Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Muffins are soft, tender, and swirled with the most luscious cinnamon sugar filling, then drizzled with sweet cream cheese glaze. They taste like a cinnamon roll and pumpkin muffin had the most delicious fall baby! These beauties are perfect for cozy weekend mornings, holiday brunches, or anytime you need a little pumpkin spice magic in your life.

Love More Muffins Desserts? Try My Apple Spice Muffins or this Cherry Cobbler Muffins next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Soft, fluffy, and bursting with cozy fall flavor, these pumpkin cinnamon roll muffins combine the sweetness of cinnamon rolls with the warmth of pumpkin spice. Topped with a creamy glaze, they make the perfect treat for breakfast or dessert during pumpkin season.

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Ingredient List

For the Muffins:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling – just pure pumpkin!)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or substitute vegetable oil)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Optional: 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, pinch of ground cloves, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

For the Cinnamon Swirl:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark works!)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice for extra warmth)

For the Cream Cheese Glaze:

• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2–3 tablespoons milk (to thin to your desired drizzle consistency)

Why These Ingredients Work

Pumpkin does this moisture magic thing that I don’t understand scientifically but it works. These stay soft way longer than regular muffins. Just get plain pumpkin puree not pie filling – grabbed pie filling by accident once at Target while texting and those muffins were disgusting. Check the can label before you throw it in your cart.

Usually use melted butter cause I like the taste better. My sister uses oil and swears her muffins stay softer longer. Made them both ways probably a hundred times and honestly can’t tell that much difference. Just use whatever’s already open in your fridge.

Brown sugar melts when it bakes and turns into these caramel ribbon things running through the whole muffin. Dark brown’s got more molasses so it tastes deeper but light brown works totally fine. Use what you have.

Cream cheese in the glaze changed everything for me. My grandma only used powdered sugar and milk in hers and they were always way too sweet – like hurt your teeth sweet. That one tablespoon of cream cheese makes it tangy and way more interesting.

Having both baking soda and baking powder makes them rise better and get that pretty dome top. My aunt went to culinary school and told me you need both for texture and she was right about that.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Nothing fancy here:

• Standard 12-cup muffin tin
• Paper liners or cooking spray (liners are way better)
• Two mixing bowls – one large, one medium
• Whisk
• Rubber spatula
• Small bowl for the cinnamon swirl
• Toothpick or wooden skewer for swirling and testing
• Cooling rack
• Fork or small whisk for glaze

That’s it. No stand mixer, no weird pans, nothing expensive. Basic stuff you already own probably.

How To Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Step 1: Prep Your Oven and Pan

Oven to 350. Line your muffin tin with paper liners or spray it good. Always use liners cause that cinnamon swirl gets sticky on the edges and I hate hate hate scrubbing baked sugar off pans. Liners make cleanup so much easier and you just peel them right off.

Step 2: Mix the Wet Ingredients

Big bowl – dump in pumpkin, melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla. Whisk till smooth and you don’t see egg streaks anymore. Maybe 30 seconds. Want it totally combined and same color throughout.

Step 3: Combine the Dry Ingredients

Medium bowl – flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon. Whisk for like 15-20 seconds so the leavening stuff distributes evenly. Otherwise some muffins rise pretty and others stay flat and dense.

Step 4: Bring the Batter Together

Pour dry into wet. Fold with spatula gently. Stop the second you stop seeing dry flour streaks. Batter looks thick and lumpy and rough – perfect. Don’t keep stirring to make it smooth or you’ll get tough dense hockey pucks. Overmixing develops gluten and ruins muffin texture. If adding nuts or extra spices fold them in now with just a few strokes.

Step 5: Make the Cinnamon Swirl

Small bowl – melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon. Stir together till you get this thick grainy paste that looks like wet sand. Brown sugar won’t dissolve all the way and that’s exactly right.

Step 6: Assemble the Muffins

Fill each cup halfway with batter – I use a cookie scoop for this cause it keeps them same size and I don’t get batter everywhere. Drop a teaspoon of cinnamon mixture right on top of batter in each cup. Don’t spread it just plop it there. Add more batter on top to cover the cinnamon layer, fill cups about 3/4 full. Want enough on top that the swirl’s mostly covered but not so much they overflow.

Step 7: Create the Swirl

Toothpick down into each muffin then swirl in a circle or figure-eight once or twice. That’s all. One or two gentle swirls per muffin. Used to go absolutely nuts with the toothpick thinking more swirls meant prettier muffins but it just blends everything together and you lose the ribbons. Less is more.

