These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are super moist, perfectly spiced, and loaded with gooey chocolate. They’re an easy, delicious fall treat!

These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are the perfect fall treat. They’re incredibly moist, warmly spiced, and studded with melty, gooey chocolate chips. To give you an idea of how much I love them, I’ve already made them 3 times this fall, and I’m about to head to the kitchen to make another batch. On a crisp October day, they’re simply the best breakfast or snack.

Like all my muffin recipes, these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are easy to make. But they have something else going for them too: they use an entire can of pumpkin. I actually tested them with less pumpkin originally, but the full-can version totally won out. You don’t have any leftover puree to use up, and the muffins themselves are moister and more flavorful. I think you’re going to love them!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe:

• Pumpkin, of course! Canned pumpkin puree, to be precise. Make sure to use plain puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which contains extra spices and sugar. No surprises here, but my go-to pumpkin brand is Libby’s.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
• Baking powder, baking soda, and eggs – They help the muffins puff up as they bake.
• Brown sugar and cane sugar – They sweeten the muffins and perfect their moist, tender texture.
• Milk – For moisture. Feel free to use your favorite type. Regular milk, almond milk, and oat milk would all work well here.
• Vegetable oil – For richness. Another neutral oil or melted butter would work well too.
• Pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract – For warm, spiced depth of flavor. If you don’t keep pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can substitute a mix of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
• Chocolate chips – Whatever kind you like! I always use dark chocolate chips (the Enjoy Life brand is my favorite), but semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips would also be great.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

You can find the complete recipe with measurements below, but for now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:

Start by making the batter. Whisk together the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick! Fold in the chocolate chips.

Evenly divide the batter into a 12-cup muffin tin. You can grease the muffin pan with a little oil first or line it with paper liners. I prefer to make these with liners—baked straight in the pan, they can get a little dark on the sides.

Top with more chocolate chips, and bake! The muffins take 15 to 20 minutes at 400°F. They’re ready when the tops spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs attached.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before you transfer the muffins to a wire rack to continue cooling…or devour them warm. Enjoy!

More Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

If you love these chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, try one of these easy pumpkin recipes next:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Serves 12

I can’t get enough of these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in the fall! Made with a full can of pumpkin, they’re insanely moist and packed with pumpkin flavor. They freeze well too!

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• Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper liners.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, brown sugar, cane sugar, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla.

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

• Evenly divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, adding about a heaping ⅓ cup to each one. Top with more chocolate chips, if desired.

• Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I’m an unabashed dairy fan and avid baker, which means there’s always—always—cream cheese in my fridge. The ingredient is essential for many cakes, pastries, and frostings, its tang helping to balance desserts that would otherwise be too sweet. In most recipes, cream cheese needs to be at room temperature before you incorporate it; if you don’t, you risk grainy results.r Softening a cold block of cream cheese, though, can feel like it takes forever, which is no fun when a towering cheesecake or tangy-sweet pastelitos is waiting to be made.

In my haste and desperation, I’ve tried many methods to soften cream cheese quickly. The internet abounds with tips and tricks: Some recommend microwaving it; others dunk packaged cream cheese in warm water; and impatient bakers use their stand or hand mixers to beat it until it’s soft and workable. Determined to find the best way to soften cream cheese, I zeroed in on five popular approaches to see which would work best—and get me closer to a bite of cheesecake the fastest.

Why Soften Cream Cheese?

If you, like me, have added cream cheese or butter to a recipe before it was ready to use, you’ve probably regretted it. What you might gain in time, you lose in texture: When cream cheese is fully softened, it blends seamlessly into frosting or cake batter, creating a smooth, silky finish. Use it cold, and your batter or frosting will be marred by grainy specks, visible blobs, or streaks of white. This is most evident in cream cheese frosting, which should have an ultra-smooth, billowy texture. (Baking expert and former Serious Eats editor Stella Parks even goes so far as to add a custard element to her cream cheese buttercream frosting recipe to ensure it is as smooth as possible.)

How to Tell When Cream Cheese Is Properly Softened

The best way to assess the softness of your cream cheese is to check its internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer, inserting the probe into the center, where it will be coldest. Some recipes call for “room temperature” cream cheese, but this can be confusing, as ambient temperatures vary widely depending on the time of year and your location. As former Serious Eats editor Kristina notes in her guide to softening butter, 70°F (21°C) is typically considered room temperature. This, however, is on the warm side for cream cheese. At this temperature, the cream cheese may become too soft and runny during mixing, especially as friction from mixing continues to raise its temperature. 

