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Mari Bakes pumpkin cupcakes

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Cupcakes with Walnut Crumble

Mari
These Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Cupcakes are moist, light and autumnal, covered in a delicious cheesecake swirl and topped with a crunchy walnut crumble. They are guaranteed to vanish from your table. Luckily this recipe makes enough so you might be lucky and also grab some leftovers.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 22 cupcakes

Ingredients
  

Pumpkin Cupcake

  • 150 grams all purpose flour* (see notes)
  • 80 grams whole-wheat flour*
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin spice (see recipe above)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 400 g pumpkin puree (see recipe above)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup vegetable oil (neutral tasting one, e.g. sunflower oil)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake Swirl

  • 200 g full fat cream cheese
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Walnut Crumble (optional)

  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp flour (I used whole-wheat flour)
  • 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
  • 1 ½ tbsp oil (neutral tasting one, e.g. sunflower oil)
  • 1 big pinch pumpkin spice

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Fill your muffin tins with paper muffin cups. This recipe will make around 22 medium muffins. My muffin tin has 12 cups as seen on the pictures.
  • Mix the first five dry ingredients (all purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt) together in a bowl.
  • In a bigger bowl, whisk together pumpkin, brown sugar and maple syrup. Add in eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Mix well.
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined and no more dry flour is visible. Do not overmix.
  • Use around 1 tablespoon of batter to fill the muffin cups about ¾ full. Adjust if using bigger or smaller muffin tins.
  • In another bowl, mix cream cheese until soft. Stir in sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
  • Top each muffin with a teaspoon of cheesecake mixture. Use a toothpick to swirl the cheesecake mixture into the muffin batter.
    Mari Bakes pumpkin cupcakes
  • Optional: Make the walnut crumble by combining brown sugar, chopped walnuts, flour, oil and pumpkin spice. The crumble should form little clumps but still be crumbly (as the name suggests). Top the cupcakes with a teaspoon of the walnut crumble.
    Mari Bakes pumpkin cupcakes
  • Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops are slightly browned and a toothpick inserted to the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
    Mari Bakes pumpkin cupcakes
  • Let cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
    Mari Bakes pumpkin cupcakes
  • When completely cooled, the cupcakes can be stored in the fridge in an air-tight box for 3 to 5 days.

Notes

*As you see, I managed to sneak in some whole-wheat flour again. You can also just go ahead and only use 230g of all purpose flour.
**For some reason, my cat went completely wild every time he got a whiff of these cupcakes! So make sure to keep your muffins safe from wild predators. ;) 
Mari Bakes pumpkin cupcakes
Keyword cheesecake, cupcakes, pumpkin