Step 8: Bake to Golden Perfection

Bake 20-25 minutes. Tops should be light golden and spring back when you poke them. Toothpick in center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Here’s the tricky part – that cinnamon layer can look wet and gooey even when the muffin’s done so rely on toothpick test not just looking. My oven runs hot so I always check at 20 minutes. Better early than overbaked.

Step 9: Cool

Let them sit in the pan 5 minutes after taking out. Need time to firm up so they don’t fall apart when you move them. After 5 minutes transfer to wire rack. Now the torture part – gotta cool completely before glazing. I know it sucks. Tried glazing warm ones probably 20 times thinking it’d be fine and it never is. Glaze just melts right off and makes a sticky mess. Just wait.

Step 10: Make and Drizzle the Glaze

Muffins totally cool now right? Small bowl – whisk cream cheese and powdered sugar till smooth with no lumps. Add vanilla and 2 tablespoons milk, whisk again. Too thick? Add more milk. Want it thin enough to drip off spoon in steady stream but not so thin it runs right off the muffins. Drizzle over cooled muffins with spoon or piping bag if you’re feeling fancy. Let set a few minutes.

You Must Know

Room temperature ingredients mix smoother. Egg and pumpkin should be room temp ideally. Cold stuff doesn’t blend right and you get lumps. Forget to take mine out constantly so if that happens just let them sit on counter while measuring everything else. Even 10-15 minutes helps.

Completely cool before glazing. Broken this rule more than any other and always regret it. Warm muffins melt glaze and it slides off. Just wait.

Personal Secret: Add extra half tablespoon butter to the cinnamon swirl beyond recipe amount. Makes swirl stay soft and gooey instead of hardening up. Get these gorgeous photogenic ribbons when you cut into them. My secret for bakery-quality look.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Cookie scoop for filling cups keeps them same size so they bake evenly. Don’t end up with batter all over hands, counter, outside of cups. Cleaner and faster. Use medium scoop that holds about 2 tablespoons.

Save tiny bit of cinnamon swirl and dollop on top of final batter layer before toothpick swirling. Get pretty cinnamon streaks visible on top of baked muffins not just inside. Makes them look more impressive.

Check at 20 minutes if your oven runs hot. All ovens lie differently and overbaked dry muffins are the worst. Better to check early.

Don’t overswirl with toothpick. Did this constantly when first started making these. Went ham swirling thinking it’d look prettier but you lose all the gorgeous layers and just get blended muffin. One or two gentle swirls done.

Make swirl mixture night before keep covered in fridge. Morning microwave 10 seconds to soften. One less thing when you’re half awake.

Flavor Variations / Suggestions

Apple Cinnamon: Dice half cup apple super small – use Granny Smith for tartness. Fold in with extra quarter teaspoon cinnamon. Apple chunks get soft and jammy baking.

Chocolate Chip: Fold half cup chocolate chips into batter. Chocolate with cinnamon swirl is unreal. Kids go nuts for this version.

Maple Glaze: Skip cream cheese glaze entirely make maple instead – powdered sugar, pure maple syrup, splash milk whisk till right consistency. Deeper autumn flavor.

Extra Spiced: Add half teaspoon pumpkin pie spice to batter for full PSL experience. Some people love it really spicy.

Streusel Top: Skip swirl make cinnamon streusel instead – butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon mix till crumbly sprinkle top before baking. Coffee cake vibe.

Nutty Crunch: Toast half cup chopped pecans or walnuts in dry skillet till fragrant. Fold into batter or sprinkle on wet glaze. Toasted nuts add amazing crunchy texture.

Make-Ahead Options

Mix batter night before keep covered in fridge overnight. Morning let sit room temp about 10 minutes before assembling and baking so not ice cold. Swirl mixture make fresh cause butter hardens refrigerated doesn’t dollop nice.

Freeze great for meal prep. Cool completely skip glaze wrap each individually plastic wrap. All wrapped muffins together in big freezer bag up to 3 months. Serve thaw overnight fridge or room temp couple hours then make fresh glaze drizzle before eating.

Glaze itself make up to 2 days ahead store airtight container fridge. Stir good and add splash milk thin back to drizzling consistency before using.

Favorite trick – bake night before leave unglazed covered on counter overnight. Morning make glaze fresh drizzle while everyone’s waking up. They think you got up at dawn when really you did work night before.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

One 15-ounce can pumpkin almost 2 cups so leftover after making these. Keep mine airtight container fridge up to week. Inevitably make second batch within few days anyway cause they disappear fast.

Made these with butter and oil probably hundred times. Butter gives richer more complex flavor. Oil makes them stay moister longer creates more tender delicate crumb. Both delicious just use whatever you have or prefer.

Baking high altitude above 3,000 feet reduce baking powder to 3/4 teaspoon increase oven to 375. High altitude baking’s weird requires adjustments.

Only have cupcake liners instead of muffin liners still work but sometimes smaller so might get 14-15 muffins instead of 12. Watch baking time cause smaller muffins bake faster.

Cinnamon swirl sinks slightly baking. Completely normal actually creates gorgeous pockets cinnamon sugar throughout entire muffin not just one layer. Supposed to do that.

Serving Suggestions

Weekend brunch with scrambled eggs crispy bacon fresh fruit. Make them every Thanksgiving morning past three years family tradition now. Incredible with afternoon coffee or tea when friends over – set on pretty plate watch them disappear.

Kids love finding them lunch boxes as special treat. Fantastic for gift giving – wrap individually cellophane bags tied with ribbon for teachers neighbors mail carriers anyone needs homemade love.

Dust with light sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top for extra sweetness. Press some chopped toasted pecans into wet glaze for crunch and visual appeal. Serve with small bowl whipped cream cheese on side for spreading.

Honestly the reason I drag myself out of bed cold Saturday mornings. Smell of them baking warmth of kitchen anticipation of first bite – not just breakfast it’s whole cozy fall experience wrapped up in one perfect muffin.

How to Store Your Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Airtight container room temp up to 2 days stay perfectly soft moist. Use big plastic container tight lid or cake carrier.

Cream cheese in glaze so recommend refrigerating longer than 2 days. Last up to 5 days fridge airtight container. Let come back room temp before eating for best texture flavor or warm individual muffins microwave 10-15 seconds.

Longer storage freeze baked before glazing. Wrap each individually plastic wrap completely covered no exposed areas. All wrapped muffins together large freezer bag squeeze out air freeze up to 3 months. Thaw transfer fridge overnight or room temp 1-2 hours then make fresh glaze drizzle before serving.

Refresh day-old muffins make taste freshly baked warm in 300 oven 5-7 minutes or microwave individual 15-20 seconds. Glaze gets little melty but honestly makes them taste even better more indulgent.

Allergy Information

Contains these allergens:

• Dairy butter cream cheese milk
• Eggs
• Gluten flour

Substitutions:

Dairy-free: Vegan butter or melted coconut oil instead regular butter. Glaze with dairy-free cream cheese any non-dairy milk – almond oat soy all work. Sister has lactose intolerance makes them this way all time turn out perfect.

Egg-free: Flax egg – 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed 3 tablespoons water mix let sit about 5 minutes till thick gel-like use instead regular egg. Works great.

Gluten-free: Good quality 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend contains xanthan gum. Tested with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 came out great. Texture slightly more delicate bit more crumbly than regular but still really delicious.

Nut-free: Omit optional nuts. Completely optional recipe doesn’t require them at all.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pure pumpkin puree?

Don’t. Pie filling already has sugar spices other additives mixed in so muffins will be way too sweet texture completely off. Also adding extra spices throws off balance of recipe. Stick with pure pumpkin puree – usually shelved right next pie filling at grocery just read ingredient label carefully. Only ingredient should be pumpkin nothing else.

My cinnamon swirl sank to the bottom – what happened?

Usually means batter bit too thin or added too much swirl mixture. Measure pumpkin correctly by spooning into measuring cup rather than packing down. Don’t add extra butter to swirl beyond recipe calls even though tempting. Remember gentle swirling with toothpick – mix too aggressively swirl breaks up sinks rather than staying pretty ribbons.

Do I have to add the cream cheese glaze?

Don’t have to but really should. Tangy sweetness of glaze takes these from good to absolutely incredible bakery-quality. What makes them special. But if not glaze person or trying reduce sugar can skip and just dust little powdered sugar or eat plain. Still delicious without just not quite spectacular.

💬 Tried this? Comment and rate below! Love hearing how they turned out what variations or changes you made. Add chocolate chips? Try maple glaze? Make mini muffins?