Using my go-to zucchini bread recipe as the starting point, these soft cream cheese zucchini muffins are deliciously spiced with cinnamon and stuffed with a cheesecake style filling. Before baking, sprinkle with coarse sugar for a little sparkling crunch on top.
Zucchini Muffins, Upgraded
These muffins are downright DELICIOUS. Using a variation of my absolute favorite zucchini bread recipeโan old family recipe that won 1st place in a state fairโwe’re baking muffins stuffed with sweet cream cheese. They taste like dessert! I got the recipe idea from these pumpkin cream cheese muffins, a total fall favorite. Here we’re swapping pumpkin for zucchini and skipping the crumb topping. Though you could definitely add it here if desired!
Here’s why you’ll love them:
- Easy muffin batter using basic ingredients
- Soft, moist, filled with creamy filling
- Warm spice flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg
- Recipe makes just 10, but can easily be doubled
- Hidden veggiesโyou can’t taste the zucchini!
One reader, Amanda, commented: “Wow, this is amazing! So moist with just the right touch of spice and cheesecake hiding inside… My garden zucchinis have never been put to better use. โ โ โ โ โ “
One reader, Dee, commented: “These muffins turned out amazing!! The extra crunch from the coarse sugar on top, paired with the cinnamon flavor of the fluffy muffin and creamy texture from the cream cheese all worked so well together. Will definitely be making these again! โ โ โ โ โ “
Overview: How to Make Cream Cheese Zucchini Muffins
Today’s muffin recipe is similar to my regular zucchini muffins. The batter yields slightly fewer muffins, but if you want a full dozen, you can use the plain zucchini muffins batter and stretch the cream cheese filling to fill all 12.
The full written recipe is below, but let’s quickly walk through the steps first.
- Make the zucchini batter: All basic ingredients here including flour, leaveners, egg, sugar, and vanilla. Compared to my zucchini bread batter, I add a little more baking powder so the muffins can rise up under the heavy cream cheese filling. I use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar for extra flavorโand I actually slightly reduced the amount of sugar since we’re adding the sweet cream cheese filling. Cinnamon and nutmeg add flavor. Use a box grater to shred the zucchini. I add a little extra zucchini for added volume.
- Make the cream cheese filling: You need 4 simple ingredients for the cream cheese filling. Bring 5 ounces of brick cream cheese to room temperature, then beat it with 1 egg yolk, sugar, and a touch of vanilla extract. The egg yolk helps the cream cheese filling โsetโ like cheesecake. Don’t use a whole eggโthe texture will taste off.
- Assemble: Layer a heaping Tablespoon of zucchini batter into your lined 12-count muffin pan. Top with a Tablespoon of filling, then another heaping Tablespoon of zucchini batter. No need to swirl together. I always sprinkle crunchy coarse sugar on top because it adds a lovely contrast on the super soft muffins. I like Sugar in the Raw or white sparkling sugar sprinkles, which you can usually find with the sprinkles in the baking aisle.
- Bake: Your kitchen will smell divine!
Layer the zucchini batter and cream cheese batter together in your muffin liners. This recipe yields 10 muffins.
Try my zucchini crumb cake, zucchini cake, or peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread next! For something savory, you’ll love these zucchini fritters, this feta & herb zucchini casserole, or these zucchini biscuits. For even more inspiration, here are 20+ sweet and savory zucchini recipes to browse.
Possible Variations
- Carrot, Apple, or Banana: You can replace the shredded zucchini with shredded carrot for cream cheese carrot muffins. I always like a little ginger with carrot, so feel free to add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger to the carrot batter. You could replace the zucchini with shredded apple, too! This cream cheese filling would be wonderful with my banana muffins batter as well. For banana, carrot, or apple, follow the baking instructions and time(s) written below.
- Loaf instead of muffins: Use my zucchini bread recipe and feel free to skip the chocolate chips. Add half of the batter to the greased 9×5-inch loaf pan, spoon and gently spread this cream cheese filling on top, then carefully spread remaining zucchini batter on top. Use a toothpick or knife to swirl together, which will prevent the loaf from separating. (Not necessary for muffins.) Add about 5 minutes to the bread’s bake time.
- Double the recipe: To yield about 20-22 muffins, feel free to double the recipe below by doubling each ingredient. Instead of 2 egg yolks in the cream cheese filling, 1 full egg will work.
