Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Easy, healthy pumpkin muffins made with whole grains, natural sweetener (maple syrup) and real pumpkin! These muffins are fluffy and delicious.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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We caught our first cool fall breeze this week. Do you know what that means? It’s pumpkin muffin time.
I snapped some new photos of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe as I satisfied my pumpkin craving. These pumpkin muffins are perfect for chilly fall mornings and afternoon snacks.
They’re healthier than most, since they’re made with whole wheat flour and oats, sweetened with real maple syrup or honey, and call for coconut oil or olive oil instead of butter. Believe it or not, this healthy pumpkin muffin recipe yields light and fluffy muffins.
These pumpkin muffins wouldn’t be complete without plenty of warming spices, including cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Most “pumpkin spice” flavor comes from the spice, not the pumpkin!
I love these muffins with a spread of almond butter, peanut butter or pecan butter on top. Nut butter adds some extra protein, which means that I’m not hungry before lunchtime. If you’re going pumpkin-crazy this time of year, enjoy your muffin with a homemade pumpkin chai latte.
These pumpkin treats have the magical power to convert “healthy muffin” skeptics into fans. Let’s make some!
The Best Pumpkin Muffins
Five reasons to love this pumpkin muffin recipe:
- These muffins are easy to make with basic ingredients. Only one bowl required!
- They’re made with 100% whole grains, yet they’re fluffy and delicious. No one will know the difference.
- They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, rather than loaded with refined sugar. The maple syrup (or honey) offers a touch of extra flavor, which I love.
- These muffins feature a few of your favorite warming spices so they taste like your favorite pumpkin latte.
- They freeze well for later, too. Just defrost individual muffins in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, or until gently warmed through. You don’t want to overdo it.
Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Notes & Tips
Change it up. Add nuts, chocolate chips or chopped fruit cranberries or crystallized ginger. See recipe notes for details.
Simplify the recipe. Substitute 2 teaspoons store-bought pumpkin spice blend for the individual spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice). Or, if your spice drawer is empty, simply use 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and call it good.
Craving a sweet topping? Liz topped these muffins with my maple glaze from my pumpkin scones recipe, which sounds marvelous.
This muffin recipe is special diet-friendly. You can easily adjust this recipe to make it vegan, dairy free, egg free and/or gluten free. See the recipe notes for details.
Watch How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Baking Tips for Success
How to Measure Flour
How you measure your flour is important. Why? If you measure incorrectly, you could end up with up to 50 percent extra flour, which will make your muffins dense, dry and flavorless. Use the spoon and swoop method:
- Gently stir your flour to loosen any clumps.
- Spoon your flour into the measuring cup with a big spoon or a flour scoop. Do not scoop up the flour directly into the measuring cup.
- Level off the top of the cup with a knife. Repeat as necessary.
Use Baking Soda, Not Baking Powder
They are not the same thing. Both are leaveners that help your baked goods rise (baking powder contains some baking soda, but that’s a long story). For ideal results, always follow the recipe and measure carefully.
How to Stir Your Batter
This muffin batter is super simple to stir together by hand, and that’s how I recommend making these muffins. Why? Whipping your batter will make the flour’s gluten protein too strong, yielding tough muffins.
I know it can be tempting to use a stand mixer or hand mixer when it’s within reach. Please don’t! Follow the instructions below and you’ll end up with light, fluffy muffins.
More Pumpkin Treats & Fall Muffins
Craving more? You’re going to love these recipes:
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread (like these muffins, but in bread form)
- Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Healthy Banana Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
Please let me know how these pumpkin muffins turn out for you in the comments. I love hearing from you, and hope these pumpkin muffins become your new favorite.
P.s. That beautiful mug in the photos above and below? That’s handmade by my friend Margaret.
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Easy, one bowl, healthier pumpkin muffins made with whole wheat grains and naturally sweetened! These pumpkin muffins are as light, fluffy and delicious as their coffee shop counterparts. Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk)
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice or cloves)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour**
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus more for sprinkling on top
- Optional: 2 teaspoons turbinado (raw) sugar for a sweet crunch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs, and beat well. Add the pumpkin purée, milk, pumpkin spice blend, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt.
- Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins***, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with about a tablespoon of oats, followed by a light sprinkle of raw sugar and/or pumpkin spice blend if you’d like. Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. These muffins are delicate until they cool down. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan.
- These muffins taste even better after they have rested for a couple of hours! They’ll keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my healthy pumpkin bread.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Flour alternatives: White whole wheat flour works great, if you can find it. Whole wheat pastry flour yields extra light and fluffy muffins that are delicate until cooled. All-purpose flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour blends work as well.
**Change it up: You could really go crazy with add-ins here. After stirring in the flour and oats, gently fold in up to ¾ cup chocolate chips, chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts, and/or some chopped dried cranberries or crystallized ginger.
