These Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are tender, fluffy and moist with a base of almond flour and cornstarch, along with warm pumpkin spice, a rich cream cheese filling and crunchy pumpkin seeds on top. They have the same flavor as my almond flour pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, but in a portable, muffin form!
Quick Look: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- ⏱ Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 👩🏻🍳 Bake Time: 18 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 38 minutes
- 🎃 Servings: 9 muffins
- ⚡ Calories: 361 per muffin
- 🍽 Diet: gluten-free
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: Tender, fluffy and moist with warm spices, a tangy cream cheese filling and crunchy pepitas on top.
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy, but an electric mixer is required.
- ❤️ Why you'll love: well tested to ensure a fluffy texture; naturally gluten-free with a simple mix of almond flour and cornstarch; not dense or gummy.
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Behind the recipe: Creating fluffy pumpkin muffins
I always see copycat Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins in my social media feed, so I wanted to attempt a gluten-free version with almond flour. The issue is that pumpkin can sometimes make almond flour bakes a little dense, especially when it's in a compact muffin form.
So, I started with my almond flour pumpkin cake as the base, but made a few adjustments to make the muffins fluffier. Here's what I did:
- Reduced the eggs: Cutting the number of eggs from four to two kept the crumb light and airy rather than heavy and dense. It also helped thicken the batter so the cream cheese filling didn't sink to the bottom of the muffins.
- Added cornstarch: This added structure and tenderness to the muffins. It helps with binding and absorbs some of the excess oil in almond flour to improve rise. (It's the reason my almond flour lemon blueberry bread has such a great texture)!
- Aerated the batter: Borrowing a technique from my cinnamon chocolate chip muffins, I used an electric mixer to whip the eggs and sugar together. This whipped air into the base, maximizing the fluffiness and lift of the batter.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Pumpkin - Use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugar and spices. (Around here, canned pumpkin comes in a large can, so when I open a can I usually end up making 2-3 different recipes. If you also have some puree leftover, you can make this pumpkin marble bundt cake or whole wheat pumpkin bread)!
- Almond flour - For a lighter muffin texture, use fine blanched almond flour instead of almond meal, which has a coarser texture.
- Cornstarch - I prefer cornstarch over tapioca starch as I always have it on hand. If you only have tapioca starch, you can substitute with an equal amount.
- Eggs - For leavening and moisture. Bring to room temperature so they easily beat together with the sugar.
- Sugar - I tested these muffins with brown sugar but preferred the texture of granulated sugar.
- Maple syrup - Used for additional sweetness and moisture.
- Oil - I used olive oil, but vegetable oil would also work.
- Cream cheese - Use full fat, brick-style cream cheese for the filling and be sure to bring it to room temperature.
- Powdered sugar - Sweetens the cream cheese filling and helps stabilize it.
- Pumpkin seeds - Raw pumpkin seeds baked on top of the muffins adds a little crunch. Avoid using roasted and salted seeds as they will burn easily.
How to make pumpkin cream cheese muffins with almond flour
Step 1: Whisk together the almond flour, cornstarch, spices, baking powder and salt.
Step 2: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on high speed to beat together the eggs and granulated sugar until pale and just starting to thicken, about 1 minute.
Step 3: Add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil and vanilla and mix until combined.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and use a spatula to fold in until just combined.
Step 5: Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to a medium-sized bowl, and use an electric mixer to beat together until smooth and creamy. Transfer the cream cheese filling to a piping bag.
Step 6: Divide the batter into 9 muffin liners, filling them almost to the top. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out the tops of the batter.
Step 7: Pipe the cream cheese filling into the center of the batter for each muffin and finish with a dollop on top.
Step 8: Sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top of the muffins, around the dollop of cream cheese.
Step 9: Bake at 425F for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350F and bake for another 16-18 minutes.
Step 10: Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Measuring ingredients
For convenience, US cup measurements are included in the recipe card for this recipe. To ensure greater accuracy, however, weight and volume measurements are also provided. So, if you see grams (g), you'll want to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, and if you see milliliters (ml), you'll want to use a liquid measuring cup. Smaller quantities of ingredients are provided in teaspoons and tablespoons.
Expert tips
- Beat sugar and eggs. Mixing together the sugar and eggs until pale and just starting to thicken is key to the rise and texture of these muffins. I prefer to use an electric mixer. You can also use a whisk, but it'll take much longer).
- Cream cheese filling. Don't just dollop some cream cheese on top of the muffin batter. Make sure you insert the piping tip into the batter and dispense some of the cream cheese into the center, before finishing with a dollop on top.
- Piping bag. I used a piping bag with a large, round piping tip to add the cream cheese filling to the center of the muffins. You can also just use a ziploc bag with one of the corners snipped off.
- Makes 9 muffins. In order to keep these muffins tall, I divided the batter into 9 muffin cavitites instead of 12.
Pumpkin cream cheese muffins FAQs
The only dairy in these muffins is the cream cheese filling, so you could replace the cream cheese with a plant-based alternative and leave out the milk. Just note that plant-based cream cheese has a different texture than regular cream cheese and different brands perform differently in baked goods and may create a runny filling. (I notice this difference when I make dairy-free frostings, as I outline in my peanut butter cream cheese frosting recipe). To prevent a runny filling, I recommend leaving out the added liquid (the milk and vanilla) and adding ½ teaspoon of cornstarch.
Yes, because of the cream cheese filling, these muffins should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. You can enjoy them cold or just pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm them up.
They'll keep in the fridge for 4-5 days, or you can freeze them for 2-3 months.
Too much moisture is usually the reason why these muffins turn out dense and gummy. Some brands of pumpkin puree can be more watery than others, so that could be the cause. The other reason may be due to over mixing. Once the wet ingredients are mixed together, switch to a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients.
Fresh pumpkin puree is usually more watery than canned puree. If all you have is fresh, place it in a fine mesh strainer for 30-45 minutes to allow the excess moisture to drain off. Your goal is for the strained pumpkin to weigh 130 grams (the same weight as the amount of canned pumpkin in the recipe).
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📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (234 g) fine blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup (110 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (130 g) pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¼ cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cream cheese filling and topping:
- 4 ounces (113 g) full fat cream cheese
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Place nine muffin liners in a 12-cup muffin pan.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cornstarch, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on high speed to beat together the eggs and sugar until pale and just starting to thicken. (About 1 minute).
- Add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and use a spatula to fold in until just combined.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Use an electric mixer to beat together until smooth and creamy. Transfer the cream cheese filling to a piping bag.
- Divide the batter into the 9 muffin liners, filling them almost to the top. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out the tops of the batter.
- Pipe some of the cream cheese filling into the center of the batter for each muffin and finish with a dollop on top.
- Sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top of each muffin, around the dollop of cream cheese.
- Bake at 425F for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350F and bake for another 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Beat sugar and eggs. Mixing together the sugar and eggs until pale and just starting to thicken is key to the rise and texture of these muffins. I prefer to use an electric mixer, but you can also use a whisk, it'll just take longer.
- Cream cheese filling. Don't just dollop some cream cheese on top of the muffin batter. Make sure you insert the piping tip into the batter and dispense some of the cream cheese into the center, before finishing with a dollop on top.
- Piping bag. I used a piping bag with a large, round piping tip to add the cream cheese filling to the center of the muffins. You can also just use a ziploc bag with one of the corners snipped off.
- Makes 9 muffins. In order to keep these muffins tall, I divided the batter into 9 muffin cavitites instead of 12.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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