Cream Cheese Muffins

Cream Cheese Muffins are tender and sweet thanks to cream cheese in the batter as well as a filling. A crunchy golden sugar topping is the perfect finishing touch.

Easy Cream Cheese Muffins

This Cream Cheese Muffins recipe has been in my go-to recipe collection for many years. I clipped it from a local newspaper – years before we started sharing recipes here on A Family Feast.

It was originally named “Katy’s Cream Cheese Muffins” but unfortunately I didn’t save the story of who Katy is, or how these muffins came about (my apologies to Katy – whoever you are)!

These are simple, delicious muffins.  They’re moist and tender and lightly sweetened so a bit of tangy flavor from the cream cheese shines through.

You can make these Cream Cheese Muffins with or without the cream cheese filling. Either way, these muffins bake up tall and domed, and we sprinkled the tops with coarse turbinado sugar before baking – giving them that sweet, crunchy, and perfectly golden muffin top!

• This is a super simple muffin recipe, and you can make it with or without the cream cheese filling.
• The muffins bake up perfectly, with a crunchy, sugar-topped dome.
• It’s a versatile recipe to have on hand. Bake as written in today’s recipe, or add some berries or chocolate chips for other delicious variations.

• Cream cheese – This is added to both the muffin batter and used as a filling. Buy a full fat cream cheese – please don’t be tempted to swap in the lower fat or fat free cream cheese. (The muffins just won’t be the as good!)
• Unsalted Butter
• All-Purpose Flour
• Granulated Sugar
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Whole Milk – Again, don’t swap in lower fat milk.
• Eggs
• Vanilla Extract
• Turbinado Sugar – This is sprinkled on top of the batter before baking and it gives the tops of the muffins color and crunch. Turbinado sugar is also sometimes called raw cane sugar. You could use Demerara or Sparkling Sugar instead.
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray
• For the (optional but highly recommended) Filling – More cream cheese, whole milk, and vanilla extract. Plus powdered/Confectioner’s sugar is used to sweeten and thicken the filling.

1. Preheat your oven.
2. Line the muffin pan cavities with paper liners, then spray with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Mix the batter.
4. Portion the batter into the muffin pan.
5. Sprinkle the muffin batter with sugar.
6. Bake in the oven until the center of the muffins are cooked through and tops are golden in color. Cool muffins on a rack.
7. Mix the filling while the muffins bake, then place into a piping bag. Chill to firm up.
8. Cut holes in the top of each muffin once cooled.
9. Fill the muffins with filling.
10. Serve as soon as possible for the optimal freshness.

• Can I make Cream Cheese Muffins ahead of time?  Yes, but keep them refrigerated once you’ve filled them with the cream cheese filling.
• How do I store leftovers?   If filled, keep refrigerated. Unfilled muffins can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container. (Either way, they will stay fresh for 2-3 days.)
• Can I freeze these muffins?  You, can freeze them with or without the filling. Just tightly wrap them in plastic to avoid freezer burn.

Cream Cheese Muffins originally appeared on A Family Feast in 2013. We’ve updated the photos and post, added the (optional) filling, and made the muffins a little sweeter with some additional sugar in the recipe.

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