Serving suggestions: These muffins are great on their own, with a pat of butter, or spread with almond butter. They would also be fantastic with homemade pecan butter or coconut butter.
Make it egg free: Readers report that these muffins turn out well with flax eggs!
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup, flax eggs and non-dairy milk.
Make it dairy free: Simply use your non-dairy milk of choice.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend works well instead of the whole wheat flour. You could use 2 ½ cups certified gluten-free oat flour instead or follow my recipe for almond flour-based pumpkin muffins.
Make it oat free: Simply omit the oats. No other changes necessary.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet. Choosing olive oil instead of coconut oil will reduce the saturated fat content; total fat content will remain the same.
Update September 24, 2019: I removed white whole wheat flour as an option simply because I can’t find it in stores any more. I also upped the amount of spice from 1 ½ teaspoons to 2 teaspoons.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Delicious! Found these on a google whim. Had everything in the cupboard to make them so I went for it. I added an extra tsp of the pumpkin pie spice blend, a handful of raisons, choc chips and a store bought pumpkin seed mix. Turned out awesome!!!’n
Wonderful, Catherine!
These are great! What are the nutritional facts?
Hi David! Sorry for the frustration, but we are working through a bug to fix so they aren’t currently populating now. I hope to have them working again soon!
Recommendations for high elevation? I live in Denver
Sorry, I don’t have much experience. But you could see what has worked for other readers by searching through the comments!
Increase your liquid by 2 to 4 tablespoons. and increase your oven temperature by 15 to 25 degrees.I usually go the lower temp first ti see how that works for the recipe, especially on muffins or cupcakes and check a few minutes before listed time. I usually use the higher temp for yeast breads. I haven’t tried this recipe yet so can’t give you anything more specific.
This recipe is fantastic! I added crystallized ginger chips and I love how they taste. Texture is perfect. Thanks for making me seem like a baker!
Thank you for sharing your variation, Michele! Thanks for your review.
Hi Kate. I have attempted to make these muffins twice now and both times I’m left with undercooked muffins. I love your apple muffin recipe, so I’m bummed that this one isn’t turning out so good. I cook in C. Atty first i tried your suggested 165C but they were undercooked. Did I increased to 185C for 15-17 min but I got similar results. Hard crust and undercooked inside. Any tips?
Hi Audrey, I’m sorry to hear that! What type of muffin tin are you using? Here are a few thoughts, your oven temperature might be off, possibly filling the cups too full or adding too much of a wet ingredient. Let me know!
I made these muffins for the first time this week and I’m already super hooked! I used a combination of white and whole wheat flours and protein powder, which can often lead to dry, crumbly muffins but these are not only super moist but also really flavourful and absolutely delicious. Going out this afternoon to buy more pumpkin to make another batch!
Hooray! I love it, Susannah. Thanks for your review.
These muffins are def more healthy than others- pretty much not sweet at all. More like a pumpkin bread in my opinion. Which is good for me and my husband, but my son refused to eat them lol. I may make these again with a bit more honey next time.
Sorry you didn’t love it. I appreciate your review!
I used a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flours but otherwise left the recipe the same. We also didn’t have a muffin tin so I baked it in a larger pan. They came out super dense but otherwise tasted fine, any insight as to what might’ve went wrong?
Hi Lucile! I’m sorry you didn’t have a great result. Mixing the flours would likely impact your result as may require more leavener and also baking in a larger pan. Next time, possibly try my pumpkin bread!
I made a bunch of pumpkin puree with an extra pumpkin from Halloween, and it was great in these muffins. I made them in the air fryer, so I had to tweak the temp and time, but they still came out wonderfully moist. My kids eat these too, so I love that the recipe uses honey as a sweetener. Thanks!
I used this as a cookie dough. Let sit for 10 minutes or so to firm up, used cookie scoop, dipped in a little turbinado sugar for crunch, smoosh it down because it won’t really spread, then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. They are great!!!
Thanks for sharing! That is interesting, but happy they worked for you.
I’ve made this recipe many times now and they are such a reliable, healthy-ish option for pumpkin muffins! I usually double the spices plus a dash of cardamon, and let the batter sans flour/baking soda rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour. I find this really infuses the batter with the flavor of the spices. I mix in the baking soda/flour right before I plop everything in muffin tins.
I’m happy you loved it, Sange! Thank you for your review.
Such a great recipe! I subbed ground almonds for 1/2 of the flour and they turned out great! I baked them for 5 extra minutes and they turned out super light, moist, and fluffy. Yum!
New to your recipes and sooooo in love! Do you have a trader Joe’s in your area? They sell white whole wheat flour. Can’t wait to try this as we are enjoying this new flour type!
