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
I made these with chocolate chips, but the tops separated a bit. I’ve made a ton of your muffins and never experienced that. Do you know why this might’ve happened?
Hi Dina, was the separation like cracks on the tops of the muffins? This is just the air escaping out the top and can be caused by a variety of factors including your oven, the oven temperature, length of time, oven rack position, etc. It could simply be that the batter was over mixed a bit, too. An easy fix for next time!
This recipe is a keeper. Was so moist and flavorful. I deal with food sensitivities and this is something I can enjoy. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the reply Sally. I will try it again and use veg oil instead of the canola and less of it because I can tell it’s a good tasting recipe.
If I wanted to add chia seeds to this recipe – should I soak them first? And, make as part of liquid measurement?
Hi Jill, we wouldn’t soak them first — adding more wet ingredients would require tweaking the other ingredients. Simply add a teaspoon or two to the batter before spooning into the muffin tins.
These are super moist, the flavor is there but they are way too salty. Would use 1/4 a teaspoon of salt next time.
I could not get them done. I started at the higher temp and dropped to 350 for 17 min. Toothpick came out clean. But when I started to eat one it was doughy inside. I put them back in the oven and baked and baked and baked. Marni D. mentions too oily. I think that may have been the problem. This is the first time I used canola oil. I wonder if it was that. They also stuck to the muffin pan liners so when you tried to take them out, you lost half of the muffin. Again because they didn’t cook through. I know I had all the ingredients right, I am not a novice baker, and the part that cooked was delicious. Did anyon else have that problem. What do you think happened?
Hi Nadine, I find that muffins usually stick to liners when they’re quite warm. Letting them cool a bit longer helps them release a little better. They also could have tasted doughy if they were very hot. But, if you try the recipe again, feel free to slightly reduce the oil and you can always add a couple extra minutes to the bake time.
just made this recipe using fresh pumpkin puree….sprinkled the top with a Little sparkling sugar. Turned out fantastic. Saving this recipe!
What about adding chopped dates?
Hi Lindsay, you can add about 3/4 chopped dates to the batter.
These are delicious moist muffins, and my kids love them too. I substitute the brown sugar for coconut sugar and I substitute 3/4 C regular flour for 3/4 C Almond Flour. Wonderful recipe, thank you.
Anyone else find these a bit too oily? I think I will adjust the oil content if I make these muffins again. Other than that, they were great!
Made these today!! Sooooo perfect!! Thank you!
These muffins puffed up nicely in the oven. I have heard about the temperature change method for muffins but have never actually tried it. Love the texture. Not too dense. I used winter squash and it came out fine! Added chocolate chips because why not!!
These are the closest thing I have found yet to my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip muffins that a now defunct grocery store used to make. The only substitutes I made were full fat buttermilk for the milk and stevia sweetened dark chocolate chips. They have great flavor without being too sweet and the perfect texture. I got 12 regular muffins and 7 mini muffins from my batch
fantastic muffins— my add ins were fresh cranberries and high quality milk chocolate chips.. moist, flavorful, with gorgeous tops!
Second time making these and added raisins to it this time. Didn’t have enough puree left so I added some leftover homemade pie filling to top it off. This is an easy and delicious recipe.
I loved this recipe so much!
, What’s the point of adding extra ginger and cinnamon to pumpkin pie spice? If you mix your own pumpkin pie spice, couldn’t you use the greater amount of ginger and cinnamon in the first place?
After all, this is pumpkin pie spice, not apple pie spice.p
You absolutely could! But some bakers may not be using homemade pumpkin pie spice. And some baked goods may not be great with the extra cinnamon and ginger. I always like to add a bit more to this muffin batter.
What would be the bake time for making them Jumbo style muffins? Thanks for the great recipes!
Hi Natalie! This batter will yield about 5 jumbo muffins. You can use the baking time from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
Recipe is excellent, used fresh pumpkin puree extra from the 5 pumpkin pies I made for Thanksgiving, what a flavor! Recipe is right on target.
Thank you again for another great recipe! These turned out perfectly! I used gluten free flour and monk fruit sweetener. They’re so moist and delicious! I can always count on your recipes unlike a lot of other websites. I really appreciate it!
everyone loves these made with pecans and dried cranberries
Hi! Could I use baking powder instead? (I’m not a baker and that’s all I have on hand). Thank you, excited to try these!
Hi Allison, baking soda and baking powder are chemically different and not interchangeable. If you are interested in learning more you can check out the post Baking Basics: Baking Powder vs Baking Soda
Very tasty. I used freshly grated ginger and Thai brown coconut palm sugar for a brown sugar substitute. The palm sugar has a soft, brown sugary taste, as opposed to a coconut taste.
I made this recipe tonight for the second time. We enjoyed it so much the first time around that this was a double batch. My daughter needs a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, so I made these with a GF flour blend and unsweetened almond milk. There is so much delicious pumpkin flavor (and spice, of course) that my gluten eaters haven’t even noticed the difference. This recipe is a definite keeper!!
I substituted carrot purée for the pumpkin purée and did not change anything else. I also tripled the recipe without issue. It turned out delicious, as Sally’s recipes always do.
Is any nutritional data available?
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 loved this recipe so much. Can we supplement butter instead of coconut oil?
Hi Monisha, 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. Glad you enjoyed them!
great recipe! easy and tastes great. i made as is with oat milk for dairy free option!
Delicious! Thank you.
I also used avocado oil and organic cane sugar and home made pumpkin puree. They are very moist and tender. I will definitely make them again. Thanks.
I made these muffins today and they are very tasty. I think next time I may add some raisins to them