most amazing recipe that I've discovered to date. I'll never be able to appreciate carrot cake from a box again. So I started thinking.. why not try this with a pumpkin muffin? Pumpkin and cream cheese? Yes, one of the best combinations ever.

A visual of what you need:


This recipe has three acts.

Act 1: The Muffin (courtesy of Will Run for Food)

1 package (18.25 oz.) spice cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Paper-line or grease 24 muffin cups.


Blend cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. I decided NOT to beat with a beater because I wanted them to be a little denser and moister, a little more like a muffin and little less like a cake. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, about 3/4 full.

Act 2: The Cream Cheese Filling (courtesy of The Delicious Life)

4 oz. softened cream cheese
1 egg yolk
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla



Mix ingredients together with a wire whisk.

Act 3: Marrying the muffin and the cream cheese

Now here's the tricky part. Create a well in your first muffin and add a spoonful of cream cheese filling. Do the same thing with the rest of your muffins. Work quickly, because your well will close up fast. I recommend doing one muffin at a time.

I used the back of a spoon to make my wells.


Here's the ready-to-bake products. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out of the muffin clean.


I may have overfilled them just a tad.


What's that? Is that camouflage muffin paper? Yes. Yes it is.


Enjoy.