Hi Caroline! I do, but wasn’t able to find any when I was there.
So easy to make. I think this is a pretty forgiving recipe and possibly could use ripe banana instead of pumpkin or even cooked apples. Eager to try out a few varieties. I like that there is nothing too highly processed and not too sweet as many recipes call for copious amounts of sugar.
Thanks for sharing! I’m happy you enjoyed it, Ruth.
Hello Kate….. I am a big fan and usually go to your website when I’m looking for a new recipe, and I’ve never
been disappointed in the results.
I’m going to make your pumpkin muffin recipe for a brunch this week, and want to make them in my mini muffin tray (probably 2 bites per muffin). I’ve never made muffins this size and wonder how long I should bake them.
Many thanks, Janice
Hi Janice! Bake them for half the time, checking on them to make sure they don’t get overdone.
My family (with 6 kids) decided to do a year of not eating treats or anything with more than 3 grams of sugar (not including natural sweeteners like fruit, honey, and maple syrup) or artificial sweeteners. It forced us to seek out new recipes for snacks and desserts. These pumpkin muffins were a staple and have continued to be so. We quadruple the recipe and the muffins are devoured. They were also used as our “birthday cakes” with homemade whipped cream on top. Thank you for all of your hard work so you could get to a point where you can share so many healthy, delicious recipes. My next challenge involves eating more vegetables, so I’ve found myself once again on your site! Again, thank you so much for sharing your gift with the world!
I️ love this recipe as much as I️ love your Healthy Banana Bread, which is a weekly staple in my house. I️ have made it in a bread pan and as muffins. Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour works great. Thanks for the wonderful recipes.
These were lovely! I toasted and puréed my own pumpkin the other day and was looking for a healthier alternative than a “pumpkin muffin” recipe that’s basically just cupcakes disguised as a muffin.. I decided to give these a go, and neither myself nor my husband were disappointed!
I love that they aren’t very sweet. A nice weekend breakfast treat for sure!
Thank you for sharing, Tessa! I’m happy you were’t disappointed.
I’ve been making these for the last several years as breakfast once a month or so. We make the olive oil/maple syrup/whole wheat flour option without any mix-ins, although I do stir the oats in instead of putting them on top. My kids ask for them often! I love them for how healthy they are. I’ve found that the kids like it best if I sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar on top of each one before I bake them. Thanks for a great recipe!
Made these muffins more than once and always love them. The taste, the sweetness, and the texture are just right! They are very delicious, not bland at all! Definitely keeping this recipe.
P.S. I love your recipes in general because they are easy to follow and most importantly, they are healthy.
Plan to try these tonight. Thanks for all your notes. King Arthur makes a white whole wheat flour I find right in the grocery store. Sorry it is not available where you are.
Made these in full and mini-muffin sizes. Added 3/4 chocolate chips. Baked the regular size for 22 minutes and the minis for 13 minutes. Topped with maple glaze and the family, including my picky littles, gobbled them up! Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing, Luu!
These muffins were AMAZING! I followed the recipe (used coconut oil and all whole wheat flour). I did add mini chocolate chips and baked in a mini muffin pan reducing the bake time to 13 minutes. They puffed up beautifully and were very moist and flavorful. I also opted to use honey (not maple syrup). Everyone is asking for more! Definitely a keeper!
I’m glad you loved them!
These muffins are really good and my kids liked them too! I didn’t have regular whole wheat flour so I used rye flour instead.
Loved these! They’re my new favorites! I did tweak the recipe a little by using half all purpose flour and half whole oats, a 15 oz can of pumpkin, an extra teaspoon of cinnamon, and I added some pecans. Other than that, I followed the recipe as posted. They came out wonderfully moist and satisfyingly dense. Love the taste and the texture. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing, Liz!
i made these last week and LOVED them. added extra dark chocolate chips… yumm!! made them again just now and used homemade applesauce instead of oil, and lessened the honey (cuz the sauce has some) and am excited to try these!!
Thanks for sharing, Diana!
I have made this recipe numerous times! I use whole wheat flour and add dark chocolate chips. Sometimes I add the dried cranberries. I will start using the chopped fresh cranberries to cut back on the sugar. I also like to put almond butter on top when eating them! Delicious!!!
I love your creativity, Jan! Thanks for sharing.
I love this recipe! I followed this recipe but I put a splash of milk and 1/4 cup Greek yogurt it made the muffin nice and moist I couldn’t have just one and I made cinnamon honey butter to spread on this delicious muffin!
These muffins are delicious! I used white flour because I had it on hand, honey to sweeten and added chopped walnuts. Sooooo good!
Could you use almond flour in these?
Hi Kelly! Almond flour doesn’t typically work well as a 1:1 substitute. I do know Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour works well if you need these to be gluten free.
