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 are so great! I used half whole wheat flour and half regular. They were wonderful!
This was delicious. So I made some healthy subs and I am here to tell you it still comes out delish. I subbed in a little bit of whole wheat flour. I didn’t measure. I just added enough to get to the number of grams needed. I used half apple sauce and half canola oil. I reduced the sugars, I can’t tell you how much. I just left the measuring cups a little less full. I added the chocolate chips. yum. Next time I will make notes on how much I subbed out. But still yummy. I omitted the ginger but will add back in next time. I think it needs it and that’s why Sally said put it in. So it might not be as fluffy as the original recipe, but I wanted to tell you you can reduce the oil and sugar as she instructed. Now I would love for you to make the oatmeal blueberry muffins using pumpkin.
I don’t usually leave comments on recipes, but I had to on this one! This recipe is exactly what I was looking for-easily swapped out the milk for unsweetened almond milk, and added chocolate chips to half the batch. The flavor is amazing, texture is amazing. I will definitely be making these again, and sharing with friends and family! they are perfect!!!!
Absolutely delicious! I have made these several times and my toddler is constantly asking for a pumpkin muffin. This one is a keeper!
I’m wondering if I did something wrong… I felt like they were lacking flavor also? They appeared done after baking and cooling but the texture was that of bordering on undercooked. Just wondering if anyone else experienced that, I’ve never had a bad recipe from here!
These are some of the best Pumpkin muffins I’ve made! I did add walnuts for crunch and a little less sugar. I also substituted maple sugar for both.
These are so so moist! Delicious!!!
This is a great recipe! I appreciate that I don’t have to use a mixer. The spices come through nicely. (I probably went heavy on the ginger as I usually do. My only issue is that I can taste the baking soda. I think it might just be me, but do you have recommendations or thoughts about how it would turn out or what I can tweak to cut back the baking soda? Thank you!
These are delicious, easy recipe to follow and of course, even better with added chocolate chips! I didn’t have ginger, but it didn’t seem to matter. Toddler and husband approved!
Cannot wait to make these! I only have buttermilk on hand – will that be OK?
Hi Jenny, yes, buttermilk will work just fine. Enjoy!
Thank you! They came out perfect!!
LOVE these muffins….moist, spicy, not too sweet….rose beautifully! One thing: Can we have the nutritional info? Thanks.
Hi Jo Anne, we’re so glad you’ve been enjoying these muffins! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I’m extremely picky when it comes to muffins, so I surprised myself by declaring these the best pumpkin muffins ever, period! They are not too sweet, which is a beef I have with most muffin recipes. It has the perfect balance of spice and pumpkin. They are incredibly moist yet fluffy. And the rise, omg the rise! Starting off in a hot oven gave them such height. I will never make another pumpkin muffin recipe again, thanks for sharing this gem!
Great recipe! Thank you! I always appreciate your extra tips and suggestions too!
Great recipe! Just as Sally described, these are not too sweet. I followed directions exactly, and was surprised how big and high the muffins came out. Next time I will add in mini chocolate chips as I think that would be amazing!
This recipe lacks flavor and doesn’t have baking powder. Muffins need baking powder. I forgot to add it the second time I made these, but I remembered to double the spices. There are better recipes.
Baking soda is scientifically appropriate in this recipe, as the brown sugar is the acid it is reacting with. No need for baking powder here. In case you weren’t aware, baking powder already contains an acid, baking soda does not. You use baking soda when there is an acid already present in the ingredient list. Of course it gets more complicated than that, but bottom line is there is no “need” for baking powder in muffins. It all depends on the recipe and, being that it is baking, it all comes down to science! .
Lovely pumpkin muffins! I did tweak the recipe though by adding 1/4 cup craisins, pumpkin seeds and chopped walnuts. It was a success!
Can I double this recipe if I need 24 muffins?
Hi Sharon! We recommend making multiple batches instead of doubling for best results.
I doubled the recipe and the muffins tasted amazing.
Hi Sally!
