These Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting are the ultimate fall treat—delicious, easy to make, and a perfect way to use up that extra pumpkin purée hiding in your pantry! There’s nothing better than baking up a batch of these moist, spiced muffins topped with rich cream cheese frosting. They’re a family favorite!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- Fall in Every Bite: These muffins capture all the cozy, warm pumpkin flavors of autumn—it’s like strolling through a pumpkin patch!
- Creamy Indulgence: The cream cheese frosting is the perfect finishing touch—its tangy sweetness pairs beautifully with the spiced pumpkin.
- Versatile Treat: Perfect for brunch, dessert, or an after-school snack, these muffins are a hit at any fall gathering.
- Hands-On Fun: Get the kids involved! Baking these muffins is a fun and easy way to teach them some kitchen skills.
- Pumpkin Purée Saver: Got extra cans of pumpkin purée? This recipe is the perfect way to use them up! If you’re looking for a gluten-free version of pumpkin muffins, try my Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins!
The Ingredients:
For the Pumpkin Muffins:
- Flour: Just your basic all-purpose flour to give the muffins structure and fluffiness.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These make the muffins rise and keep them nice and light.
- Salt: A pinch of salt to balance all the sweet flavors.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: The secret to that warm, cozy fall flavor—cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all the good stuff!
- Melted Butter: Keeps the muffins moist and adds richness.
- Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness with a little hint of caramel—perfect with pumpkin!
- Pumpkin Purée: The star of the show! Pumpkin purée makes the muffins moist, flavorful, and full of fall vibes.
- Egg: Helps hold everything together.
- Milk: Keeps the muffins tender and soft.
- Vanilla Extract: Just a splash to add a little extra sweetness.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream Cheese: Makes the frosting super creamy and tangy.
- Butter: Adds smoothness and makes the frosting nice and rich.
- Powdered Sugar: Sweetens up the frosting and gives it that fluffy texture.
- Vanilla: A little vanilla goes a long way in making the frosting extra delicious!
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Step 2: In a separate bowl whisk together the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, egg, milk and vanilla extract.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until just combined.
Step 4: Pour into greased muffins cups 3/4 full.
Step 5: Bake for 20 minutes. Allow muffins to cool before frosting.
Step 6: Make the frosting. Combine cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla extract in bowl and beat for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy. Frost muffins once cooled.
Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting Video
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t Overmix: Stir the batter just until combined for light and fluffy muffins.
- Scoop for Even Muffins: Use an ice cream scoop to evenly portion batter for muffins that bake evenly.
- Cool Before Frosting: Let the muffins cool completely before frosting, so it doesn’t melt off.
- Add Spice to Frosting: Mix in a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin spice for extra fall flavor!
More Pumpkin Treats
Whether you’re baking them for a special occasion or simply craving a taste of the season, these muffins muffins are a sweet treat you won’t want to miss. Let me know in the comments what you think of this recipe and leave a rating!
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Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Muffins:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl whisk the remaining ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until just combined.
- Pour into greased muffins cups 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.
For the Frosting:
- Combine all ingredients and beat for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy. Frost cupcakes and serve!
Notes
- Don’t Overmix: Stir the batter just until combined for light and fluffy muffins.
- Scoop for Even Muffins: Use an ice cream scoop to evenly portion batter for muffins that bake evenly.
- Cool Before Frosting: Let the muffins cool completely before frosting, so it doesn’t melt off.
- Add Spice to Frosting: Mix in a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin spice for extra fall flavor!
These are AMAZINGLY delicious – total crowd-pleaser! I didn’t have pumpkin pie spice so I used a heaping 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger and just shy of a 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. Next time I’ll try as the recipe is written, but can’t imagine them getting any better. Thank you, Catherine!
do these freeze well???
In general, I hate all frosting/icing BUT loved the cream cheese icing for these pumpkin muffins. I loved everything about this!
Oh wow these are yummy!! We love muffins in my house I’m looking for a good peach muffin recipe any suggestions? I would love to see what you have!
I didn’t have any pumpkin puree left so I used pumpkin pie mix and then omitted the pumpkin pie spices and cut the brown sugar by 2/3. I also used Earth Balance “butter” and instead of all purpose flour I used white whole wheat. Results were actually really really amazing- kids said it was actually better than the original recipe which I always made! Super recipe, catherine!
It’ll be a different consistency. More dense.
Will this recipe turn out the same if you use all whole wheat flour? That’s all I use…
Thanks for the recipe. I didn’t have milk so I subtitled with sour cream and a bit of carrot juice ( weird, right?) also my baby is under 1 yr old ao I dont want to use salt and sugar. I omitted the salt and mashed a banana to give a little sweet taste instead of sugar. It turned out greate super moist and soft. Is it freeze well. I used mini muffin so I got like 3 dozens.
Omg these are fantastic and so simple!! I used one cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup AP. I also used about 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée. The batter seemed a bit thick when I was putting it in the pan but they turned out perfectly. Thanks for another great recipe!!
WOW! Just made these and I could eat them all up! I used butternut squash puree and 1/2 cup honey and 1/4 cup maple syrup instead of the pumpkin and brown sugar. The cream cheese icing would be nice, but they are soo good anyway, why bother! Thanks for another yummy, easy, kid friendly recipe!!!
Is there a way to substitute extra cream cheese, and some pumpkin puree in place of the powdered sugar, I try to stay away from to much sugar?
Yes and yes!
Do these come out ok as mini muffins? Do they stay moist?
These are incredible! So moist. I just made a batch for my husband’s birthday, and I know our 16 month old will love having a couple bites 🙂