Pumpkin Muffins with a Cheesecake Swirl

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Soft, fluffy pumpkin muffins meet a rich, creamy cheesecake swirl in every delicious bite!  Studded with chocolate chips and packed with fall flavor, these bakery style muffins are the perfect excuse to enjoy pumpkin season any time of year.

I’m so excited that it’s pumpkin season!   For a while you could only find pumpkin in the stores in the fall but in recent years it’s been available year round.  Still, I love when the first wisps of cool air hit in September and I know that pumpkin season has arrived.

I am not short on pumpkin recipes and I like both sweet and savory ones. One of my current favorites is a Pumpkin Cookie with Brown Butter Frosting. A good breakfast pumpkin recipe is Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Scones.  For dinner I make a great Pumpkin Mac N Cheese with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts. Of course I also make my own Pumpkin Spice Latte with Caramel.

I was in the mood for muffins so I decided to make chocolate chip pumpkin muffins.  Now I’ve made these before so I wanted to do something to jazz them up a bit and I thought that adding a cheesecake swirl would be perfect!

The base of the muffins was a classic muffin recipe with pumpkin puree, flour, sugar, butter and eggs.   I then added in some chocolate chips because I love pumpkin and chocolate together.

Make sure you buy pumpkin puree for this recipe and not pumpkin pie filling.  The two are not the same.

WHat is the difference between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling?

Pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling are both made from cooked pumpkin but they have different uses and different ingredients.  Pumpkin puree is cooked pumpkin with no additional ingredients.   It’s used in both sweet and savory recipes.  Pumpkin pie filling contains pumpkin, spices, and sugar or sweetener.  It’s usually used just for pumpkin pie.

I also added some pumpkin spice to the muffins to give the pumpkin the classic cinnamon and allspice flavor.  If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice don’t worry, you can make your own at home.

How do you make Pumpkin Pie Spice?

To make pumpkin pie spice combine 3 tablespoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground allspice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cloves. You can also use nutmeg in place of the ground cloves or ground allspice if you don’t have one of them. Make sure you use the cinnamon and ginger.  Mix together and store in an air tight jar.

For the cheesecake swirl I made a modified cheesecake that I used as a filling and swirled it into the pumpkin batter.  I didn’t want it to be overwhelming but I wanted to be able to see and taste it.

Ingredients:

• pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• eggs
• salted butter (or unsalted if you prefer)
• milk
• vanilla
• granulated sugar
• all purpose flour
• baking soda
• baking powder
• salt
• pumpkin pie spice (see above on how to make it yourself)
• chocolate chips

To make the muffins preheat the oven to 375 degrees.   In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, eggs, melted butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar. n another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups 1/3 of the way full of the pumpkin batter then put a tablespoon of cheesecake filling on top.  Cover with another tablespoon or two of pumpkin batter.  If desired you can take a toothpick and swirl the cheesecake into the muffin batter but you don’t have too.  Bake for 20 minutes.

When the muffins came out and look great!   They were cooked well and I could see the cheesecake swirl popping out the top of the muffins.

When I bit into one it was moist and delicious.   The pumpkin muffin was perfectly spiced and the cheesecake swirl added flavor and a different texture to the muffin.

How do you store pumpkin cheesecake muffins?

Store these muffins in an air tight container on the counter for up to 5 days.  You can also wrap the muffins individually in plastic wrap then place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.  When ready to enjoy simply thaw on the counter.

These muffins are great for breakfast or as a snack.  They are also good to pack in a lunchbox for school as they are fairly sturdy and will hold up to be tossed around a bit.

If you’ve tried my Pumpkin Muffins with Cheesecake Swirl or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

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Cheesecake Swirl Pumpkin Muffins

A spiced pumpkin muffin swirled with cheesecake

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 30 muffins

Author: Hezzi-D

Equipment

• 1 Mixing Bowl
• 1 muffin tin

Ingredients

For the pumpkin muffins:

• 1 can 15 oz pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup salted butter softened
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

For the cheesecake filling:

• 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place 30 cupcake liners in three muffin tins.
• In a large bowl combine pumpkin, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Mix well until smooth.
• In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice.
• Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
• To make the filling place all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth.
• Fill each muffin cup 1/3 of the way full with muffin batter. Place 1 teaspoon of cheesecake mixture on top of it, then top with another spoonful of muffin batter.
• Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Your Cup of Cake

More Fall Recipes:

• Apple-Currant Dutch Baby Pancake by The Weekend Gourmet
• Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart by Pies and Plots
• Pumpkin Spice Roasted Sweet Potatoes by Love and Confections

• Roasted Veggie Tart by Books n’ Cooks
• Applesauce Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirls by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Autumn Spice Cookies by Desserts Required
• Caramel Apple Streusel Muffins by The Redhead Baker
• Pumpkin Chocolate Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce by Grumpy’s Honeybunch