Everyone loves this pumpkin muffin recipe! Bake a batch for the best fluffy interior and crispy streusel topping.
Say hello to fall… with this treat Pumpkin muffins recipe! Light and fluffy, they’re made with pumpkin puree and infused with pumpkin pie spice. The best part? There’s a shimmery turbinado sugar and oat crumble topping that adds a sweet crunch to every bite. Each is under 200 calories, so we consider them healthy pumpkin muffins too. We served them to the guests and they couldn’t stop talking about it!
Ingredients for this pumpkin muffin recipe
These pumpkin muffins are one of our favorites this fall baking season. We can’t wait for the weather to get colder to release this trick! Here are some notes on the main ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree: Find canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin puree is unsweetened and you can add your own spices (which are much tastier).
- pumpkin taste: Use our homemade pumpkin pie spice or a store-bought version.
- Flour and Oatmeal: Oats help make muffins heartier and more nutritious.
- apple sauce: Reduces oil and keeps muffins moist.
- Turbocharged Sugar. Turbinado sugar is raw sugar. It has large crunchy crystals and a caramel flavor. It is available in major grocery stores. If you can’t find it, substitute brown sugar.
- maple syrup. The maple syrup muffin batter provides a nuanced sweetness.
- Butter or Coconut Oil: These muffins are lower in fat than most and you can substitute vegan for the coconut oil.
What Makes Healthy Pumpkin Muffins?
Most muffins are just glorified cupcakes. But we think muffins can be packed full of nutrient-dense ingredients… and still taste great! Muffins should be something that wouldn’t make you feel bad if you ate them for breakfast or as a snack, but sweet enough to be a bit. These healthy pumpkin muffins are the result of that balance. They’re light enough to be considered nutritious, but not so virtuous that you just want a bite. Here’s what makes these muffins healthy:
- Just sweet enough. These healthy pumpkin muffins have just enough sugar. The muffins are sweetened with maple syrup, which provides a gentler sweetness than refined sugar. Then the sprinkles topping adds that last bit of sweetness to satisfy.
- Less than 200 calories. We don’t count calories, but it’s a good quick test to know if something’s too much. These weigh less than 200 calories.
- Nutritious ingredients. These muffins are balanced in butter and sugar with heart-healthy oats, applesauce and pumpkin puree.
How to store pumpkin muffins
One final note on these pumpkin muffins before we get to the recipe. What’s the best way to store muffins so the filling stays crispy? That’s a good question, as the texture of the sprinkles can get mushy depending on how it’s stored. Here are a few tips:
- Once: Place the muffins on a wire rack and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. This keeps the crispy topping of the crumbles intact.
- Up to 4 days: To store them for up to 4 days, place a paper towel in the bottom of a sealed container, then place the muffins in and line a paper towel on top. Paper towels will absorb moisture that rises to the top of the muffins and help keep the toppings crisp.
- More than 4 days: Freeze these pumpkin muffins in an airtight container for longer than 4 days and store for up to 3 months.
Variation: Make them vegan!
This recipe easily turns into vegan pumpkin muffins! All you have to do is replace the coconut oil with butter. Here are some notes:
- In the muffin batteruse melted coconut oil.
- In the sprinklesUse coconut oil at room temperature for a crumbly crunch.
Another vegan muffin idea? Try these vegan apple crumble muffins based on the same concept but with apples!
More muffin recipes
Here are some other muffin recipes we think you’ll enjoy:
This pumpkin muffin recipe is…
Vegetarian. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free foods, use coconut oil (see below).
The description
Everyone loves this pumpkin muffin recipe! Bake a batch for the best fluffy interior and crispy streusel topping.
- 1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- ¾ cup Oatmeal, divided
- 1 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, divided
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (use melted coconut oil for vegans)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup turbo sugar*
- ¼ cup salted butter, cold and cut into small pieces (use room temperature coconut oil for vegans)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup rolled oats, and 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice with the baking soda, baking soda, and kosher salt.
- In another bowl, combine pumpkin puree, maple syrup, applesauce, unsalted butter (melted), and vanilla.
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir until a smooth paste forms.
- In another medium bowl, add the remaining ¼ cup rolled oats, 2 Tbsp flour, and 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice along with the turbinado sugar and salted butter (cut into small pieces). Using a pastry blender or fork, fold the butter into the remaining ingredients until a crumble topping forms.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cases and sprinkle with a thin layer of crumble.
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and place on a cooling rack.
Remarks
*Turbinado sugar has large granules that make for a delicious crunch! If you can’t find it, you can substitute the brown sugar.
- Category: muffins
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: American
- Diet: vegetarian
Keywords: Pumpkin Muffins, Healthy Pumpkin Muffins, Easy Pumpkin Muffins, Best Pumpkin Muffins