Cream Cheese Zucchini Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 10 muffins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Layer zucchini batter and cream cheese filling together to make cream cheese zucchini muffins. These super soft and moist muffins are deliciously spiced with cinnamon and taste wonderful with a crunchy coarse sugar topping.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (120ml) canola or vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg,ย at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) shredded zucchini (no need to blot)
- optional: coarse sugar for topping
Cheesecake Filling
- 5 ounces (142g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons (36g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ยฐF (218ยฐC). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. This recipe yields about 10 muffins.
- Make the zucchini batter: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract together. Whisk in the zucchini. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk or stir until just combined. Avoid over-mixing.
- Make the cream cheese filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sugar until combined.
- Spoon 1 heaping Tablespoon of zucchini muffin batter into the muffin cups. Layer with 1 Tablespoon of cream cheese filling, then another heaping Tablespoon of muffin batterโor however much batter is needed to fill the cups all the way to the top. Some cream cheese filling can poke out of the top or on the sides. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
- Bake for 5 minutes 425ยฐF (218ยฐC) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce heat to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC)* and continue baking for another 15โ17 minutes. The total time these muffins should be in the oven is around 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before serving.
- Cover leftover muffins tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions:ย For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then heat up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):ย 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Zucchini:ย I do not peel the zucchini before shredding, but you certainly can if youโd like.
- Variations or Doubling the Recipe: For other flavor ideas, turning this into a loaf, or doubling the recipe, see Possible Variations above.
- Why the initial high oven temperature?ย Like I do for mostย muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so theyโre extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time. This trick makes beautiful bakery-style muffins every time.
Reader Comments and Reviews
My familyโs favorite zucchini recipe. These freeze great and always impress others. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Hello! When I double the recipe, I usually put 2 muffin pans in the oven together. In that case, should I be increasing the bake time? It seems to take longer to bake through, so I was just wondering if there was a rule of thumb I should know about. Thanks!
Hi Rebecca, if baking two pans at the same time, they should be on the same rack. If they are on separate racks, they will bake unevenly and bake at different rates.
Can I make them without the cream cheese filling?
Definitely, or here’s our plain zucchini muffins recipe.
Absolutely DELICIOUS! The filling was creamy, the muffin was moist, and it wasnโt too sweet.
I love this recipe. I add half shredded carrots and half zucchini and also add some powdered ginger to give the bread a carrot cake type taste. Delicious!
These muffins are so, so good!! I was able to get 12 muffins without a problem. I added some chopped pecans and sprinkled a small amount of sugar in the raw on top.
This recipe was delicious – but mine did fall in the center as well. I used avocado oil instead of canola, but that should not make a difference. The muffins were definitely cooked to done. They rose beautifully, unfortunately it did not last except in a couple of muffins. I did put a small bit of streusel on top. made them look great – hmmm. Any help would be appreciated! I usually take my muffins to public gatherings, so the appearance matters.
Hi Jeniece, did you use full fat brick style cream cheese? Using anything else, like cream cheese in a tub, has too much moisture. It would expand, then collapse after baking.
I forgot to add my coarse sugar on top, but that was my fault. This recipe is easy and delicious.
I only got 6 using muffin pan. Your recipe says 12. I’m confused. Was I suppose to use a cupcake pan?
Hi Rosemarie, the recipe yields 10 muffins in a standard muffin tin. Is it possible that you used more than 2 heaping Tablespoons of muffin batter + 1 Tablespoon of cream cheese filling in each, as listed in step 4?
Yep! These will be in the weekly rotation.These are so simple and so good. Followed recipe exactly. My grandson loves them.
I made these and they turned out delicious! I forgot the egg yolk however that didn’t take away the taste. The temp change tip worked great! Thank you
I cannot wait to try these after reading the reviews! Have you ever tried with a streusel topping?
Hi Denise, we haven’t, but you definitely could! Enjoy!
I can’t stop making these muffins! Absolutely delicious. I’ve been baking with my 5 grandchildren (ages 9-11) this summer and this is a perfect recipe for them…not difficult but teaches them to read the recipe first and collect all your ingredients and equipment.
They all love the muffins…even if they have a vegetable in them. Thank you!
I am truly one of those people that NEVER leaves reviews but I have to for these. I was intrigued by the recipe and love cream cheese fillings and these casually turned out to be the best muffins I’ve ever made…they are perfection! I followed the recipe exactly and baked for a total of 20 minutes!
Hello. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe but need nutritional info, esp sodium per muffin. Do you have this info? Thank you! Rosemary
Hi Rosemary, We donโt usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Love the recipe! But my only question is that I found I didn’t have nearly enough batter. I could only make 9 muffins instead of 10, and even then I didn’t find I had enough for the second 1tbsp after the cream cheese filling. Any thoughts?
