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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!
I accidentally doubled the pumpkin in this recipe and my kids loved them! They weren’t crumbly (which is their main issue with muffins and cupcakes in general) and were like little, moist, mini pound cakes! I didn’t even bother making the frosting after I saw how much they liked them on their own. 🙂 A happy accident.
We love this muffins and so easy to make! Another hit from weelicious, thanks! 🙂
These are so yummy! I took 1/3 of the batter and mixed in 1/3 cup cocoa to turn it dark brown, and marbled the orange and brown batters to make Halloween mini-muffins (in halloween-themed cupcake liners). Instead of the frosting, we “glued” Wilton’s mini-pumpkin cake decorations on with a dot of melted chocolate chips. Such a fun cooking project to do with my 5-yr old. Great recipe!!
If you frost them ahead of time you’ll need to store them in the fridge! You can make the muffins and the frosting the night before, and store just the frosting in the fridge, then frost the next day! You’ll need to let the frosting come to room temperature, though, to be spreadable!
Can I make these the night before i need them and put the icing on or do I need to store the muffins w icing in the fridge overnight
Made this last week after we roasted our first pumpkin, I added chopped pecan’s to it and they didn’t make 2 days….roasting our second pumpkin tomorrow and making it all over again! I will say this recipe is a winner, thank you!
These muffins were a hit amongst adults and children… Delicious!
Hmm, that would probably be okay.
Can I use veg oil instead of the milk?
These were so delicious! My family loved them! My husband said they were too good to be muffins; they had to be called cupcakes. Thank you. These will become on of our favorite fall traditions!
These look great. So glad I found this site.
Oh wow! These were fantastic!
I made a few small changes to the recipe. I used pumpkin pie filling (not as healthy, I know!) because I didn’t have any pumpkin puree on hand. I added a bit of cinnamon and cloves to the flour mixture and I used half all purpose flour/half whole wheat flour. I also baked half in a regular muffin tin, and the other half in a mini muffin tin for the kids lunches and for the baby. They are SO moist, and they taste great even without the icing! I encourage all of you to give this recipe a try! These do not disappoint!
Great recipes! My son’s family is vegan so I’ like to have vegan substitutes where possible.
Thanks,
Mari Jo
My littlest loves pumpkin muffins, thanks! I’ve been toying with this based on what I have on hand and always reduce the sugar per Sandra. I use coconut oil in place of the butter and it works out yummy and this last time I replaced 1/2 cup of the AP flour with almond meal to try and boost the protein a bit. I’m pleased. I am sure that they are ridiculously good if you follow the recipe verbatim (and cream cheese frosting is my favorite), but I make them this way for my baby and they’re still great!
Love this recipe! First time I made them, I didn’t have enough pumpkin purée (of course not noticing until after mixing everyhing else up to that point!), so I did half pumpkin and half sweet potato purée (homemade) – soooo yummy!!
I made these muffins last week and they came out delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!