Cream cheese-stuffed pumpkin spice muffins are topped with sweet cinnamon streusel, leaving you with the most tempting fall breakfast or snack.
Want more fluffy vegan muffins? Try these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, Vegan Blueberry Muffins, and Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins as well!
If you put my Vegan Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Cheesecake, and Pumpkin Roll recipes together, you’ll get these Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins!
These indulgent muffins have everything you want in a fall breakfast. Pumpkin spice muffins are stuffed with vegan cream cheese and topped with a sweet cinnamon streusel before they’re baked to soft and fluffy perfection. It’s like eating dessert for breakfast!
Why I love this recipe
- They’re fast and easy to make.
- The tangy cream cheese filling is a welcome surprise with every bite!
- Each muffin is topped with a cinnamon-infused streusel, lending just the right amount of comforting sweetness.
How to make vegan pumpkin cream cheese muffins
First, make the cream cheese filling by stirring the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Set aside.
To make the muffins, start by whisking the pumpkin puree, oil, soy milk, and brown sugar together until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the same bowl. Gently fold the wet and dry mixes together until just combined.
Do not overmix the batter! This leads to dense muffins. Only stir the batter until it’s smooth and no dry flour remains.
Portion 2 tablespoons of batter into the bottom of each muffin liner, using a spoon to make small craters in the middle. Drop 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into each crater. Place more muffin batter on top to cover the cream cheese.
To make the streusel, use a fork to stir the melted butter, sugars, cinnamon, and flour together until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle some on top of each muffin.
Bake the cream cheese-stuffed muffins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set them aside to cool, then enjoy!
Pro tip: Allow the baked muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes in the muffin tin before transferring them to a wire rack. Freshly baked muffins are very hot and delicate, which can cause them to crumble if they’re handled right away.
Frequently asked questions
I had the best results testing this recipe with Tofutti vegan cream cheese. It baked well and didn’t leak out of the muffins. My Tofu Cream Cheese should work well, too.
DO NOT use Violife cream cheese because it melts into an oily puddle when baked.
Yes! Swap the regular all purpose flour for all purpose gluten free flour to make gluten free muffins.
The leftover muffins will stay moist and fluffy for about 4 to 5 days when they’re stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
For sure! They freeze well for up to 2 months. Allow them to thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before indulging.
Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese* I used Toffuti
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pumpkin Muffins
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Streusal
- 1/4 cup melted vegan butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven – Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease two muffin pans (or make 1 pan at a time). If you want to use paper liners, also make sure to spray the cups lightly with oil so the muffins don’t get stuck to the paper.
- Make the cream cheese filling – In a medium bowl, stir the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together until well combined. Set aside.
- Make the muffins – In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin, oil, soy milk and brown sugar until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice to the same bowl, and stir until just combined with a wooden spoon.
- Add to muffin pan – Portion 2 tablespoons of muffin batter into the bottom of each liner and use a spoon to create a little crater in the middle for the cream cheese. Drop about 2 teaspoons of cream cheese mixture into the crater, then place more pumpkin batter on top, about 3/4 of the way full.
- Streusel topping – In a small bowl, combined all ingredients and mix with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of the muffin batter.
- Bake – Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t use Violife cream cheese, it just melts into an oily puddle when baked. I only had good results with Tofutti brand, but I believe my Tofu Cream Cheese will work.
- All purpose gluten free flour should work to make these muffins gluten free. Or use whole wheat pastry flour for whole wheat muffins that aren’t too dense and heavy.
- May leave off the streusel, if desired.
Nutrition
So despite me not seeing the note not to use Violife until it was too late (the muffins were already assembled and in the oven LOL) these turned out delicious. Luckily I caught them just in time before they were completely bubbled over and took them out of the pan and quickly put them in the fridge. They are SO GOOD even though the filling is kind of liquid and not really creamy. I ended up with about half of the batter and cream cheese filling left over so I just dumped the rest of the batter in a square baking dish, topped it with the streusel and baked it for the same 22 minutes. That also came out perfectly and then I just put the rest of the cream cheese filling on top like frosting. So now I have muffins AND a cake and I am so excited to try this again with the correct type of cream cheese because if they taste this good and I messed it up, I can’t even imagine how good they will be if I do it right!!! Thanks for a great recipe!
I absolutely did this when testing the recipe, and they still tasted great! But yeah, if you can get tofutti or a brand that doesn’t melt when heated, they are much better.
Tried this twice so far, once with the filling + applesauce + topping and once without any of that, just the pumpkin bread part. Both times were quite yummy and enjoyed by everyone and eaten very quickly my my kids with pleas for more, but they seemed much more dense than I was imagining, more like pumpkin pie filling made solid than bread. The picture suggests it should indeed be more open and bread-y. The toothpicks came out clean. Any idea what I am doing wrong?
