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
thanks
My oven stays hot longer and if I do the 425 then lower it, it will burn them so I usually just bake them at 350 for 20-25 min and they turn out great. Thank you for all your fantastic recipes. Everyone I have tried turns out super good. Thanks again Sally and have a sweet day.
Great pumpkin muffin recipe! I poured out 6 plain with Sugar in the Raw sprinked on top as suggested in the notes. Then for the remaining batter I added 1/2 cup golden raisins + 1/2 cup broken pecans, with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) sprinkled on top of the muffins before baking. Also, because I was trying to use up misc flour packages, I used mostly whole wheat flour with about 1/2 cup cake flour. Both the plain and the raisin/pecan/pepitas were great! For the plain, the crunchy sugary tops were delicious. I like the cardamom idea someone else suggested, will try a dash of that next time. I prefer the taste/texture of butter in baked goods to oil, so next time I may also try a combination of butter and oil rather than all oil. Regardless will definitely be making again.
Great muffins—even subbing sweet potato! I made these with canned sweet potato puree. Since my family isn’t keen on pumpkin pie spice, I used 2 generous teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, and added 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom–sooo good!. I cut the granulated sugar to 1/3 cup—we also don’t like super sweet muffins. To another batch I added some collagen protein powder and 2 tablespoons water to prevent the batter from being too thick. They were delicious!!! Will be making these on repeat for my son in fire academy who needs easy calories and protein.
I want to love this recipe, but it was bland. The flavor of the spices was minimal. The next time I make it, how should I enhance the flavor?
Hi Cy, you can try increasing the pumpkin pie spice next time, but it may also be that you need to buy (or make) a fresh container/mix of it, as spices lose their potency over time. Hope your next batch turns out more flavorful!
I am so excited to make these for an upcoming bridal shower – I am wondering if it is okay to make the batter one day prior to baking them? If so, is it best to refrigerate or freeze the batter (in an airtight container)? Thank you!
Hi Annie, we don’t recommend making the batter ahead of time. Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, the leavening agents are activated and it’s best to bake the batter soon thereafter. You can, however, freeze baked muffins for up to three months. See recipe notes for more details.
Just out of curiosity, could you prepare the wet and dry ingredients separately a day in advance and refrigerate the wet ingredients, then combine before baking? Made them today, subbed chia seed for egg because I was out but still turned out great!
Absolutely! But I would bring the wet ingredients to room temperature before combining with the dry.
Ii’ve made this a few time and its been a big hit. Just wondering if I can sub roasted and mashed sweet potatoes instead of the pumpkin, as I have in the freezer.
Thanks.
Hi Gilah, 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.
They came out great, thanks!!
This recipe is a keeper, I used raisins and pecans too.
Delicious. Used 1:1 gluten free flour and the muffins came out fantastic. I liked that they weren’t overly sweet. Put some pearled sugar on top before baking.
Can I substitute butter instead of oil! Same amount?
Hi Kathleen, 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.
I think this is a good basic recip but will probably add chocolate chips or a little more sugar next time because I felt like they could have been a little sweeter. But very moist so overall happy with the recipe.
I love these muffins!! I have made these several times already! I am wondering if you think that adding a streusel to the top would work too, with the higher initial temperature?
Hi Liz, you sure can! We put streusel on our Peach Muffins and Banana Chocolate Chip muffins!
Absolutely devine! Added 1c dark chocolate chips per husband’s request. Light, fluffy and the taste dances on your tongue
These were absolutely delicious. I never go wrong with your recipes.
These look amazing! Going to try this recipe soon. Is it possible to substitute the sugar with a stevia or something like that? Also possibly substituting the flour with whole wheat, coconut, or almond flour?
Hi Megan, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. If desired, you can replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour for a heartier, denser pumpkin muffin. We don’t recommend using coconut or almond flour, as it’s not always a 1:1 replacement with all-purpose flour. Hope you enjoy the muffins!
I just made these muffins with Swerve (both brown sugar and granular). I actually used less of the granular (75 grams instead of 100) because I added dried cranberries which are already sweetened. The muffins came out fine: moist and sweetened to my taste.
These muffins are absolutely amazing! I rarely use the same recipe but this one is definitely here to stay!
muffins light, airy
I substituted the oil with applesauce and used the spices of the pumpkin spice instead.
I love this recipe! It’s the easiest one with the ingredients that you most likely already have. I really recommend it.
DELISH! Added dark chocolate chips to half the recipe. They have a great rise and texture. Ate them straight out of the oven, of course, and they were divine! Will definitely be saving this recipe to make again!
any thoughts on high altitude adjustments? Recently moved to 7200 elevation!
Hi Tammy, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Replying to Tammy, regarding high altitude. I live at 7700′ and I baked these twice with perfect results. Only change I made for altitude is Use HALF amount baking soda. Personal preference is for whole wheat flour, as I grind my own, so subbed 3/4 of AP flour. They might be too dense with all whole wheat, but we’re light, airy, moist for me. I have lived at this elev for many years, and always decrease the leavening ingredients by at least 50% – whether soda,powder, or yeast.
I love this recipe so much. I add dark chocolate to it
These turned out so perfect! I’m so happy with not only how they taste, but how they look! Turning the oven to 425 and then lowering it is a game changer! Only adjustment I made to the recipe was skipping the milk since the pumpkin I froze isn’t as thick as store bought.
My go to for my picky son. He loves them!
Sally, do you think I could make these in jumbo muffin tins? Just increase the bake time to something similar to your jumbo chocolate chip muffin recipe?
Hi Sarah, absolutely. This batter will yield about 5 jumbo muffins. You can use the baking time from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
This is the best pumpkin muffin! I’ve made them a lot since I found your recipe!
Thanks
I just made the pumpkin chocolate muffins. They are delicious! Very moist and tasty! Thank you!
Getting ready to try this recipe. Would love to know nutrition facts as I couldn’t locate it.
Thank you for your help and excited to get started!
I made these a few weeks ago and they were SO DELICIOUS! As always I chose the option with chocolate chips and they were still perfect!
I make these all the time for my kiddos.
I made these muffins just as stated just adding raisins. They were excellent. Setting the oven At 425F and then dropping it to 350 F gave a nice crown on these muffins. They are not too sweet, perfect!