Easy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

If you've ever stood in front of a coffee shop pastry case in October dreaming about the pumpkin muffins, this recipe is for you. No hunting down tons of ingredients and no guesswork. Just cozy fall flavor all wrapped up in these delicious pumpkin muffins!!! 🧡

The shortcut that makes it easy

The secret to this recipe is the King Arthur Gluten-Free Muffin Mix, which came in the October Love Me Gluten Free subscription box. It does the heavy lifting, so you can just focus on the joy of baking a fall-inspired recipe. All you add are a few simple ingredients, and voila!, fall is served!

Ingredients

For the pumpkin muffins:

• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 box King Arthur Gluten-Free Muffin Mix
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

For the cream cheese filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

How to make them

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F and line or grease a cupcake pan.
2. Make the batter. In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, muffin mix, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. This gives the gluten-free flours time to hydrate, which means a softer, less gritty muffin.
3. Make the filling. While the batter rests, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together in a separate bowl until smooth and creamy. Spoon it into a piping bag, or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off.
4. Fill the pan. Spoon the pumpkin batter into the cupcake cups.
5. Pipe in the cream cheese. Pipe a generous swirl of filling into the center of each muffin.
6. Bake. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the muffins spring back when lightly touched.
7. Cool. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then move them to a wire rack.

Tips for the best muffins

• Soften the cream cheese first. Room-temperature cream cheese whips up smooth with no lumps, and it pipes more easily.
• Don't skip the 10-minute rest. It's the easiest trick in gluten-free baking for a better texture.
• Use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, which will throw off the recipe.
• Check your add-ins. If you're baking for someone with celiac disease, double-check that your pumpkin pie spice and vanilla are labeled gluten-free.
• Store them in the fridge. Because of the cream cheese filling, keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator. They're delicious cold or warmed for a few seconds in the microwave.

Your new fall favorite 🍂

If you make them, we'd love to see how they turn out! Tag us on Instagram, and let us know in the comments what other fall recipes you'd like to see made gluten-free!