Hi Caitlin, I missed your comment earlier this month. The recipe doesn’t yield a ton of batter, so you won’t get a full dozen muffins here. You can try going a little lighter on the bottom layer of batter, before adding the cream cheese.
A coworker brought these in to share. They were amazing. She promised to send me the recipe and I just received it. Can’t wait to try it myself maybe with some variations as well. Chopped pecans??
Hi Carie, you can absolutely add some chopped pecans to this muffin batter. We would add 1/2 cup – 1 cup.
These were to die for! My husband loved them, and he is not of fan of “vegetable muffins”!
I made this with cane sugar, and put in Violife (100 % vegan) cream cheese. I have some food allergies, so these changes didn’t seem to change texture at all. I just picked up more zucchini to make more!
My go to zucchini muffin. Delicious, moist and flavorful. I left out 1/2 c sugar since I am diabetic without detriment to the recipe. Opted to sprinkle casting sugar over the tops. Thank you for this recipe.
I’ve made these before and my family loved them, wondering if I can use this recipe to make mini muffins? If so, how would I go about it?
Hi Abigail, mini muffins may be a bit tough with the layers in this recipe, but feel free to give it a try using the same layering process. Bake time will be 11โ13 minutes at 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) the whole time. Let us know how it goes!
So delicious and moist. However I do feel the cream cheese flavor gets overpowered by the muffin; I may try a lemon curd for more tang next time as suggested by another baker
i just baked them,, I replaced the zucchini for carrot and apple and i didn’t have agave so i used 120g of brown sugar, they came out great but the batter wasn’t that consistency as yours, i wonder if i should use extra oil next time. because i like using brown sugar. any recommendation?? thank a lot!! your recipes are amazing..
I swapped out the cream cheese stuffing and instead used lemon curd. Fantastic! The zucchini part is light and tasty, and the lemon flavor complimented it nicely. Will make them again. Thank you!
Can I double this recipe?
Hi Tara, feel free to double the recipe by doubling each ingredient. Instead of 2 egg yolks in the cream cheese filling, 1 full egg will work.
Thank you. I couldnโt wait so went ahead and doubled everything. Just took them out of the oven and they look fantastic. Cheers.
Hello, what would the amount of batter/ filling to make jumbo muffins? Baking time? Wanting to make for bake sale
Hi Marilyn, you can use the recipe as is to full 5-6 jumbo muffin pans. Follow the baking time and directions from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
I love this recipe they taste so good but everytime I make them they sink in the middle after they cool. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi Christine! The cream cheese filling certainly weighs down the muffin and a couple muffinsโ in any batch we makeโ tend to sink a bit. A little longer in the oven helps or even a bit less cream cheese filling in each muffin.
These muffins are the BEST!!! I didn’t have AP flour, so I substituted whole wheat flour; it turned out great! Thank you for this amazing recipe, it’s going to be my family’s staple (esp. during the summer when we have zucchini coming out of our ears).
Li vorrei provare ma non so in Italia quale formaggio posso usare?
I’d like to try them but I don’t know which cheese I could use in ItalY
Hi Patrizia, In the U.S. block cream cheese is very different than the tubs and is the only cream cheese that will work in most of our recipes. We have been told by readers outside the U.S. that cream cheese in a tub is different from ours and can work, but we have not tested it. If you have that available, we would recommend giving that a try. Please let us know if you do!
Can I substitute your double chocolate zucchini muffin batter instead?
Absolutely!
Sally, you deserve a 10 star rating for these delicious muffins! You make deciding on a favorite muffin
Next to impossible!!! These are sp soft, I feel like I am eating cheese cake muffins!
My friends and family love to see me coming when I have goodies. I need physical therapy often and I bring treats to all the therapists, I am their โgoodie fairyโ
Thanks to your recipes with all the tips and your posts with such informative information about baking I have progressed from being a good baker to a great baker!
I named my kitchen โBusy Bee Bakeryโ
So happy to read this, Nancy! And it’s so wonderful that you’ve expanded your knowledge of and experience with baking using my recipes. Thank you very much!
These were awesome!! However, I have a question. My cream cheese always looks curdled when I beat it. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? I do bring it to room temp as well.
Hi Holly! We’re happy to help troubleshoot. Make sure you are using high quality, full fat cream cheese. Sometimes it may take longer to beat until it’s smooth, so don’t be alarmed if it takes a bit longer to beat. Hope this helps and we’re so glad you enjoy these muffins!
I made these last night and added some fresh picked blueberries. They are so very delicious!!
All the stars! Will absolutely make time and time again!