Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins 🎃🧡 are even BETTER than the original! Super soft, moist, and brimming with pumpkin spice flavor, they’re filled with a tangy sweet cream cheese. You are going to LOVE being able to replicate this coffee shop fall favorite at home in no time!
Easy Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Muffin Recipe
- If you wait all year for Starbucks pumpkin muffins to return, you’re going to love this homemade copycat recipe. These pumpkin cream cheese muffins taste just like the ones from Starbucks—only better. They’re soft, moist, packed with warm pumpkin spice flavor, and topped with a tangy-sweet cream cheese center that stays perfectly creamy.
- Even better, this easy pumpkin muffin recipe comes together without a mixer, uses simple pantry ingredients, and costs a fraction of what you’d pay at the coffee shop.
- This is an easy, no-mixer base recipe that I have used over the years in these Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins, and Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins. So, it’s guaranteed to turn out great. Whether you’re craving a fall treat, meal prepping breakfast, or baking for a crowd, these muffins are a guaranteed hit!
Comparing Homemade vs Starbucks Pumpkin Muffins
How do these homemade pumpkin cheesecake muffins compare to the Starbucks version?
In a word, they’re better.
Yes, that’s right. I will happily proclaim that my recipe is better than Starbucks for many reasons:
- Not greasy in the least. Sometimes I find that Starbucks baked goods can have a greasy taste. Ever set something on one of their paper napkins and look at it after? Yeah.
- Not dry. Although sometimes their items are greasy, I find that they can also be dry and greasy at the same time. Sounds impossible, but I’ve eaten plenty of treats from them that are plagued by this problem.
- Robustly flavored. I am a big fan of big and bold fall-inspired flavors when it comes to my pumpkin desserts, muffins, breads, and pumpkin treats in general, and these muffins deliver.
- No preservatives. And because you’re not trying to have these taste “fresh” after sitting in a delivery truck and then a glass case, they actually taste fresh because they are homemade from scratch with common ingredients and nothing artificial!
- Healthier. I am surprised by just how light the nutritional stats came in using computer-generated info. Just over 200 calories per muffin! Bakery and coffee shop muffins never tend to be particularly waistline-friendly.
- Cheaper. Provided that you have a decently stocked baking cupboard and have most of the spices on hand (or just use more pumpkin pie spice), muffin-for-muffin, homemade is far less expensive than at Starbucks or a bakery.
- Can easily be made vegan with one minimal change. Pretty amazing and see below!
Ingredients in Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Sweet cream cheese filling: Brick-style cream cheese, granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, milk, and vanilla create the sweet, tangy filling. Do not use lite cream cheese. A 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour should work if needed.
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, spices, and salt: These dry ingredients give the muffins structure, help them rise, and add bold pumpkin spice flavor. Make sure your baking powder is fresh. A 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour should also work for the muffin batter.
- Granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, milk, molasses like the Grandma’s brand, and vanilla extract: These keep the muffins soft, moist, sweet, and flavorful. Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Any neutral oil works, full-fat milk gives the best texture, and mild or medium molasses is best. Do not use blackstrap molasses.
- Pumpkin seeds and Coarse sugar (such as decorator’s sugar or Sugar In The Raw), optional: Both are optional toppings. Use pumpkin seeds for the true copycat Starbucks look, or try chopped walnuts or pecans instead. Coarse sugar adds a little sparkle and crunch.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 350°F, spray a 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray, coating the muffin cups well. Set it aside.
- Beat together the ingredients for the cream cheese filling and set that aside.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients for the muffins in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the wet to the dry and then stir to mix. Turn the batter into the greased muffin wells, filling each well about 2/3-full.
- Using a piping bag, pipe the cream cheese mixture into the center of each of the uncooked muffins. Make sure just a little bit of the cream cheese is poking through on top. Optionally, sprinkle around the center of each muffin with pumpkin seeds or coarse sugar.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, and let them cool before serving. Don’t overbake the muffins. They will set up as they cool, and while the cream cheese may look a bit unset as you pull them from the oven, it will firm up!
Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Equipment
- 1 small mixing bowl
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 4 ounces cream cheese*, very well-softened to room temp
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon milk**
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pumpkin Muffins:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice***
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup pure pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Toppings:
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, optional; divided
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar, optional; divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-count muffin pan very well with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- Cream Cheese Filling: To a small bowl, add all the ingredients, and beat with a handheld electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary; set aside. Tip – Make sure the cream cheese is very well softened to room temp to make this much faster and easier.
