Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a bowl combine the dry ingredients, white flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda, and salt.
- Then add the wet ingredients, honey, brown sugar, pumpkin purée, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Mix until very well combined.
- In a small bowl mix together the softened room-temperature cream cheese, honey, and vanilla extract.
- Scoop about ¼ cup batter into oil-sprayed cupcake liners. I used large cupcake liners which made 8 big cupcakes but this recipe will make about 16 regular-sized cupcakes.
- Now heat the softened cream cheese mixture for 30 seconds in the microwave then scoop in the center of each cupcake batter about ½ tablespoon cream cheese frosting. Using a toothpick, gently swirl around.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Pro Tips:
Freeze your cream cheese filling in tablespoon-sized portions overnight before assembling. This prevents the filling from melting into the batter during baking, ensuring you get distinct pockets of creamy goodness instead of streaky, uneven distribution throughout the muffin. Use brick-style cream cheese, never whipped or spreadable varieties, because the stabilizers in whipped versions break down under heat and create a grainy texture. The dense structure of brick cream cheese holds up perfectly during baking and creates that luxurious, smooth filling. Fill muffin cups only ⅓ full with batter before adding frozen filling, then top with remaining batter – this creates the perfect ratio I've found after dozens of batches. Too much bottom batter and the filling sinks; too little and it breaks through the top. Tap the filled muffin pan firmly on your counter twice before baking to settle the batter around the frozen cream cheese and eliminate air pockets. This Dominican bakery trick ensures even baking and prevents the dreaded hollow spaces that make muffins collapse.
Freeze your cream cheese filling in tablespoon-sized portions overnight before assembling. This prevents the filling from melting into the batter during baking, ensuring you get distinct pockets of creamy goodness instead of streaky, uneven distribution throughout the muffin. Use brick-style cream cheese, never whipped or spreadable varieties, because the stabilizers in whipped versions break down under heat and create a grainy texture. The dense structure of brick cream cheese holds up perfectly during baking and creates that luxurious, smooth filling. Fill muffin cups only ⅓ full with batter before adding frozen filling, then top with remaining batter – this creates the perfect ratio I've found after dozens of batches. Too much bottom batter and the filling sinks; too little and it breaks through the top. Tap the filled muffin pan firmly on your counter twice before baking to settle the batter around the frozen cream cheese and eliminate air pockets. This Dominican bakery trick ensures even baking and prevents the dreaded hollow spaces that make muffins collapse.
