Welcome to the epitome of fall baking! (Well, besides apple cake and apple crisp.) These are my super-moist, deliciously spiced, and extra soft pumpkin muffins. They’re adapted from my popular pumpkin crumb cake muffins and aren’t quite as sweet, making them the perfect “anytime” treat during the fall season. You could even add chocolate chips for extra tasty pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. No mixer required!
One reader, Nicole, commented: “Another winner, of course. We made the mini muffin version and they were so light, moist, and delicious. Perfect breakfast compliment for this crisp fall morning! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Holly, commented: “First time making these. Did half regular and half with chocolate chips, and they came out delicious and very moist. Even my picky daughter loved them… This recipe is definitely a keeper. ★★★★★“
Meet my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe, the sequel to my favorite zucchini muffins and banana muffins. I appreciate “simple” muffin recipes like these because sometimes we don’t crave all the bells and whistles of pumpkin cream cheese muffins… right? Over-the-top muffins are undoubtedly delicious, but I’m certain you’ll want to make today’s easy pumpkin muffins again and again. Why?
Here’s Why You’ll Love My Simple Pumpkin Muffins
- Reliable, easy recipe with basic ingredients
- No mixer needed
- Extra soft & moist
- Deep pumpkin spice flavor (you can use your homemade pumpkin pie spice!)
- Dairy free if using dairy-free milk
- Very adaptable recipe—add chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries; sprinkle with coarse sugar; or leave plain
How are these different from pumpkin cupcakes? My pumpkin cupcakes recipe is a favorite! In that recipe, you use less flour and milk with the same amount of pumpkin, so the cupcakes have a much lighter, airier texture. Today’s muffins are thicker and denser with just as much flavor.
Grab These 11 Ingredients:
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour in this recipe. If desired, you can replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour for a heartier, denser pumpkin muffin.
- Baking Soda: Helps the muffins rise. There’s no need for baking powder and, in fact, I’ve made these pumpkin cream cheese muffins with only baking soda before too. (Just leave out the baking powder in those; truly no noticeable difference in the outcome.)
- Cinnamon, Ginger, & Pumpkin Pie Spice: Pumpkin is tasty, but in order to really bring out its flavor, you need some warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice. You can use store-bought or try my homemade pumpkin pie spice blend. Pumpkin pie spice already includes cinnamon and ginger, but for the BEST, deepest flavor, I recommend using all 3. See recipe Note.
- Pumpkin Puree: You need 1 and 1/2 cups (about 340g) of pumpkin puree, which is most of a standard 15-ounce can. Do not use pumpkin pie filling. Just like with these pumpkin snickerdoodles, canned pumpkin is best, but you could use fresh puree if that’s what you have.
- Oil: The muffins taste dry and rubbery without some fat. Just as if we’re making pumpkin cake and pumpkin coffee cake, use vegetable oil. You could also use melted coconut oil.
- Brown & White Sugars: Pumpkin adds a lot of volume to the muffin batter, but doesn’t sweeten it at all. Using half white and brown sugars provide enough sweetening, and the brown sugar adds additional flavor.
- Eggs: Provide structure.
- Milk: Like most muffin recipes, the batter needs a liquid. You can use whole milk, buttermilk, or any dairy or nondairy milk you enjoy. I use orange juice in my pumpkin bread recipe, but using orange juice (for the amount of liquid needed here) wasn’t ideal here. The muffins were too citrus-y. You could, of course, replace *some* of the milk with *some* orange juice.
This is optional, but I love adding a little coarse sugar to the tops of the pumpkin muffins before baking. I do this in a lot of my muffin recipes (both online and in my book) because it adds a sparkly crunch—just like real bakery muffins! You can use something like Sugar in the Raw or white sparkling sugar. And don’t forget my high-temperature trick, included in the written recipe and explained in the Notes below.
As instructed in the printable recipe below, grab a large bowl for the dry ingredients, a medium bowl for the wet ingredients, then whisk it all together. Expect a thick batter:
Fill the muffin liners all the way to the top:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
You can turn these easy pumpkin muffins into pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! Simply fold 1 cup (about 180g) of chocolate chips in the batter right before spooning into your 12-count muffin pan.
If you enjoy pumpkin + chocolate together, be sure to try my chocolate pumpkin muffins as well. For extreme chocolate and pumpkin lovers only!
More Pumpkin Favorites
- Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Pumpkin Cake
- Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin Waffles
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Coffee Creamer
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Pumpkin Hand Pies
For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ best pumpkin dessert recipes.
Print
Easy Pumpkin Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These muffins are adapted from my popular pumpkin crumb cake muffins and aren’t quite as sweet, making them the perfect “anytime” treat during the fall season. You could even add chocolate chips for extra tasty pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. No mixer required!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk (dairy or nondairy)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then fold everything together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16–17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21–22 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan before enjoying.
- Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: 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): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk
- Pumpkin Pie Spice & Spices: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger. Do not leave out the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon that is also called for in this recipe. Depending how much you like ginger, you can skip or leave in the extra 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger that is also called for in this recipe.
