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
Can I use sour cream in place of milk (just because I rarely have milk, but always sour cream?)
Hi Theresa, sour cream will be a bit too thick/heavy here. You really need a milk to help thin out the batter.
I made these pumpkin muffins without the oil because I forgot! But they were great! I also added a couple handfuls of mini chocolate chips. Ty for another great recipe!
Awesome muffins! I let the batter sit for about 10 min and put the batter directly into the muffin tin, no baking cups. Sprinkled coarse sugar over the top of the muffins. Baked per instructions.
Perfect high domed muffins. Delicious. Thank you for the tasty receipe.
This recipe was simple to use with my homemade puree. Very moist, delicious. A hit for the whole family!
Is there anything I can do to sub the pumpkin pie spice? I have cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and only whole cloves which I ground. I made the spice with these ingredients but the cloves overpowered and made my tongue tingle. Help!
Hi Jess, you can omit or reduce the cloves if you wish, while keeping the other spices.
I made these with freshly milled soft white wheat. I just measured out 219grams like the recipe says. No other modifications necessary. It was delicious!
these are the best muffins i have ever had!! i am in the process of getting rid of anything that has seed oil so i used avocado oil instead and you couldnt tell the difference. i cant wait to try some of your other muffin recipes!!
this recipe is amazing ! i love it
This recipe came out awesome! Wey easy to make after a long work day. I added allergen free chocolate chips and oatmilk so one of my coworkers with allergies can enjoy with the rest of the group in the office tomorrow:-)
Just made these. Wow! Very good, moist, and yet very light. All the rest of my pumpkin muffin recipes are getting tossed.
This recipe is fantastic and easy to prepare. I was recently diagnosed with celiac disease and can no longer eat gluten or dairy. I substituted a 1 to 1 gluten free flour and coconut milk and they turned out great. I was a bit worried the substitutions would mess with the texture but I found it difficult to tell these were gf/df. Thanks so much for the recipe and I am so happy it can be modified without compromising the taste and texture. As someone who loved any and all baked goods for 40+ years – this gives me hope not all is lost now that I have to be gluten free.
My daughter made these and raved. But I’d need to make them gluten free. Any suggestions or a recommendation of brand of GF flour or perhaps use almond flour? Thanks!
Hi Susan, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but some readers have reported success with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. We don’t recommend almond flour as it has very different baking properties and is not always a 1:1 swap. We do have these pumpkin oatmeal cups you may enjoy! Make sure the oats you use are certified gluten free.
These are delicious and not over-sweet! Does the 425 for five minutes trick work with other muffin types like banana nut or blueberry muffins?
Hi Liz, we’re so glad you enjoyed these! All of our muffins use this trick—it works best with thick batters.
amazing!
These were so sweet we couldn’t eat them. Even if I iced them and called them cupcakes, they would still be too sweet. I thought 1 cup of sugar in a batch of muffins was way too much, but the reviews were so good I decided to go with it. Different tastes, I guess.
It says 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Did you make sure to use those specific measurements of each ingredient? When I made them they didn’t taste as sweet as you are describing.
Fantastic recipe, such light and fluffy muffins.I added chocolate chips to mine.I did need to bake mine a little longer, they were still raw in the middle after the time suggested.I will definetly be making these again.!
WOW!! Thanks for the tip about high heat at first and then lower the temp. These look amazing!!
I tried this recipe for first time and followed instructions and everyone who tried the muffins said they were very good. Will try again using 1/2 whole wheat flour to see how everyone likes them and maybe add a little extra spice
I made this recipe last in cake form.
Because I started the recipe only to realize I didn’t have any paper muffin cups.
It turned out amazing!!! Everyone loves it.
Thank so much
Beautiful little muffiins, not too sweet and perfect for fall! YUM
can I make this recipe whit whole wheat flour instead?
Shouldn’t be a problem, the texture will be a little different, as expected.
Has anyone tried using butter instead of vegetable oil? How would the results vary?
Great recipe! Everyone loved the muffins. I omitted the ginger and I accidentally used pumpkin pie filling from the can and it turned out great i also added a bit of ground chia seed and quick oats and a good squeeze of maple syrup!
If you are looking for the perfect pumpkin muffin recipe, this is it!! I added one cup chocolate no chips to mine, so good. I lost
This recipe probably 20 years ago, I’m so happy Sally published this!!!!
I used avocado oil instead of vegetable oil & made the chocolate chip version. They turned out great! You can’t go wrong with any of Sally’s recipes.
Best recipe for pumpkin muffins ever! I took them into the gallery where I volunteer and they were gone in seconds. I did add a teaspoon of vanilla…because, why not! Great taste and texture! I am making them again this morning to pair with the quiche I have for friends for breakfast. That with a fruit bowl…delicious!
I made the pumpkin muffins and they were awesome! The only change I made was I switched oat milk for cow milk.
Can i substitute applesauce for both of the sugars? I am just trying to cut down on the sugar intake.
Hi Christian, we don’t recommend that here—the sugar plays an important role in the overall taste, texture, and structure of the muffins, and swapping for all applesauce would change the intended results.
Hi Christian, I’m having great success ɓaking with monkfruit substituted cup per cup for sugar. Noone guessed the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie had 0 actual sugar. It has no lingering aftertaste.
These turned out great! I’m making them again on Sunday.
I made these couple days ago and it was a hit with my son. Muffins came out moist and light
Delicious. I am going to try to use dates and cut down on sugar. Hopefully they will still turn out good
Great recipe, I made them into mini muffins added dark chocolate and placed pumpkin seeds on top, delicious!