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 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
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.
My picky eater loved them. I used melted butter instead of vegetable oil and added allergy friendly chocolate chips. Great to send for school lunches/snacks. Thank you! Any idea on nutritional info/calories?
Hi Ina! 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 made these last night, they are certainly the BEST pumpkin muffin I have ever made. They easily are made GF. I have celiac and all I did was use Bob Mills 1 for 1 All Purpose GF Flour and they were amazing! This is one I will be making again this weekend. Husband and I both had 2 last night right after I made them.
Thank God you told everyone you have Celiac LOL
Subbed the oil for 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup melted butter. Soooo good. My daughters couldn’t get enough! Great for mini muffins, too.
Delicious as always! I plan to make these again with golden raisins added.
Question: with my first batch, I sprinkled turninado sugar over the tops. It was crunchy the first day but the leftover muffins got soggy tops. I stored them in an airtight container on the counter. Any ideas on keeping the crunch? Besides eating them all in one sitting 🙂
Hi Barbie! So glad you love them. Condensation is bound to form on these super-moist muffins when stored. You can leave a corner of your container open to prevent them from getting too wet.
My 4 year old picked out a can of pumpkin at the grocery store, so I knew I needed to find something to do with it. Then I saw this post, perfect! It made 48 mini muffins for us. I made them Friday after work, and by Sunday night, there were only 6 left! We brought them to a play-date over the weekend, and they were promptly devoured by: 2 4 year olds, a 6 year old, and a 8 year old. SCORE! I added about 3/4c mini chocolate chips, and swapped out 1/4c of the oil for Greek yogurt.
Just took my second batch out of the oven. My husband has already eaten 2 of them and said “This tastes like fall!” They are so moist and nice high tops. Perfect recipe like always! Thanks again Sally,
Taste is amazing, super moist and I love all of your recipes, but for some reason they stuck to the cupcake liners this time around! 🙁 any ideas why?
Hi Jacqueline, they will stick when the pumpkin muffins are still very warm. (Usually the case with all muffin or cupcake recipes.) If you let them cool a little longer, they shouldn’t stick any more.
I would like to bake these to pack with my kids school lunch. They like muffins more on the sweeter side. Would I be able to increase the sugar amount in this recipe?!
Hi Rania, these are definitely sweet. If you want to use more sugar, use 1/2 cup brown sugar (100g) with the 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g).
We loved it Sally. Thanx a lot
Could I skip the eggs and compensate by using a whole can of pumpkin puree instead? I’d love some advice or suggestions on that; thanks!
Hi J, while I haven’t tested it, you could certainly try. Pumpkin is a bit heavier than an egg but it’s usually a solid swap. So is unsweetened applesauce if you want to try that. Again, I have not tested these options. Let me know if you do!
These were so delicious!! Very moist and flavorful. I had leftover oat streusel in the freezer, so used this as a topping. I also added 1t vanilla extract to wet ingredients, and let batter rest for 10min to allow ingredients to fully incorporate before filling muffin cups..
Hi Sally,
LOVE all of your recipes!
I would prefer baking these Simply Pumpkin Muffins in mini loaf pans.
How long would I have to bake it for?
Thanks,
Marie
Hi Maria! You can bake this muffin recipe or our pumpkin bread recipe in mini loaves. We’re unsure of the exact bake time as mini loaf sizes vary.
I baked these for breakfast this morning. They were so quick and easy. The muffins look gorgeous with the high dome. They are so incredibly delicious. We loved them! I would definitely make these again!
Tremendous. I’m diabetic so I changed a couple things; used stevia (white and brown) and subbed 3/4 cup whole wheat flour. Also added 1/2 cup each toasted pecans and SF chocolate chips. These have great flavor and texture. Baked exactly as noted, nice high top muffins.
I made these a couple days ago and they were great! Would it also work to substitute mashed sweet potato for the pumpkin?
I can’t see why not!
Made these yesterday afternoon! My toddler wanted to bake and these seemed easy enough. Plus we had all the ingredients. They’re so good! We added half a cup of white chocolate chips and half a cup of pecans.
Came out fine. Thank you.
Should the pumpkin be strained for this recipe?
Hi Kare, no need to blot for this recipe, but if you’re using homemade puree that seems especially watery, you can gently blot out some of the moisture.