- Pumpkin muffins: To a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice**, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and whisk together; set aside.
- To a separate large bowl add the sugars, pumpkin puree, oil, milk, molasses, vanilla, and whisk until combined.
- Pour the wet pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop, add enough batter to each prepared cavity of the muffin pan, in between 2/3 and 3/4-full. Don’t exceed 3/4 full or muffins could overflow while baking. Divide batter evenly among the 12 cavities.
- Place the cream cheese mixture into a piping bag or into a plastic bag and snip the very end tip off.
- Pipe the cream cheese mixture into the center of each of the uncooked muffins, making sure just a little bit of the cream cheese is poking through on top. You aren’t adding too much, 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons approximately per muffin.
- Optionally, evenly sprinkle around the center of each unbaked muffin with pumpkin seeds or coarse sugar like decorator’s sugar or Sugar In The Raw.
- Bake for about 15-17 minutes or until the tops are no longer wet looking and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin next to the cream cheese filling comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.****
- Allow the muffins to cool in pans for about 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Recipe FAQs
I have made these muffins with all types of milk, including whole cow’s milk, almond milk, and cashew milk. They all work perfectly, so don’t be afraid to use a dairy-free vegan milk if you’re so inclined.
With no eggs or butter, the only wild card element is the cream cheese. However, there are so many vegan cream cheeses on the market today, such as Violife or Tofutti, that you can feel confident using one in these pumpkin cream cheese muffins.
In theory, you can. However, in reality, it sounds like a headache!
Mini muffin pans have wells that are so shallow, and trying to navigate the batter, then adding just a teeny tiny amount of cream cheese, then seeds or sugar, sounds like a real pain.
If you want a great mini pumpkin muffin, try either these Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins or these Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins. Much easier, faster, and not at all overly fussy.
I’ve never made these as jumbo muffins, but I’m sure you could if you have a jumbo muffin pan, making sure to lengthen the baking time as needed.
More Pumpkin Breakfast Recipes:
Cooking With Pumpkin: Recipes That Go Beyond the Pie is my second cookbook and was released October, 2014.. There’s over 50 pumpkin recipes including sweets, savory, drinks, and a photo for nearly every recipe. I’d be super grateful if you headed over to Amazon.
Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins — Easy, no mixer recipe for the SOFTEST, moistest, most ADORABLE little muffins ever! Rich PUMPKIN flavor and CHOCOLATE in every bite!
Cinnamon Sugar Mini Pumpkin Muffins — These mini pumpkin muffins are coated in cinnamon sugar and are bursting with fall flavor! Even better, they’re accidentally vegan!
Chocolate Chip Vegan Pumpkin Muffins — These vegan pumpkin muffins are studded with mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. Plus, they’re packed with five different warming spices, which makes then extra flavorful!
Glazed Pumpkin Coffee Cake — A FAST and EASY no-mixer pumpkin coffee cake with rich pumpkin flavor and topped with big buttery crumbles! So soft, moist, and tender! You’re going to LOVE this cake for breakfast, brunch, or entertaining!
Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake — A FAST and EASY no-mixer pumpkin coffee cake with rich pumpkin flavor! Super soft, tender, and topped with the BEST crumble topping that you’ll fall in love with! Great for brunches and holiday entertaining!
Pumpkin Spice Cruffins – What you get when you marry a croissant with pumpkin spice and bake it in a muffin pan! The EASIEST recipe that uses just a handful of convenience ingredients, ready in 20 minutes, and perfect for pumpkin season!
Oatmeal To-Go Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins – Like having a bowl of warm pumpkin oatmeal in portable muffin form! Fast and easy!
Pumpkin Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake – One big oven-baked pancake so there’s nothing to stand around waiting to flip! The batter is made in the blender making this the EASIEST pancake ever!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bake — Every bite tastes like the super SOFT, gooey CENTER of a cinnamon roll! Spiked with pumpkin and flooded with icing, this EASY recipe is an automatic WINNER!
What can I use instead of molasses?
There really is no substitute because it’s a very distinct ingredient and nothing else in the world really tastes like it.
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