Generally, an internal temperature of 60 to 65°F (15 to 18°C) yields properly softened cream cheese for baking. It should yield easily to gentle pressure, leaving an indent when pressed with a finger or spoon, but shouldn’t be so soft that it offers no resistance. It’s also important not to leave cream cheese out for too long, even after it’s been incorporated into a frosting. The FDA advises leaving perishable foods at room temperature for no longer than two hours. Any longer, and the ingredient may begin to harbor bacteria that can cause foodborne illness. Once softened, cream cheese should be used immediately—and any leftovers promptly refrigerated.

The Testing

In my research, I came across several common methods for softening cream cheese: leaving it at room temperature whole and cubed; submerging a sealed package in warm water; microwaving it; or using a stand mixer to beat it until soft. These are the most widely recommended approaches, and the ones I tested for this article.

During testing, my kitchen’s ambient temperature was 71°F, very close to standard “room temperature.” I used 8-ounce blocks of Philadelphia Original cream cheese, a national brand that’s widely available and generally regarded as the standard for baking. Using an instant-read thermometer, I recorded the starting temperature of each refrigerated block, then timed how long it took to reach 60 to 65°F (15.5 to 18.3°C) in the center. I also noted any internal temperature variation (e.g., whether the ends warmed faster than the center in whole blocks) and assessed each method’s final consistency, convenience, ease, and cleanup requirements.

• Whole Block on a Sheet Pan: I unwrapped an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and laid it flat on an aluminum baking sheet. As former editor Kenji noted in his guide to defrosting foods quickly, aluminum is one of the best kitchen conductors of heat. To maximize contact, I set the block flat, inserted a probe thermometer into the center of the block, and started a timer, recording the temperature every five minutes. Initially, the center’s temperature rose by three to five degrees every five minutes, climbing from a chilly 37°F (2.7°C) to 52°F (11°C) in 20 minutes. After that, the temperature plateaued, rising just one to two degrees per interval. It took 50 minutes for the cream cheese to reach the minimum benchmark of 60°F (15°C), and a full hour to reach 63°F (17.2°C). The ends of the block warmed slightly faster than the center, reading generally just one or two degrees warmer than the middle. 
• Cubed Block on a Sheet Pan: For this method, I used the same setup, but cut the block into eight 1-ounce cubes. I spaced the cubes about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet to allow air to circulate. This method proved much faster: The cubes reached 61°F (16°C) in just 25 minutes and 65°F (18°C) at the 30-minute mark. Each cube was at a consistent temperature throughout the test.
• Wrapped Block in Warm Water: Many bakers recommend a warm water bath to speed up softening. For this test, I left the cream cheese in its foil wrapper and placed it in a bowl of 90°F (32°C) water. The block’s internal temperature rose from 37 to 60°F (2.7 to 15°C) in just 10 minutes, and reached 64°F (17.7°C) after 15 minutes. However, this method only works if you’re planning to use a full 8-ounce block of cream cheese, and piercing a thermometer through the foil lets water seep in. Without a probe, it’s hard to tell by feel how soft the block is through the packaging.
• Whole Block in the Microwave: When speed is the goal, the microwave is often the first solution that comes to mind. For this test, I unwrapped a block of cream cheese and laid it flat on a plate. Using 50% power, I microwaved it in 10-second bursts, checking the internal temperature after each. Starting at 39°F (3.8·C), the center hit 61°F (16°C) after four 10-second bursts. The ends of the block, however, warmed up much faster: At 20 seconds, the center was 54°F (12.2°C) while the ends were already at 63°F (17.2°C). By 40 seconds, they had reached 72°F (22.2°C), and were visibly soft, runny, and beginning to bubble—signs of not just over-softening but overheating.
• Cubed Block in the Microwave: For this test, I followed the same method in the microwave as above, but cut the cream cheese block into eight 1-ounce cubes and placed them about 1/2-inch apart on the plate before microwaving. Similar to the results from the room-temperature baking sheet test, this method proved significantly faster than leaving the block whole, taking just 20 seconds for all of the cubes to register 60°F (15.5°C) or above when microwaved at 50% power. However, similar to the whole block in the microwave, the cubes at the outer edge of the plate heated faster than those at the center, registering 71°F (21.6°C) at the 20-second mark, whereas the center cube had only reached 60°F (15.5°C) and showed signs of being over-softened.
• Whole Block in a Stand Mixer: Many bakers recommend using a stand mixer or hand mixer to paddle cream cheese as a quick way to soften it. For this test, I unwrapped a block and placed it directly in the bowl of my stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, I beat the cream cheese on medium-low speed (to avoid incorporating excess air), pausing every 30 seconds to check the temperature. After 2 1/2 minutes, the center reached 60°F (15.5°C), and it took a full five minutes to hit 65°F (18.3°C). I scraped down the bowl periodically to ensure the cream cheese was fully agitated, but despite my efforts, plenty of it remained stuck to the beater, spatula, and bowl—leaving me with less than the full 8-ounces by the end. 