Do you mean you made the muffins with applesauce in place of oil? Because that will change the muffins considerably, often making them dense. Are you making any other substitutions, like with the kind of flour as well?
I just tried this recipe, and it came out great! It was also relatively easy (whew!). While I revere the vegan diet, I used dairy cream cheese, but used nondairy (oat) milk. I seek out egg-free recipes, as I am allergic to them. I also used a can of organic pumpkin, which I think greatly improved the flavor. I used a little less sugar, and instead of strudel, made a sour cream-confectioner’s sugar glaze for the top. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Hi Lisa. I am thrilled that you loved the muffins, and that you have found my site! I hope you will enjoy your journey through my recipes! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback!
I made this with the Oatly cream cheese, which is all I had on hand, and yeah… it’s puddle city. And my streusel never got crumbly, which I suspect was due to my :checks notes: winging it.
That’s not Nora’s fault at all, and it still tastes great! Looks like I’ll have to try again and follow the recipe more closely. Thanks so much for all that you do for us bumbling vegan bakers 🤪
I’ve wondered about Oatly cream cheese but I haven’t tried it yet. I guess add it to the list of vegan cream cheeses that just melt when they get warm. Tofutti works wonders here.
I just tried the pumpkin bread recipe as muffins a few days ago and they came out so good, I wanted to try another batch with a filling. I’m so glad I found this recipe and read the comments about which cream cheese to use! Your recipes have yet to fail me and I’ve been vegan for many years. Thank you!
I’m thrilled you liked them, Jasmine! 🙂
I just made these and they turned out fantastic! I subbed Kite Hill pumpkin cream cheese for the filling and added ~1/4 c crushed pepitas to the crumble. I also used a jumbo pan and liners to bake these. The recipe made the perfect amount of batter to yield 6 jumbo muffins. I added an extra 8 minutes to the baking time. The muffins rose beautifully, with perfect fluffy domes like I’ve never before achieved in a vegan recipe. They’re delicious and my apartment smells amazing. Thank you!!
My mouth is watering reading about your muffins! I’m thrilled they turned out wonderful for you! Thanks for sharing your amazing review and ideas! Happy baking!
So moist and delicious! I didn’t read the notes and used Violife but they were still so good. We roasted fresh pumpkin and it worked well.
Love all your recipes!
Your muffins sound delicious! I’m so thrilled you love them! Thank you for your terrific review and feedback. I appreciate you using my recipes! Happy cooking!
I used the Daiya brand cream cheese and it melted everywhere, ha. I’ll try again with Tofutti! (The muffins were still delicious)
I did the same thing with Violife! Still edible, but Tofutti is awesome because it doesn’t melt when you cook it. 🙂
Has anyone tried making these with the Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese? Does it melt or hold shape? Thanks!
Unfortunately, I’ve found the Trader Joe’s cream cheese just melts. 🙁 It’s SO good on bagels though!
Perfect fall breakfast, snack or dessert! Used tofutti (which I’ve never used before) and it was a hit with everyone including non-vegans. Definitely a keeper! Thank you.
You are welcome, Stacy! I’m so glad the muffins were a hit! Thanks for your terrific feedback and review!
Do you think these work as mini cupcakes? How long do you think I would bake them? 12 minutes or so? Thanks!
Yes, I think that would work! Try baking them for 15 to 18 minutes.
This is such a great recipe but as Nora advised, not all cream cheeses will work here – the Simple Truth brand of vegan cream cheese does not work for these muffins. I learned the hard way – big oily mess. Will try again with tofutti.
Hi Nora, can I use applesauce instead of oil? If so, how much do you suggest? Can I also use whole wheat flour? Thank you!
I haven’t tested this recipe without oil but 1/2 cup of applesauce should be ok in the muffins. The streusel isn’t quite the same without the butter but you can omit the topping if you want. And yes, whole wheat flour should be fine, but if you want a lighter texture and color, use 1:1 mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Hope this helps!
I also love all of Nora’s recipes! They are my go-to vegan foods. Do you think I can substitute oat milk in these?
Thank you, Shelley! Yes, you can use oat milk. Happy baking!
These look delicious! Do you know if the recipe will work with coconut oil, instead of canola? I’ve been trying to stay away from seed oils, but would love to make this!
I haven’t tested it but coconut oil should be fine.
I love all of Noras recipes thank you for creating them
I really appreciate your uplifting words, Laurie! Thank you for sharing them with me! I hope you enjoy the muffins!