Just made your delicious and easy pumpkin muffins! They are incredible as usual! Every recipe of yours is outstanding! Thank you for teaching me how to bake like a professional!
I added raisins and chopped walnuts and everyone loved these muffins, saying they were better than the bakery version. Of course they were! I found that my 450g can of pumpkin contained 1 1/2 cups so I used all of it. I used tulip cupcake liners and found that I had to increase the baking time. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
These are so good. The texture is perfect, the flavor is complex, and they look really pretty coming out of the oven. My only regret is that I forgot to add some cinnamon sugar to the tops before baking.
If there was anything that I would change is just to add more of the spices so you get a stronger full-fall pumpkin spice flavor. But the recipe comes together so quickly, and the texture of the muffin is so perfectly moist!
These are fantastic — super easy (appreciate not needing a mixer, or needing to remember to let the butter soften!), and perfectly pumpkin-y! Will be making these frequently.
These muffins are so moist and flavorful! I love that they are easy to make too and I can just use a hand whisk and spoon, no electric mixer needed! I mixed the small amount of leftover pumpkin purée into my overnight oats, yumm!
These are SO good and easy to make! Perfect fall recipe! It isn’t too pumpkin-ee lol I added 1 cup chocolate chips and my family loved them. Just enough chocolate to pumpkin ratio. They smell wonderful too!
Hi Sally. Do you thinki “Sugar in the Raw” works as well as course sugar for sprinkling??
Yes, definitely!
Can I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil or coconut oil? Or will is change the taste too much?
We prefer sticking with neutral-tasting oils!
These turned out perfect – and this was my 1st time with muffins!
I must be on a muffin kick because this is the 3rd muffin recipe I’ve made from you this week. Another, flawless recipe. Made exactly as written these muffins were subtly sweet with the perfect amount of spices.
These were so good! I used coconut oil, and I added mini chocolate chips. They weren’t too sweet. I would totally make these again.
Can I use 1/2 cup of butter instead of oil?
Hi Kelsi, We use oil to make the muffins extra moist – you can use melted butter but they may not be quite as moist. The pumpkin and spices are strong flavors so you won’t taste the butter.
For these muffins do you prefer the oil to be swapped for coconut oil— or is butter an option? What change might I notice with butter? Thanks!
Hi Rachel, We use oil to make the muffins extra moist – you can use melted butter but they may not be quite as moist and the pumpkin and spices are strong flavors so you won’t taste the butter. You can certainly use melted coconut oil but the flavor will slightly change. Let us know what you try!
Hi Sally! I bet these are great! I wish I could eat pumpkin. I have found some “pumpkin spice” mixes that don’t contain pumpkin but they are all high in sodium and I must keep my sodium low. I have tried searching recipes that I can alter but can’t find any without pumpkin. Do you have any suggestions that might help me?
Hi Lizabeth! Are you asking how to reduce the salt in these and/or to make them without pumpkin? Here are all of my muffin recipes and I’m sure many would be tasty with pumpkin pie spice. You can reduce the salt in recipes if needed.
Hi Lizabeth, Mashed/pureed sweet potatoes can typically replace pumpkin puree in most recipes. We haven’t tested it with this particular recipe, but let us know if you give it a try. You may wish to try one of our many other muffin recipes instead.
You can substitute any yellow squash, except summer squash, for any recipe using pumpkin. I do this for pumpkin pie for Thaksgiving if I have a overabundance of acorn squash from the garden. Sweet potatoes works great too. Love love love your blog. Thanks for the fun! And by the way, I would have eaten your failed salted caramel frosting! Looks good to me, I mean, wasting caramel must be a sin……
Traveling in a tiny trailer and wanted to celebrate the first day of Fall with my hosts by baking these. Subbed turbinado sugar for brown and added chocolate chunks. No one had a muffin pan so used a loaf pan and covered with foil half way through to prevent over-browning. EVERYONE SWOONED! My hubs asked me to save the recipe. Holy cow fabulous!!