Pumpkin Banana Bread Muffins With A Cream Cheese Filling
In my opinion it’s hard to top a good Banana Bread. It’s delicious warm out of the oven, cold form being stored in the fridge, insanely good toasted (especially when topped with cream cheese), and pretty much any other way you can eat banana bread it’s delicious.
Let’s bring Pumpkin Bread into play now. Anything Pumpkin, or seasonal for that matter tastes especially good ESPECIALLY when it’s first brought back for the season. Both Banana Bread & Pumpkin Bread have that cakey, moist texture that you can’t get in any regular cake, they’re just so special and unique in that way especially with their own distinctive flavors. When you combine the two AND throw in a sweet, cream cheese filling and a crispy crumb topping…oh. my. god. These will be gone before you know it o you might be better off making a double batch.
Layers Of These Pumpkin Banana Bread Muffins With A Cream Cheese Filling
The first layer and most important component to these muffins is the pumpkin banana bread batter. This layer bakes so fluffy and moist. The flavor is pumpkin forward with that familiar, warm, delicious flavor of banana bread. It is not overpowered with pumpkin spice or cinnamon. It is just the perfect balance of pumpkin, banana, natural earthiness of pumpkin offset with the sweet ripe banana and contributing ingredients like brown sugar, vanilla, richness from the egg and butter…just chefs kiss.
Next up is our cream cheese filling layer. This layer is…you guessed it, creamy. It has the creamy rich flavor and texture that cheesecake does but pairs so well with the pumpkin banana bread muffin that everything will just melt in your mouth.
To top our cream cheese layer goes more pumpkin banana bread batter. This batter will kinda sandwich the cream cheese layer up so that it’s not visible on the outside but once you cut into each muffin, you’ll be surprised and delighted with that decadent cream cheese layer.
The last piece to this puzzle is the sweet, crispy, crumbly, buttery crumb that tops each muffin. I firmly believe that every muffin deserves a crumb on top. Why not?! I see no down side to this idea, honestly. The key to making a good crumb is to breaking apart the butter into the flour and sugar mixture just enough so that the mixture resembles clumpy sand. Overworking a crumb mixture can result in the texture becoming a bit too tough. It’s best to break the butter into the dry ingredients just until it’s evenly combined.
Can I Make These Muffins Without The Cream Cheese Filling?
No matter what your reasoning to wanting to make these muffins without the cream cheese filling you can 100% make the recipe exactly the same just skip the cream cheese filling. Although I just need to say it. I totally recommend the cream cheese filling. It takes these insanely delicious muffins to the next level.
Creating Homemade Muffin Liners
I LOVE the look of the classic bakery style muffin liner. Ever sense I found out how easily I could make them from home, I haven’t stopped. Add you need to do is cut out rectangles of parchment slightly larger than the size of the muffin circle in the pan you’re using then smash your hand in the center. Even out the edges of the parchment to make the edges crease nicely. You may need to create the parchment cups one at a time while filling since they don’t hold their shape in the pan perfectly right after you make them.
More Recipes You Might Enjoy…
Halloween Cake Pops
Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting & Halloween Hats
Fall Themed Sheet Cake
Halloween Ghost Swiss Roll
I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do! As always please tag me @thesqueakymixer on social media and share all of your results with me – it makes my day seeing you all bake my recipes! 🤎
Pumpkin Banana Bread Muffins With A Cream Cheese Filling
8-10
servings30
minutesKeep the screen of your device on.
Ingredients
2 2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup 1/2 dark brown sugar
3/4 cups 3/4 granulated sugar
1 cup 1 pumpkin puree
1 1 egg, room temperature
6 Tbsp. 6 unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp. 2 vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 flour
2 tsp. 2 pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. 1/4 salt
1 1/2 tsp. 1 1/2 baking powder
1/2 tsp. 1/2 baking soda
- Cream Cheese Filling
8 oz 8 cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup 1/2 granulated sugar
1 1 egg, room temperature
2 tsp. 2 vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. 3 flour
- Crumb Topping
1 cup 1 flour
1/2 cup 1/2 dark brown sugar
1 tsp. 1 cinnamon
6 Tbsp. 6 unsalted butter, melted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line large muffin pans (or standard cupcake pans if you don’t have large muffin pans) with parchment liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas until they are broken down and there are only very small banana lumps left.
- Add both sugars and pumpkin puree to the mashed bananas and use an electric mixer to combine everything evenly.
- Add the egg, melted butter, and vanilla to the banana mixture. Continue to use the electric mixer to combine the ingredients together evenly.
- To finish the pumpkin banana bread batter, add all of the remaining dry ingredients to the batter and use the mixer to combine everything just until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is combining nicely.
- Set the batter aside.
- Cream Cheese Filling
- Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese on low speed until it is light and creamy.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the cream cheese and mix just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure that everything is mixing evenly. Set aside.
- Crumb Topping
- In a small to medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon until well combined.
- Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients and use a fork to combine everything. Mix until just combined.
- Assembling The Muffins
- I used large muffin pans, if you are using standard sized cupcake pans, fill each one 3/4 of the way full. For using large muffin pans, scoop two hefty scoops, about 2 tablespoons in amount at the bottom of each muffin tin. Scoop about 1 to 1 1/2 amount of the first layer worth of cream cheese filling on top of the first layer of batter.
- Top the cream cheese filling with 1 to 2 more scoops of pumpkin banana bread batter.
- Lastly, top each muffin off with 2-3 tablespoons of crumb or enough to cover the entire top of the muffin.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until the crumb is deep golden brown, the top of the muffin has a slight bounce back when tapped, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If you are using standard size cupcake pans instead of large muffin tins like I am, you will only need to bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Allow the muffins to cool for about 15 minutes in the pans that they baked in before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @thesqueakymixer on Instagram! I love to see what you all create.
