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 LOVE these muffins So so so so much!!! I don’t even usually like muffins that much, they’re always either too dry or too sweet and I don’t even like pumpkin – but these are just perfect!! They’re so moist and Sally’s pumpkin spice is the best I’ve ever tried – these are my new favorite go-to treat!!!
Baked up high and beautiful!! Please add the sugar sprinkle to the recipe though, because I forgot it and it would have added a nice finish!
I am a retired engineer that likes to cook and bake. This muffin recipe is technically perfect!! I just baked them for the first time and they are the best muffins I have ever baked, and I have baked some good ones. I like your explanations for why you do certain things and why it works – especially the 2 stage baking process. Works for bread as well except you use 450/375 to perfect the crust.
The detailed way in which you write your recipes takes a lot of work and time and makes the product exceptional if the recipe is followed. Thank you very much, Sally!
This and your pumpkin bread are top notch! I haven’t tried your pumpkin pie yet, but it’s already on the menu for Thanksgiving. Love all of your emails, thanks Sally.
Easy recipe to make. However felt it tasted a little bland. Maybe needed other spices. Or just use my typical cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Maybe a little extra sugar. Wasn’t bad but not as flavorful as my trusted pumpkin bread recipe. Suggestions?
Great recipe. Easy to make, perfect texture. I made them into mini muffins and my kids ate the whole batch in less than two days! Definitely going to make again.
Good Morning! I would like to just spray my mini-muffin pan instead of using muffin papers. Do you have a preference for either one when baking muffins? Thank you for all your great recipes and wonderful baking/cooking tips!
Hi Tricia, either work just fine for this muffin recipe. I usually use liners, but have made them many times with a nonstick spray.
I’m going to try today and add protein powder – any recommendations for that?
Hi Mary, we haven’t tested anything, but we’d start small since it can be quite drying. Then you can tinker with future batches, perhaps removing a bit of the flour. Let us know what you try!
We love this recipe so much! My family keeps requesting it and I’ve made these muffins three times since the beginning of September!
I added a scoop of vanilla protein powder and two tablespoons of extra oil (I also add a whole can of pumpkin) and they come out perfect. Can’t even taste the protein powder.
Unfortunately these muffins did not come out as hoped. They were too moist, close to mushy and had an off after taste. Even my granddaughter said no thank you after trying. I did add chocolate chips that that didn’t help. This is unusual for Sally recipes which are usually spot on.
Hi Cathryn, we’re sorry to hear these muffins were a bit off for you. Were all of your ingredients fresh? Did your pumpkin puree seem especially wet? While we don’t blot the pumpkin here in order to keep the muffins moist, you could try very gently blotting it to rid of some moisture if it seems particularly wet. It’s also possible they were just a bit underbaked and could benefit from an additional minute or two in the oven. Thank you for giving them a try!
Did you use the weight or volume for the flour? I noticed that if I used 219g it would have been slightly more than 1C, which would be significantly less than the 1 3/4C.
Truly delicious! I modified a little and they’re still terrific – did half applesauce for the oil and reduced the white sugar by 20g. Added an extra big spoon of pumpkin to make up for the reduced moisture. Fantastic muffin.
sooo goood, was just wondering the nutrition information?
Hi Waverly, 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 Glad you enjoyed the muffins!
Fantastic!
I followed this exactly. Used monk fruit and coconut sugar. I baked for 22 minutes including the five minutes at 4:25 lower the temperature and they were raw inside. I baked for another two minutes then bake for another three minutes took them out. Let them cool and I just broke one open 15 minutes later and they’re not done. They are partially baked. Raw texture?
Hi Terry! Switching out the sweeteners can change the chemistry of a recipe. And, as always, make sure to test muffins with a toothpick to determine doneness.
These muffins are very spongy, not cakey. Decent flavor but not like bakery muffins at all.
The muffins turned out perfect. The texture is really light. The high temp at the beginning does make for a taller muffin. Great tip!
This is a GREAT recipe! It uses a whole can of pumpkin so no challenges of what to do with little bits of canned pumpkin. I live at 7400 ft. so i used my standard agjustments (2 T. more flour and 2T less sugar. I always bake with a combination of 3/4 white whole wheat to 1/4 unbleached flour. They turned our beautifully tall and very delicious. I added chocolate chips as suggested and we loved it. I increased the cooking time for the 350 degrees part to 21 minutes in my convection oven but used the actual temperature as stated on the recipe. Plan to bake these for our church bake sale next month!
Unbelievable. I switched brown sugar for coconut and half the white sugar for monkfruit and they were just amazing. Didn’t last 24 hours. Thank you!
I loved these and I love all of your recipes! I’ve never had any problems with any of them…. PERFECT every time! You are so talented!
These muffins are delightful: fluffy and not too sweet. If you add some cream cheese frosting on them it’s even better. That being said, they’re perfect on their own with a nice pumpkin spice latté! I did add a little bit more spices to the mix because I love nutmeg ;). I had too much batter for 12 muffins though, so I made about 10 mini-muffins with what was left. This recipe is a keeper!
Even though I blended the recipe well, I could still taste the baking soda. I checked the acidity level of pumpkin and it is low. As a home economist, I learned that you use baking soda alone only if there is an acid present in the recipe. Next time I will use baking powder instead. Hope this helps. Otherwise, the flavour wasn’t too bad. I love your recipes overall..
Hi Laurie! Thank you for trying these. Brown sugar is also an acidic ingredient. If you switch to baking powder, you’ll have to increase the amount as it’s not a 1:1 swap, or use a combo of baking powder and baking soda.
I am anxious to try these. How long should I bake these using a jumbo muffin pan?
Hi Dana, this batter will yield about 5 jumbo muffins. You can use the baking time and instructions from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
Hi, I am going to double the recipe and I only have one 12 cupcake pan. After putting the 1st batch in the oven, does the rest of the batter need to be refrigerated?
Hi Cheryl, you can leave the remaining batter at room temperature until it is time to bake. You can lightly cover the pan with a clean towel. Hope you enjoy the muffins!
Thank you! I will post a comment after we try them. Have a great day!
These are really delicious and not too sweet. My 2 year old helped me make them 🙂 I may have made a basic icing to make it a bit sweeter. Otherwise, it is so comforting
Fabulous! Tastes just like pumpkin pie, lovely texture. Made them exactly to recipe and added 1 cup chopped dates. So easy. Will def make again. Thank you ❤
Hi, I have used this recipe to make pumpkin muffins with my Kindergarten class for years! They turn out perfect every time. I wanted to try making mini loaves this year so the student could bring home their creation to share with their families. Have you made this with mini loaves before or do you have a recommendation of how I can tweak this recipe to accomplish that goal?
Hi Rachel! You can use this recipe or our similar pumpkin bread recipe for mini loaves. You can bake the loaves at 350 degrees the entire time, and bake time will depend on the exact size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I have made this recipe acouple times and everyone loves the .uffins, I love the recipe!! Thank you for the tips too!
Thanks for the recipe. Great texture but a little on the bland side. Quick and Easy to make. Unfortunately they stuck to the liners.
Wow! These muffins are really amazing! I made two small changes: Substituted 1/2 of the oil with apple sauce and added a tsp. of vanilla. Will definitely keep this recipe for future use! Thanks for sharing
These are simply the best pumpkin muffins I’ve ever made! I added the 1 cup of special dark chocolate chips to make them extra decadent. Thank you Sally for another yummy recipe!
Made these for my hubby, he absolutely loved them. Did not have enough pumpkin purée ,so I added some apple sauce to make up the difference. He also requested some nuts to be added. Did that too and he would like me to make them again. Thank you for the great recipe.