The Results: What’s the Best Way to Soften Cream Cheese?

The best way to soften cream cheese is to cut the block into smaller portions, such as 1-ounce cubes, place them on an aluminum baking sheet, and let them sit at room temperature for 25 to 30 minutes. Because aluminum is such an excellent conductor of heat, it softens cream cheese quickly and evenly. The cubes come to temperature in about half the time of a whole block, with no special equipment or extra cleanup required. If you do this step first, your cream cheese will likely be ready by the time you’ve measured your other ingredients and preheated the oven. 

While a microwave can soften cream cheese in seconds, it’s easy to overdo it, resulting in uneven texture and overly soft spots. Power levels vary significantly from one model to another, so the settings that work for one microwave may not work in another. You can, of course, learn your particular microwave’s quirks and adjust accordingly, but doing so requires trial and error, and may still pose the risk of overheating some portions of the cream cheese.

As for the warm-water method, the five to 10 minutes saved isn’t worth the risk of water seeping into the cream cheese through a hole made by the thermometer’s probe—or the uncertainty of skipping the thermometer and trying instead to gauge its softness through the wrapper. The mixer method, meanwhile, was by far the messiest and least practical: It requires cleaning a bowl, paddle, and spatula, and you lose precious cream cheese to the equipment. Next time I need softened cream cheese, you can bet I’ll be reaching for my trusty quarter-sheet pan and exercising a little bit of patience.

If you’re wondering what to make for dessert tonight, you’ve come to the right place. Our site has plenty of recipes for sweets, including rich, creamy cheesecakes; fluffy, tender cakes; and warm, comforting cobblers, among many others. Having so many options can be overwhelming, though, especially if you’re unsure where to start. Not to worry—to help you decide what to make for the last course, we’ve compiled a list of our most-saved dessert recipes from our new, free recipe box called MyRecipes. So go ahead: Treat yourself and your loved ones to a dessert that’s already won plenty of hearts (and taste buds!).

Fudgy, cakey, or chewy, studded with nuts or swirled with marshmallow fluff—I love just about every variation of brownie imaginable. One of my favorite riffs on a classic brownie is this buckeye brownie recipe. They’re inspired by Ohio’s favorite candy, the buckeye: a classic treat made with a creamy peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar filling that’s rolled and portioned into bite-sized balls, then chilled and partially dipped in chocolate. The treats are called buckeyes because they resemble the nut of the Ohio buckeye tree—the state tree of Ohio. (And the tree nuts, which, by the way, are poisonous, are so named because they resemble a deer’s eye.) Buckeye candies are purposefully jaw-clenchingly sweet, rich, and SO good that we feel their flavor combination shouldn’t be limited to just candy. 

Here we reimagined buckeye candies into a dessert bar with a fudgy chocolate brownie base with a thick middle layer of a creamy sweetened peanut butter and and a top layer of dark chocolate ganache. They’re special enough for almost any celebration or even your next potluck. To create the best version possible, our test kitchen colleague Jasmine Smith whipped up batch after batch of buckeye brownies. Jasmine’s recipe nails every layer: an intense chocolatey brownie base, a smooth peanut butter filling, and a dark chocolate ganache topping. Here’s how to make them.

Tips for Making Buckeye Brownies

Use Dutch-processed cocoa powder in the brownies. For the most chocolatey and rich brownies possible, use a high quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder rather than natural cocoa powder. In her Dutch-processed cocoa powder taste test, Stella Parks explains that cocoa powder is the dry matter left behind after the oily cocoa butter is extracted from cocoa beans that have been fermented and roasted for maximum flavor. This powder is naturally acidic. Natural cocoa powder is sold as is, while Dutched cocoas include an additional step to neutralize that acidity (a process developed by a Dutch chemist, hence the name). Most Dutch-processed cocoas contain nearly twice the fat of natural styles, and often come from better quality beans. The result is a slightly alkaline cocoa powder that’s higher in fat, lower in starch, and more aromatic all around, with a mahogany color and a flavor profile that emphasizes cocoa’s darker, nuttier, earthier tones. 

