Preheat oven & prepare muffin tin: Heat your oven to 425°F (≈ 218°C). Line a 12‑well muffin pan with paper liners or lightly coat with cooking spray, making removal easier later.

Make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of kosher salt using a fork; break up any lumps. Pour in the melted butter and mix until the streusel is evenly moistened and begins to clump. Set aside in the fridge while you prepare the rest — chilling helps it hold shape when baking.

Cream cheese filling: Soften the cold cream cheese — microwaving about 30 seconds helps if you’re short on time; otherwise let it come to room temperature. In a medium bowl, whisk together the softened cream cheese, one room‑temperature egg, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until mostly smooth (some tiny lumps are fine).

Pumpkin batter: In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin purée, sugar, oil, two eggs, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and salt until the mixture is smooth and uniform.

Add the dry ingredients: Sprinkle in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Using a flexible spatula, fold just until the dry ingredients disappear — don’t overmix; batter should be thick and slightly lumpy but with no visible dry spots.

Layering process:

• Divide half the batter evenly among the 12 muffin wells (about 2 heaping tablespoons per well). Use a spoon to gently flatten.

• Spoon half the cream cheese mixture over that, about 1 scant tablespoon per well.

• Top with the remaining muffin batter, dividing evenly. Then add the rest of the cream cheese mixture in dollops so each muffin gets a layer.

Add the streusel and bake:

• Stir the chilled streusel again to break up any clumps. Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of the streusel, gently pressing in so it adheres to the batter. Using a small ring mold or cookie cutter around each well helps keep the streusel tidy.

• Bake for 5 minutes at the higher temperature (425°F) to give that burst of oven spring. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (≈ 175°C) and continue baking 20 to 25 more minutes, until the top is golden‑brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean (avoid the cream cheese swirl).

Cool down: Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely (about 45 minutes) so the cream cheese sets properly before slicing.