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
These muffins are delicious! I made them twice in the last week. I made some changes to the recipe. I substituted avocado oil for vegetable oil and
as Sally’s suggested coconut sugar for the brown sugar. The muffins are moist and flavorful (no avocado flavor.)
So easy to make and turned out beautifully! Soft, plush crumb, lightly spiced, and perfectly moist. We made the version with a cup of chocolate chips mixed in and loved it that way! Will definitely be making again.
Not the best recipe. Turned out very dense and not very flavorful.
Amazing recipe. Have made it multiple times. But recently ive been using country eggs and it just does not turn out right. Not sure why that is.
I made this recipe for school and brought it to class, and my classmates ate it up. Thank you for this amazing recipe. I’m sure a lot of my class will visit your site in the future.
Best pumpkin recipe I have EVER made!
best muffins ever!! all your recipes ive tried so far have been so delicious! I didn’t put ginger powder is the only difference i made and put a cup a chocolate chips and they were perfect! I already know im gonna come back to this!
Delicious pumpkin muffins recipe! Our granddaughter loved it and they (thank goodness) do not taste overly sweet, which is the usual reason I never eat muffins… except for these!
Suuuuuuper delicious! Fluffy and moist! I made them into the mini muffins and got 48 of them. Honestly these would be a great breakfast
Well I made this recipe using Pumpkin Pie filling, and I was so sure I had ruined it after I saw it said not to use it. I had already blend all the wet ingredients. I also chose to go with butter instead of vegetable oil, and also did half cream and half milk instead of just milk. So anyways, I used about 3/4 of the mixture in the dry ingredients and I cooked them the eay the recipe said, and OMG they turned out DELICIOUS!!! SO YES YOU CAN USE PIE FILLING! Just bot as much thats all 🙂 I will be writing this recipe in my book with the tweaks I did, real butter always is a winner over vegetable oil…
Omg thank you so much for posting this! All I have is pumpkin pie filling but really wanted to try this without wasting a whole batch. Trying this out now I’m SO excited.
Hi,
Thank you for all of your recipes! You are my ‘go to’ website for all recipes!!
Can this recipe be made into a pumpkin bread? I love it and was just wondering if this would work!
Thanks!
Hi Mary, you can use this recipe for pumpkin bread, which will give you the right amount of batter for a standard 9×5 loaf pan. Enjoy!
Without a doubt, this is one of the best muffins I’ve ever baked or eaten (and I’m not a diehard pumpkin person). The winning factor is how light it is…it literally melts in your mouth. My husband and neighbors (with whom I shared) all agreed. Winner!
These turned out absolutely perfect! I added chocolate chips (about 1 cup) and it was the perfect addition. These muffins aren’t too sweet and the chocolate chips balanced everything out. They’re moist but not dense and my boyfriend said ten out of ten he wants me to make again.
I followed the recipe exact, and we didn’t care for them. They tested done; however they did not look done. It tasted bland and under baked. So I baked them for another 10 minutes and they look brown but centers just don’t taste right. First recipe I’ve made from you and very disappointed.
Hello Sally, Baked these yesterday, they came out absolutely beautiful, had 2 this morning and flavor was too bland. Used 90g of canola as I didn’t have veggie oil and balanced it off with 30g of unsweetened applesauce. Put 1/2T of Expresso Powder in just because and followed the rest of recipe to a “T” . When cleaning up my Pumpkin Spice and Ginger Spice were pretty much gone, need to buy some more and that got me thinking, were my 2 spices expired? I could not find a date on the 2 bottles.
Sadly I baked at least a dozen of your recipes and never praised the recipes, which I should have and now I’m complaining when this could be an outdated spice situation. What do you think. All my best, JC
Hi JC, spices do lose their potency over time, so that could definitely be the issue here!
So easy and just delightful!! Might be my new favorite recipe! I reduced white sugar to 1/4 and they were still sweet enough. Thank you!!
These have great flavor! They were super easy to make. My new favorite muffin recipe of yours
Would brown sugar work for white sugar? Or would it change the taste/consistency too much?
Hi Kaitlyn, using all brown sugar here *should* be fine, but we’re not 100% certain. Let us know if you try!
I was so excited to make these and they turned out to be an epic fail. Not sure why, but the center fell in all my muffins, I was so disappointed. Do you know why this would happen?
Hi Patty, that usually happens when the muffins are slightly underbaked. A few additional minutes in the oven should help for next time. Also, be careful not to overmix the batter, which can also cause the muffins to collapse when baked. Thank you for giving these a try!
These turned out awesome! I didn’t have any ground ginger so I skipped that but made as directed otherwise. We are at 6000ft and it turned out great, toothpick came out clean after 5 min at 425F plus 12 min at 350F. Thanks for the awesome recipe, its a keeper!
I made these using King Arthur gluten free 1:1 flour, unsweetened almond milk and Just Egg instead of regular eggs. They are wonderful and everyone in my family devoured them while still warm. Even my picky teenager loved them and requested I make them as a weekday on the go breakfast for school days. I’ll have to double the recipe next time, thank you for such a delicious treat
I made these today with all spelt flour and coconut sugar to sub white sugar, they’re absolutely delicious, especially with a bit of cream cheese
I substituted a cup of the flour with whole wheat, used sunflower oil, and started at 400 for about 8 minutes rather than 425 for 5. My muffins rose beautifully and have a scrumptious texture. Thanks for a winner to go with my ginger peach tea and kick September off right.
Hi! I don’t know that I’ve ever left a comment on any of your recipes, but your site is my absolute favorite, and my go-to whenever I’m looking for desserts, muffins, etc.
I’ve been making this recipe for quite some time, and it’s our favorite! I always add Ghirardelli chocolate chips!
I also want you to know that I fully appreciate you having all of the measurements in grams as well, because not everybody’s cup/half cup measuring is the same, so I know my recipes will always turn out perfectly. Thank you
I added some pepitas on top prior to baking and these turned out amazing!!
Can I substitute something for the eggs? We have an egg allergy in the house.
Hi Hailley, we haven’t tested this recipe with any egg substitutes, but let us know if you do. Here are all of our egg-free recipes.
Sally – you nailed this one. The muffins are hugh and so delicious. They taste like Pumpkin Bread. What l like the best is that I can freeze the muffins and take out what I need. Whereas – pumpkin bread is a whole loaf and it gets sticky when cutting. This is a KEEPER!!! Thank you.
Sally, Instead of applesauce, can I use apple butter. Really it’s just applesauce until you add other spices to make it apple butter
Hi Nancy, are you thinking of another recipe by chance? This recipe does not call for applesauce, but you can replace just *some* of the oil for applesauce. Apple butter is typically thicker than applesauce, so we’d recommend sticking with applesauce in this case.
INCREDIBLE!!! This is now a staple fall recipe for my family.
Hello! Can I use gluten free flour in these? Would I need to increase the baking soda? Thank you!
Hi Rebecca, 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.
delish!!! my daughter was iffy until i said its just like chai tea with pumpkin in a muffin, then she ate it and asked for them in her lunch box 🙂
Just made these, half chocolate chip, half plain. Absolutely fantastic as are so many of your recipes. Thank you!