Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Recipe posted in: Breakfasts, Flex Meals & Snacks, Snacks, Snacks, Desserts
With notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, treat yourself to pumpkin cream cheese muffins

Start your day the delicious way with this autumn-inspired treat! These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are the perfect way to celebrate the season. Chockful of a homemade sweet cream cheese filling surrounded by a moist pumpkin muffin exterior, one bite will instantly transport you to pumpkin bliss!

From freshly baked desserts to pumpkin-flavored beverages, fall is prime time for unhealthy temptations. But with a little help from the recipe developers at Nutrisystem, you can indulge in the flavors of fall without falling off the weight loss wagon.

Guilt-Free Way to Indulge in the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Trend

It’s no secret that we all wish we could indulge in the seasonal Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin from.  However, at 350 calories and 14 grams of fat per muffin, just one could easily throw any healthy eating plans off track. Not to mention that the first ingredient listed is sugar!*

That’s why we tasked our recipe developers with creating a healthier version of this Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin that fits into the Nutrisystem plan. Our version has less than half of the calories and features wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about eating.

How to Bake Easy, Low-Calorie Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

One of our Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins contains 154 calories and just 6.6 grams of fat. There’s only four tablespoons of sugar in the entire recipe (which makes 12 muffins total). The rest of the sweetness comes from clean ingredients like pumpkin puree and unsweetened apple sauce.

Making this healthy muffin recipe is super easy. Get started by combining the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, which includes a mix of whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour, white sugar, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate mixing bowl, you’ll mix together the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, applesauce, an egg and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then set it aside to work on your cream cheese filling.

Whip together a simple sweet cream cheese filling in your food processor by combining softened low-fat cream cheese, white sugar, an egg yolk and vanilla extract. Place this into a piping bag so that you can easily fill up each muffin. (Pro Tip: No piping bag? No problem! Fill up a plastic sandwich bag and snip off the corner with scissors.)

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and scoop the pumpkin batter into each cup. Pipe the cream cheese mixture into the center of the batter and on top. Add a sprinkle of walnuts on top, then pop your muffins into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let them cool and refrigerate before digging in!

Feel Full and Lose Weight to Stay On Track with Weight Loss

If you’re on the Nutrisystem weight loss plan, you can count one of our Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins as one SmartCarb and three Extras. If you’re enjoying it for breakfast, consider pairing it with a PowerFuel like a glass of skim milk, low-fat yogurt or some extra walnuts.

Even More Pumpkin Recipes

Craving more pumpkin goodness? Check out these other delicious and nutritious recipes!:

Get in shape this fall season with a convenient meal delivery service! Learn more about Nutrisystem weight loss plans.

*Information taken from company websites on 11/2/2023

Servings: 12 (1 serving = 1 muffin)

Calories per Serving: 154

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb and 3 Extras

Ingredients:

  • Pumpkin Muffin
  • ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 Tbsp. white sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • Cream Cheese Filling
  • 8 oz. low fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 Tbsp. white sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Walnut Garnish
  • ¼ cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with liners.
  2. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice in a mixing bowl.
  3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, applesauce, egg and vanilla.
  4. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
  5. In a food processor, blend cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. sugar, egg yolk and vanilla.
  6. Place cream cheese mixture in a piping bag or in a sandwich bag with the corner snipped.
  7. Scoop pumpkin batter into muffin cups. Pipe cream cheese mixture into the center of the batter and on top.
  8. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
  9. Bake for 25 minutes.
  10. Let cool and refrigerate before serving.
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