- Can I reduce the sugar or oil? You can absolutely slightly reduce either or both, but understand that sugar and oil help produce moist, tender muffins and the results may be disappointing and your muffins could taste dry. For the oil, feel free to swap *some* for applesauce. You could also try substituting all or most of both sugars with coconut sugar.
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins/Other Add-Ins: Simply fold 1 cup (about 180g) of chocolate chips in the batter right before spooning into your muffin pan. Or you can add 1 cup (about 130g) of chopped pecans or walnuts, or 3/4 cup (about 105g) of dried cranberries.
- Mini Muffins: For around 30 mini muffins, line mini muffin pans with liners or spray with nonstick spray. Prepare batter as directed and fill liners to the top. Bake at 350°F (177°C) the entire time (skip the initial high temperature) for 11–13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most 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 they’re 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
Whenever I make these they are super tasty but the texture turns out rubbery. Any thoughts on what the problem may be?
Hi Kelly, Make sure that you are not substituting the oil. We find if the muffins don’t have some fat they will taste rubbery.
I have made these twice now and really love them! They’re a hit with my toddler for a quick snack and breakfast. I would like to modify them a little to make them a little healthier. Most recently I used 1c AP flour and 3/4c whole wheat flour. It turned out great, next time I’m going to try more whole wheat than AP. My toddler helped me make them and he really liked when we added a few chocolate chips to the tops.
My family loves pumpkin muffins. These are so easy to make and VERY tasty!!!
Not sure what happened but muffins were dense and stuck to the bottom of my muffin liners.
Awesome recipe! I’ve made these as written and with various add-ins, but my favorite is to swap out the milk for BOURBON and add some pecan streusel on top! (Runner up for when I’m too lazy to make streusel: fold a quarter cup of chopped pecans.) Thanks for all your amazing recipes!
I figured out how to soften butter: 15 seconds in the microwave, flip the stick, continue.
I have made this recipe 3 times now and everytime it was a big hit with my family. Thank you.
I made these today. Easy to make and very moist. I will add chopped pecans next time for a crunch.
Delicious! Moist with just the right amount of spice.
I love this recipe my family loves it also made 12 one day and then went back to making 48 on Saturday then I made 12 more last night everyone loves them I use fresh pumpkin puree I made up and I put dark chocolate and pecans it was half and half and splash of vanilla
Mushy
These are fabulous. I added walnuts and will be making agin. Thanks for the recipe I love it.
I followed the recipe to a tee and wouldn’t change a thing! Wonderful!!
These were very moist. However they tasted like spice cake and we could barely taste the pumpkin. And I had added dried cranberries, which didn’t go with the pumpkin spice aspect. Next time I’ll add raisins.
My husband said these are the best pumpkin pie muffins he’s ever tasted. Your recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice is the absolute best. Thanks, Sally!
I made these for a pre-Halloween neighborhood scavenger hunt and they were a hit! I added chocolate chips (duh) and kept everything else as written. I just made another two dozen for Thanksgiving and will probably make more this week
Excellent recipe!
Thanks for the tip on making muffins rise. They turned out really nice!
Delicious; easy yielding tall and moist muffins. Served with cranberry/honey butter
This recipe is so great, my non-baking adult daughter asked for the recipe – and is now willing to learn to bake just so she can make them. You never disappoint! I didn’t use chocolate chips, didn’t want to distract from the pumpkin, but I did add chopped pecans, and that was incredible.
Made this recipe multiple times. It’s delightful and easy and always gets gobbled up! I add chocolate chips (obviously) and use butter instead of oil. It’s a go-to during the fall, for sure!
Had to use fresh pumpkin puree (actually kabocha) because canned isn’t readily available in Japan. Because of the extra moisture, they needed 10 extra minutes to the bake, but are perfectly soft, spongy, and moist. Added dried cranberries as suggested and I’m really glad I did. The extra pops of flavor really take the muffins up a notch.
This is a great recipe. I only used one cup of pumpkin as that is all I had left after making another recipe. I added half a cup of chopped dates and half a cup of chopped walnuts. Came out wonderful. Husband said best muffins ever. Will definitely make again
I love these with canned pumpkin puree. How can I use fresh pumpkin?
Hi Christy, Fresh pumpkin puree has a different texture than canned. It’s much thinner and quite liquid-y. If you do use it here, we always recommend blotting some excess liquid out of it with a clean towel. The less moisture, the better. Glad you enjoyed the muffins!
These are a staple in my weekly rotation. They come out very moist so overbaking is a thing of the past
Just made these and ate one. Pretty good. Next time I would add maybe 1/2 cup more sugar and bake 30 minutes for my oven. I baked them 25 minutes total and they were just done.
Thanks for giving them a try, Lauri! You could also use an oven thermometer so you know the exact temperature of your new oven. Most ovens are a little (or a lot) off.
I I loved this recipe so much love the flavor
These muffins are delicious! I love the amount of spice in them, the flavor is perfect.
I want to try to bake these! Can I use baking powder instead of baking soda? Would it be the same measurements ?
Hello! No, baking powder are very different ingredients. You can read more about baking powder vs. baking powder in baking.