Hi Sally! This looks delicious! Can I substitute the APF with Almond flour instead? Thanks!
Hi Kristen! We don’t recommend it. Almond flour has very different baking properties than all purpose flour and isn’t always a 1:1 swap. You could try a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour like Cup4Cup, but we’re unsure of the results. Although some readers report using an all-purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour in many of my recipes with success, you should expect slightly different results anytime you substitute ingredients. Let us know what you try!
Delicious! Reduced white sugar to 1/3 c, kept brown sugar as written. We don’t keep pumpkin pie spice in the house, so used 1/4 tsp of each spice. Added 2/3 c chocolate chips, and that was plenty. 1 cup would have been too much for us. Definitely a repeat recipe!
Can I use whole wheat flour? What would the ratio of white to whole wheat be?
Hi Jenn, you could use whole wheat flour (same amount, or you could try half whole wheat and half all purpose), but expect a denser muffin. We actually have a separate recipe for whole wheat mini pumpkin muffins that you could make regular sized as well.
Hi Sally: I just made these muffins this afternoon and they are delicious! and so easy and fast to make. I’ve made them with crumbs and chocolate chips but love the sparkling sugar crunch. I’ll make the other ones as the autumn season progresses. Thank you again for another incredible recipe. They will go well with coffee when we visit Cherie on Friday! Kathy
Hello Sally,
Where I live, we don’t have the canned pumpkin puree. My option is: to cook the pumpkin and make the puree. In that case how much of it should I add to the recipe?
I look forward to your reply.
Hi Maria, if using homemade pumpkin puree, you can use the same amount.
Delicious. Easy and fun to make. I have made several dozen loaves of your pumpkin bread. The biggest request Is chocolate chips please. There is something about chocolate and pumpkin. It just works beautifully! I tried these muffins with mini chocolate chips. My hubby already had three! I added a little coarse sugar to the tops. I love that crunch! I would make pumpkin recipes all you round. I simply just love it! This was a perfect muffin recipe that you can add nuts or cranberries. My daughter thought golden raisins would work too. Or just a good handful off chocolate chips! Thanks Sally!
Why do you mix the sugars with the wet ingredients instead of the dry?
Hi Bruce, the sugars, especially the brown sugar, can begin to dissolve when mixing with the wet ingredients—they just incorporate easier. Helps rid the brown sugar lumps.
Do you think these would translate well into jumbo muffins? I know not all muffin recipes do, as there isn’t always enough batter. I can’t wait to make these, they are next on my list
Hi Courtney, that should work just fine! This batter will yield about 5 jumbo muffins. You can use the baking time from jumbo blueberry muffins as a guide.
I cannot not wait to break into a can of pumpkin and officially start fall baking with this recipe. I find all your muffin recipes to be very reliable and very delicious. I do have to confess, I could not resist celebrating the start of September with a batch of your pumpkin scones…yet another yummy treat.
Thanks Sally!
I used coconut sugar in the place of granulated sugar and they tasted fantastic. Everyone at home loves them, from my toddler to my husband.
Can I use GF flour for this recipe? Thank you. You’re recipes are GREAT!
Hi Katherine, I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour so I’m unsure of the exact results. I do have these pumpkin oatmeal cups you may enjoy though! Make sure the oats you use are certified gluten free.
Katherine I made these using the same amount as noted but Bob Mills GF All purpose 1 for 1 Flour, they worked perfectly. You will not be disappointed I promise!
I see ginger in the picture of ingredients and in the information above the recipe but not in the recipe itself. Should there be ginger in the recipe and how much?
Yes, 1/4 teaspoon. Thank you Glenna.
I love pumpkin muffins AND your recipes! I’ll be making these soon, but I’ll be adding in mini chocolate chips. They work well in pumpkin recipes!!
I made a double batch of these on the weekend and they were amazing! And did not last long in our house. I also added a crumble on top to some of the muffins, only because I had some left from another recipe I made right before.
Sally for the muffins , don’t you bake them at 425 for 5 minutes first then 350 for the rest of the time ? All the muffin recipe I’ve seen use this temperature. Thanks
Yes, I do that now! I will be updating these instructions today.
I just made these this morning — I did 24 mini so my niece could take some on airplane flight — had enough batter left over for 2 jumbos in a second baking. I’m not frosting them — they are great unfrosted. Many thanks for the easy, tasty muffins!