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
May I use 1% milk or will that compromise the texture?
Hi Trish! 1% milk will be fine in these muffins.
Well, dang. I’ve made tons of pumpkin muffins, but these top them all. Baked these at night for a treat the next day for my family and there were only five left by the morning. Doubling the recipe for sure next time, and that “next time” will be as soon as I can get to the store for more pumpkin puree! I used the entire can and didn’t bother measuring the pumpkin as it only adds more moisture. Topped with a few pumpkin seeds for cuteness. Baking times were ideal. They looked as scrumptious as they tasted.
These muffins were delicious and a hit with the family!
Great muffins! Do you have the protein, carb, fat and calories for this muffins 🙂
Hi Sherie, 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
We loved this recipe! I even put inside some caramell fudge dices ☺️
Also, I don’t know why but I ended up with 25 normal sized muffins I instead of 12… or is the size described in the summary refers to the muffin size they give out in KFC?
Ever since I made these my family has been begging me to make them again. They turned out amazing. (I do love checking out this website for recipes.)
As usual for me, I made some substitutions. I omitted both sugars and replaced with 3/4 cup maple syrup. I also put in an entire 15oz can of pumpkin (estimated to be 1 3/4 cup on the label). I followed the instructions in the notes for spices to use in place of pumpkin pie spice. Oh! An I believe I used melted butter in place of oil. They did take a little longer to bake than the recipe said. Used a home-grade convection oven.
Yummy! Right on pumpkin spice & moist.
This recipe is really amazing. Just made it today! I wanted to see if you had a calorie count for 1 muffin?? Not sure if this is easy to get. Totally fine if not!!
Hi Aileen! 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 like the recipe and taste but they were too moist. I made my own pumpkin purée. I’m cooking them for longer even though the tooth pick was clean. Made with chocolate chips.
Hi! Can I use cooked sweet potato in place of the pumpkin? Thank you
Hi Sarah, 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.
Made these with chocolate chips, and using Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer and oat milk to make them vegan – delicious! Probably could have used another minute or so in the oven but that’s my fault.
Really good and love that it is not too sweet. Real muffin are never meant to be sweet. A great way to use up leftover pumpkin puree.
i scrolled for thirty seconds looking for the recipe; should i continue ?
Hi Shirl, there’s a “jump to recipe” button right under the title. Hope that helps!
I would like to make this recipe as JUMBO muffins. Do you know how I would adjust the baking times?
Hi Cg, this batter will yield about 5 jumbo muffins. You can use the baking time and instructions from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
Please tell me where to find the nutritional info. Thank you
Hi Joann, 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 have yet to try a recipe on this website that I DONT like. They’re all so GOOD! This recipe is delicious and fool proof. A great way to enjoy pumpkin during the fall. I have tried these with walnuts, pecans, raisins, and even a streusel topping. These things are so good! They go so fast. Definitely recommend making two batches. This morning I made her banana muffins AND these. Now I look forward to the early cold mornings, a coffee, and a muffin.
I have always always ALWAYS enjoyed your recipes. They never fail to turn out RIGHT!! I topped these with that crystallized sugar (the actual name eludes me at the moment), but it give it this fab crunch on top. Anyways, thanks again for a home-run of a recipe and for always adding your tidbit of education at the end for all the “why” questions. Love knowing how I can give a recipe a twist, why we bake at certain temps etc. You’re amazing!!
Yes! I love that I feel like I learn things when I bake with her recipes. I feel more equipped as a baker because of it.
Thank you both so much! I’m glad you find the recipes AND information helpful.
This is my go to recipe anytime of the year that I want pumpkin and chocolate. Feeling creative, I substituted maple syrup for the white sugar, and then I reduced the amount of milk by half. It took the flavor to a whole new level. Yum!
Hi! How much maple syrup did you use? ‘Cause I love maple syrup!!!
Made these yesterday and they are delicious! My kids and husband love them, too. They are moist and packed full of flavor. The batter was easy to put together. Will definitely make again. I made half plain, then mixed in some chocolate chips to the other half the batter for something different.
This is the secret to fluffy and delicious muffins! Putting them in at 425 and five min later lowering temp to 350 made for perfectly baked muffins. I followed this recipe almost exactly (made 1/4 cup of flour whole wheat) with sunflower oil, almond milk and chocolate chips. These are so delicious! I like them with more sugar (maybe next time will do 1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup white), but these are moist and well seasoned!
I’ve made this recipe once before and they turned out great! This time however, they got moldy after only 2 days before anyone could eat them. Any idea why? They were in a container on the counter and I had no issues last time.
Hi Lacee, did your pumpkin seem especially wet, or was your kitchen particularly humid? For next time, leaving the container open a crack should help combat some of the moisture in the container that could have caused them to become moldy. Or, you can also store them in the fridge. Glad these are a favorite for you!
Made these yesterday for the first time. Very addicting! So glad I found your recipe! I added sultanas, walnut pieces and dark chocolate chunks. I glazed the muffins with a rummy-cinnamon icing. I will definitely be making lots of these throughout the holiday season!
I made this for the first time today. I added 1/2 diced crystallized ginger to give it a little zip.
I made these with half of the flour being oat floor and half being a gluten-free flour and they came out BEAUTIFUL and delicious! Thanks!
Made these this morning with dark choc chips. Absolutely delicious, moist, taste of fall in a muffin!
Scrumptious & moist! I made a couple of changes, I used freshly roasted & blended pumpkin (instead of canned stuff) but was about 100g short so added the rest of the weight in overly ripe fresh banana. I also added in the chocolate chips and sprinkled a couple chips on top of each muffin before baking too. I will definitely be making these again and again!
I loved this recipe but I didn’t add the milk. I am at high altitude and they came out fine.
If I’d like to make double the amount of muffins, should I just use your pumpkin cake recipe (which I tried and really liked)?
Hi Emily, those would be more like pumpkin cupcakes, so we’d recommend making 2 batches of these pumpkin muffins instead.
I love all the pumpkin recipes I’ve tried on this site! So lovely for fall baking!
I do have a quick question…I made these with chocolate chips and the tops came out kind of craggily (like how pumpkin bread looks on top). Did I do something wrong in the mixing/filling stage and that’s why the tops cracked? I am sure it’s a user error on my end haha
Hi Megan, you didn’t really do anything wrong at all; the muffins are supposed to look a little cracked on top, which is one of the results of them rising so high, and then falling a bit when cooling. (And just starting out as a really thick batter.)