Copycat Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins with a soft spiced crumb and a cream cheese center that stays put. The pepita praline on top is cooked into a sheet and chopped, the way Starbucks actually does it.
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Make the Pumpkin seed topping
Melt butter in a small pan over medium heat (about 1 minute). Add the brown sugar and pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes until the sugar is melted and coating the seeds.
Transfer the mixture onto a lined baking sheet and let it cool completely (about 15–20 minutes) until it hardens into a crunchy, praline-like sheet. Once cooled, roughly chop into small pieces and set aside.
Make the cream cheese filling
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, milk, flour, and vanilla extract until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together all the dry spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, ginger), baking soda, and salt with the flour. Whisk everything together until evenly combined.
In a separate, larger bowl, combine the sugars, oil, the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, and eggs and whisk until smooth.
3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 cup canned pumpkin, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 cup brown sugar
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Using a spatula or large spoon, fold everything together gently. The batter should be uniform, but it’s okay if there are a few streaks of flour, don’t overmix! Overmixing can make the muffins dense. The batter should be thick but scoopable , it should hold its shape when scooped into the muffin liners, not runny.
Scoop the batter into the lined muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Insert the tip of the cream cheese bag about 1 cm into the center of each muffin and squeeze gently while pulling up to create a small cream cheese pocket. Sprinkle the chopped pumpkin seed praline over the top, avoiding the cream cheese center.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the edge comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
The filling will not sink. Most recipes leave flour out of the cream cheese mixture. One tablespoon of flour and two teaspoons of milk change the texture enough that it holds its shape through the bake instead of running to the bottom. Pipe it about 1cm deep and pull straight up so it sits in the top third of the muffin.