This easy 30-minute pumpkin muffin recipe is the BEST! They’re soft, moist, and loaded with delicious cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Good luck stopping at just one!
Table of Contents
A Quick and Easy Snack
Looking for the best pumpkin muffin recipe? This moist, fluffy, and flavorful pumpkin muffin is sure to become your new favorite fall treat. With just 10 minutes of prep time, these easy pumpkin muffins are perfect for baking for busy mornings.
These easy pumpkin muffins are one of my favorites. I tested and retested them multiple times to get the recipe just perfect. They are so fluffy, and tender, and have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor and pumpkin pie spice.
They’re a great grab ‘n go breakfast on busy mornings and they fit perfectly in school lunch boxes just like my applesauce muffin recipe. They freeze well so you can definitely make more than one batch.
Ingredients for Easy Pumpkin Muffins
These pumpkin muffins are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or even dessert! Enjoy the warm, comforting flavors of pumpkin and spices in every bite! Pumpkin muffins are a delicious treat, especially popular during the fall and Halloween seasons.
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Flour: Provides structure to the muffins. The flour mixture the muffins rise and become light and fluffy.
- Sugar: Sweetens the muffins. Sugar also helps to tenderize the texture and contributes to browning during baking.
- Pumpkin pie spice: These spices provide the characteristic warm and spicy flavor associated with pumpkin treats. They add depth and complexity to each bite.
- Cinnamon: Added in for a sweet and savory seasoning!
- Baking soda: Acts as a leavening agent, helping the muffins rise by producing carbon dioxide gas when combined with acidic ingredients like pumpkin puree.
- Baking powder: This is a chemical leavening agent. It contains a combination of an acid and a base usually baking soda. This combination creates bubbles, causing the muffins to rise.
- Pumpkin puree: Make sure to use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling contains added sugars and spices that can throw off the balance of the pumpkin muffin recipe.
- Vegetable oil: Oil helps create a light and delicate texture in muffins. It contributes to a moist and airy crumb that many people prefer in their muffins.
- Apple sauce: Moistens and softens the muffins as well as adding in some flavor to the pumpkin muffins.
- Eggs: Allow eggs to come to room temperature before using them. Room-temperature ingredients mix more evenly and create a better texture in your muffins.
- Vanilla extract: Just a splash gives it that extra flavor!
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Muffins
Make your pumpkin muffins even more delightful and tailored to your preferences with this simple pumpkin muffin recipe. The combination of wet and dry ingredients adds in pumpkin flavor, a soft texture, and fluffy muffins. Enjoy the warm, fall flavors!
- Whisk. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray. Whisk the dry ingredients, together with flour, sugar, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- Combine. Stir in the wet ingredients, pumpkin, oil, eggs, and vanilla, and mix just until combined. Do not overmix. Add in mix-ins if desired.
- Fill muffin tins. Add the batter to the prepared muffin pan using a large cookie or ice cream scoop. Fill the liners 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling wire rack.
More About These Pumpkin Muffins
If you love pumpkin bread, these pumpkin spice muffins are just as moist and flavorful and loaded with pumpkin spice. Unlike my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, they’re made without any add-ins but that doesn’t mean you can’t add whatever you want to them.
If you’re looking for an even easier recipe you can also try my pumpkin muffins with a cake mix. Honestly, I love them both plain but my kids love mixing chocolate chips into any and all muffins. You could even add in some nuts.
Baking Tips & Variations
Making delicious pumpkin muffins is easy with a few tips and tricks! These tips and variations are perfect for making them moist and delicious. Follow these helpful tips and variations to make the best pumpkin muffins!
- Don’t overmix. Do not over-mix your batter or the muffins won’t rise as well. I like to use a bowl and a wooden spoon and just mix until you no longer see flour.
- Extra pumpkin spice. If you love pumpkin spice add in an extra 1/2 teaspoon.
- Applesauce pouch. One 3-ounce applesauce pouch from Costco is 1/4 cup, so no need to measure it out.
- Toothpick trick. Watch the muffins for the last few minutes and test them with a toothpick to make sure the center is cooked through.
- Toppings. Add a crumble topping and a drizzle of powdered sugar icing like in my pumpkin crumb muffins.
- Add-ins. If you want to add some optional add-ins toss in some white, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans, or raisins.
Recipe FAQs
They can be made gluten-free with a simple swap of flour. As with any baking recipe where the flour is substituted you’re always going to end up with a different texture. If you’re on board with that, then by all means play around with something different.
Try a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour or a combination of oat flour and almond flour. See what you prefer and let me know how it turns out.
Yes! Using fresh pumpkin will take a few extra steps but will still be delicious! Simply roast or steam your pumpkins until they are soft. Drain the excess liquid and scrape the pumpkin into a bowl.
You can try using a non-stick cooking spray on the liners or try using silicone muffin cups for your muffin tin. Use a knife to cut around the edges of the muffin tins. Letting the muffins cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack can also help.
Overmixing the batter or overbaking the muffins can result in a dense or gummy texture. Be sure to mix the batter until just combined and bake until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, but not wet batter.
To keep your pumpkin muffins moist, use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, and be careful not to overbake them. You can also add ingredients like yogurt, applesauce, or sour cream for extra moisture.
5 star review
“These muffins made a delicious and easy breakfast this morning! They were fabulous eaten warn and fresh out of the oven!”
Wilhelmina
Storing Suggestions
Store your pumpkin muffins with ease! Learn to store them in an airtight container or freeze them in your freezer. Either way, the pumpkin muffins will be just as good as you baked them!
- To store: To maintain their moisture, you want to make sure to keep them covered at all times. You can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, and can probably extend it by a day or so by transferring them to the fridge. Any longer than that, freeze them!
- To freeze: Place them in a freezer-friendly Ziploc or airtight container and keep them frozen for up to 3 months.
More Fall Favorites
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Best Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (230 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (use 2 teaspoons if you like extra spice)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup vegetable oil , or melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup apple sauce (I use a 3 ounce pouch)
- 2 large eggs , whisked
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional mix-ins: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin pan with liners or spray with nonstick spray. Whisk the flour, sugar, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- Stir in the pumpkin, oil, eggs, and vanilla, and mix just until combined. Do not overmix. Add in mix-ins if desired.
- Add the batter to the prepared muffin pan using a large cookie or ice cream scoop. Fill the liners 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Bread, Breakfast, Freezer-Friendly, Halloween, Kid-Friendly, Muffins, Muffins, Nut-Free, Snacks, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is also the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook. Here you will find easy family-friendly recipes for every occasion.
My kids and I had so much fun making these muffins. They were so delicious too. Will make again.
We made these last week! We love them so much & love adding chocolate chips. My kids request them weekly!!
These muffins made a delicious and easy breakfast this morning! They were fabulous eaten warn and fresh out of the oven!
Hi, can you make this muffins as a loaf?
Sure! Here are instructions for making a loaf instead of muffins: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/pumpkin-bread/
I was looking for a good pumpkin recipe to make the most of fall and this recipe is exactly what I was hoping for! Thank you!