The brands Droste and Valrhona Dutch cocoa powders are two excellent choices. If Dutch-processed cocoa powder is unavailable, most supermarkets will still carry a dark unsweetened cocoa powder that will work fine—your brownie layer will be a bit less rich, but still delicious.

Add coffee to the brownie mix. Jasmine found in her recipe testing that a little bit of strongly brewed coffee (just three tablespoons) whisked into the brownie batter goes a long way. You won’t taste coffee in the baked brownies, but the bitterness of coffee balances the sweetness of chocolate, keeping the brownies from becoming cloying. At the same time, coffee enhances the chocolate flavor, making it more complex and intense. Leftover strongly brewed drip coffee works well, or 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder with three tablespoons of water also works well here.

Cream the butter and the peanut butter filling. Adequately creaming the butter with the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment traps tiny air bubbles in the filling—something that would be very challenging to achieve and require a lot of arm strength if done by hand. Without proper whipping to aerate and lighten the filling, the butter and peanut butter would form an ultra-dense paste. Butter is best beaten when it’s at soft but cool room temperature—ideally 65ºF or 18ºC. At this temperature, butter is pliable enough to beat with the sugar.

Stick with a bittersweet chocolate bar for the best flavor. When preparing the brownie and ganache, don’t be tempted to swap in milk chocolate or any other chocolate with less than 70% cacao or you risk creating a dessert that’s way too sweet and falls short on chocolatey flavor. The terms bittersweet and dark are often used interchangeably on packaging, so make sure to double check the chocolate is labeled somewhere between 70 to 75% cacao. Also skip the chocolate chips, which usually have ingredients to help them keep their shape that also prevent them from melting well into a ganache.

Refrigerate the brownies before slicing. Once layered and assembled, the bars need at least one hour in the refrigerator to achieve a firm and sliceable texture. If you try to remove the brownies from the pan without refrigerating them, the soft peanut butter filling will ooze out when trying to slice. I like to assemble the brownies and refrigerate them a day before serving them. Yes, it’s hard to wait to eat them, but it’s worth it!

September 2024

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This blackberry cobbler recipe is my idea of a perfect summer dessert. It’s easy, delicious, and bursting with juicy berries. Serve with ice cream!

This blackberry cobbler recipe is easy and delicious. Juicy, tangy blackberries meld into a golden batter that’s soft and moist in the middle and crisp around the edges. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s a mouthwatering summer dessert.

I’ve shared several biscuit-style cobblers in the past—there’s a yummy Summer Fruit Cobbler in Simple Feel Good Food, and I also have this great blueberry cobbler on the blog.

But this blackberry cobbler recipe is my first attempt at a cake-y, batter-style cobbler. Friends, I’ve been missing out. 

Since this style of dessert was new to me, I loosely based this recipe on The Pioneer Woman’s, using all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt instead of self-rising flour; adding vanilla for warm depth of flavor; and cutting back on the butter and sugar to reach my preferred level of richness.

By now, I’ve made this cobbler multiple times. I still can’t believe…

1. how amazingly easy it is (1 bowl! 10 minutes of prep!)
2. how delicious it is.

It’s gooey, buttery, and practically oozing blackberry juice. I definitely recommend adding this one to your summer dessert rotation!

Blackberry Cobbler Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy blackberry cobbler recipe:

• Blackberries, of course! Fresh blackberries or frozen ones work well here. If you’re using frozen berries, there’s no need to thaw them before assembling the cobbler.
• All-purpose flour – It makes up the base of the batter.
• Cane sugar – For sweetness. You’ll mix some into the batter and sprinkle more on top of the cobbler to help it brown in the oven.
• Baking powder – It helps the batter rise as it bakes.
• Milk – Any kind you like! I’ve had success using whole milk and almond milk here.
• Unsalted butter – For richness and buttery flavor.
• Vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Blackberry Cobbler

This blackberry cobbler recipe couldn’t be easier to make!

Start by making the batter. Whisk together the dry ingredients (including the sugar), then add the milk, butter, and vanilla and whisk until the batter is smooth.

To assemble the cobbler, pour the batter into a greased 8×8-inch or similar baking dish. Sprinkle the blackberries evenly on top of the batter, then evenly sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cobbler is deeply golden brown around the edges, 50 to 65 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving warm with vanilla ice cream.

More Favorite Summer Desserts

If you love this easy blackberry cobbler recipe, try one of these simple summer desserts next: