Fall is the time for Pumpkin Spice and everything nice! I love this time of year not only because of cooler weather but because of pumpkin spice. It’s the smell and taste of fall!!

Recently, I visited Starbucks and saw they had a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin. It inspired me to create my own. Just to be clear, this is not a copy cat recipe, it’s my own recipe that I created inspired by the Starbucks version. It’s yummy and family approved!

I should forewarn you, this is a three step process because you make the muffin, the filling and the topping but bear with me, it’s so worth it in the end! You can also freeze these baked muffins for later use as well.

To make the batter…

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. (You can make your own pumpkin spice by following recipe below.)

Next, in a separate bowl, mix together melted butter, pumpkin puree, slightly beaten eggs and vanilla with a spatula or wooden spoon. (I used vanilla bean paste but you can use regular vanilla.)

To finish off the muffin batter, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. I do all this by hand, no mixers involved. Yet.

Scoop your muffin batter into two paper lined muffin pans. I use a large cookie scoop for this. This recipe makes 24 regular size muffins. Set aside.

To make the cream cheese filling…

In a mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla using a mixer. Beat a few minutes until smooth.

Tip: Many times I forget to take cream cheese out to soften so I use the following method. Before combining with any other ingredients, place the cream cheese alone in a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer for a few minutes till it is soft and smooth.

Your cream cheese filling should be a frosting consistency at this point. Again, I used vanilla bean paste so you can see little specks of vanilla bean “caviar” in the filling.

Fill a pastry bag with the filling and snip off the end. (You can use a ziploc bag and snip off a corner.)

Grab the muffins and insert the pastry bag tip into the middle of each muffin and give a squeeze to insert about a tablespoon of cream cheese filling. It can be hard to judge how much to add to each muffin. You can always go back and add more if you have any remaining filling in the bag.

I went back and added a little more to each till I used up all the filling.

To make the crumble topping…

Mix together flour, brown sugar and more pumpkin pie spice.

Then add some melted butter and mix with a pastry blender or fork.

Continue to mix until the mixture creates a “crumble”. You should be able to squeeze together so it sticks but will crumble apart easily with your fingers.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over each cupcake. Then bake!

Your kitchen will smell like fall. No candles required. Just the wonderful smell of fall and pumpkin pie spice and everything nice. Oh, you should try some just to make your house smell wonderful. You also have the added benefit of eating and sharing these with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers! And don’t forget to freeze some for yourself!

Enjoy!