The finished muffins are delicious, but making them was a nightmare! The melted coconut oil started to congeal as soon as I added the maple syrup (probably because it was cold). No amount of mixing, even with an electric mixer, could eliminate the hunks of oil.
I made these and they were perfect. Thank you for this recipe, it has been added to my favorite list.
You’re welcome, Diana!
White Whole Wheat flour
These are my new favorite muffins! I made my own pumpkin puree and used spelt wholemeal flour. They turned out delicious!
Happy to hear that, Tina! Thank you.
Four stars for flavor and method…but with my substitution of applesauce for oil and use of maple syrup the muffins not only came out of the oven a bit gummy, but after storing in air-tight container…got more sticky. I used whole wheat pastry flour, measured carefully.
I added ginger chips & walnuts which worked well insofar as taste is concerned.
Any ideas why?
Hi Laurie, I’m sorry to hear that! I wonder if your applesauce is a little more watery.
I worked with the recipe again the next day to replace the applesauce with butter and replace the WW pastry flour with King Arthur flour and the result was excellent. I also replaced plain milk with buttermilk. This time I had no problems with the tops of the muffins becoming gummy.
As with the first batch, the inside was light, perfect and tasty. The tops did not become gummy when I put the new batch into an airtight container.
Thank you for sharing, Laurie!
I used 1/4 of a cup of agave to replace the honey and 2 Tbs of brown sugar. I put raisins in it. And instead of canned pumpkin I used fresh pumpkin puree. For the oats on top I put about a Tbs of agave and pumpkin spice to taste and it worked great! This recipe was right up my ally, I’m always tweaking recipes to make them healthier. I use coconut oil in EVERYTHING, and am always halving the sugar.
Thank you for sharing!
OMG!! So heavenly
So easy to make and tastes so so good.
I didn’t have any maple syrup so I substituted with a combination of date honey/syrup and regular honey.
I used cow’s milk (and let’s not tell anyone that I skipped the pumpkin spice blend because I didn’t have…)
Thank you so much for this recipe Kathryne.
Thanks for sharing your variation, Becky!
Definitely the best of all !!
Thank you, Andree-Anne!
SUCH a good recipe! Perfect amount of pumpkin and not too sweet which I like! Added a little extra spice and they were perfect! Thanks Kate for another great recipe!!
You’re welcome, Tessa! I’m happy you enjoyed them.
Sorry, I have to agree with those who found the muffins bland. Not enough flavor or sweetener.
I’m sorry to hear that! What brand of pumpkin did you use?
I love these muffins! If I were to bake in a loaf pan, how long do you think it would need to cook?
I’ve just finished a batch as a Christmas treat for my son! I make them exactly as your recipe says to, and they are moist and delicious every time. Thanks for creating healthy, yummy recipes that still feel like you’re getting a real treat!!
very good. I added some chocolate chips and used less sweetener.
How many carbs in this muffin recipe?
Hi Shirley! The nutrition information is below the recipe notes. You need to click to expand and ensure you allow cookies in your browser.
My husband and I made the Healthy Pumpkin Muffins together. We used Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour, olive oil, maple syrup and folded in 1/2 C. chopped pecans and 1/4 C. raisins. We were good kids and allowed the muffins to rest several hours, to cool down in the tin then moved in their paper baking cups to a wire rack. They were perfect! Tender, light and calmly yummy. Using a few simple searches and basic math I assigned 170 calories per muffin. Thank you Kate, I love your recipes!
Thank you for sharing, Nadenia! I’m glad this worked out perfect for your changes.
Hello ,
Lovely vegetarian recipes ! I would like to know when you say a cup, what is the measurement in grams or size of your cup?
Usha
Canada
Hi Usha! I use US standard measurements. I don’t provide gram measurements, yet. Sorry!
I love these muffins! They’re great to keep in the freezer for a quick breakfast or snack. I’d like to make small muffins and I’m wondering if you have tried this. Would the oven temperature be the same? How long would I bake them?
Thank you so much for the recipe!
A great snack to have on hand! Thanks for your review, Kelly.
How long should I bake these for small muffins? What temperature?
Thanks!
These are quite yummy! I substituted King Arthur’s Gluten Free flour cup for cup and everything turned out well. I also used maple syrup and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. We gobbled up the first batch with glee and have another dozen in the oven right now. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
You’re welcome, Raerae!
I made this recipe today and unfortunately it did not turn out. The batter was so dry & crumbly! I went ahead and baked it in the muffin tin but it didn’t do much. Cannot figure out what went wrong.
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that, Rebecca. Did you add the liquid?
Yes, I used Almond milk & even added a bit more. I’m guessing it was the flour I used. I used Coconut flour. All the other ingredients were the same as the recipe.
So good and they freeze so well!