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
When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more
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.
These were delicious and I love the various options. It’s apple season here and I have made lots of apple sauce (using your recipe Kate, also delicious) so as you mentioned, I used that instead of oil and added chopped walnuts. The only other thing I did differently was to substitute Uncle Toby’s Ancient Grains for the oats. That cereal is a mixture of oats, millet, rye and quinoa and I nearly always use it instead of oats with total success. Pumpkin was cooked and puréed by me as I don’t think the tinned variety is easily available in Australia. Thanks Kate for the recipe. Love it.
Made these pumpkin muffins for a healthy treat. I used regular flour and instant oats ground up since I didn’t have any wheat flour. I used the maple syrup which added just the right amount of sweetness. I added a handful of chocolate and peanut butter chips. They were so moist and delicious!
This was a great recipe. I used 1/2 maple syrup and 1/2 honey and did the same with the oil…1/2 olive oil and 1/2 coconut oil. Everything else I followed to the exact. On top I used the oat sprinkles and topped with corse brown sugar and pumpkin seeds. I love the taste and the texture. They are not too heavy. They are not too sweet. A perfect muffin for my type 2 diabetic husband. Will definitely make again. Ps I used ED Smith pumpkin puree( plain no spice)
Wanda
These turned out just like I wanted them to!
I used flax eggs, added two shredded carrots, eliminated the milk (because I figured the moisture in the carrots would make up for it),and also added some raisins. I cooked them a few minutes longer.
I love all your recipes–thank you for providing healthy recipes and suggested adaptations for dietary preferences.
These muffins came out AMAZING!! I substituted the oil for apple sauce and am blown away. As stated in the recipe, they taste even better the next day (especially with some peanut butter). This is a new staple in my baking repertoire, in fact I’m making them again right now!
Trying the pumpkin muffins had to srbstitute the eggs with apple sauce baking soda and apple cyber vinegar I will let you know how they turned out
I stumbled on all your great muffin recipes looking for a healthier banana bread recipe. Now I’m obsessed with making muffins every day, freezing them, and giving them to friends. My favorite might be the Superhero muffins, but the pumpkin and banana are also great, as are the strawberry! I love that they are whole grain, naturally sweetened, not as sweet, and lower in fat. It’s nice to find something I feel good about baking and eating. Many thanks! I’ll be trying new ones next week.
Thank you for sharing, Amy! I’m happy to hear you are loving them.
I used grapeseed oil. I also ground the flour out of hard red winter wheat berries. These muffins are superb! I used honey.I also put raisins in too.
These were amazing!
I used wholemeal spelt flour and replaced the oil with apple sauce with a 1:1 ratio.
The apple sauce I have is chunky so you get the occasionnaly chunk of apple in the muffins! So good!
I used apple sauce instead of oil to dramatically reduce the calorie content and they came to 110 calories per muffin from a batch of 12!
It helps that I also reduced the honey amount to 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 due to the extra sweetness from the apple sauce.
I also omitted the milk as the consistency was perfect without it.
Super happy and sweetly satisfying. Thank you!
After trying your healthy carrot muffins I baked these yesterday… delicious start to my day for breakfast with a coffee. Both flavours make a great breaky or afternoon snack and now I can’t wait to try the apple muffins. Thank you for sharing your delicious guilt free recipes
I’m glad you enjoy them, Emily! Thank you for your review.
These were SO good. I will admit I expected them to be a little sweeter than they were, and they were a little bland at first, but after a couple bites the flavor really exploded in your mouth. I used honey, but maybe the maple syrup would have made it sweeter. I’m definitely willing to sacrifice some sweetness for this healthier version. SO good!!
If you do want them to be sweet and you’re using honey, I would definitely recommend adding more honey. Makes it a little less healthy but sweeter if you prefer that.
I’m glad you ended up loving them! You could always add some more seasoning next time, if you like. Thanks for your review!
Simple and delicious! It’s not “pumpkin season” but I love pumpkin year round. I added dried cranberries and walnuts and sprinkled a touch of brown sugar on top. These muffins are not overly sweet (which I love) and the cranberries add an extra little touch of sweetness. Definitely will make a again! (Will post on IG too so you get the credit!)
I love it! Thank you for your review, Kirstin.
I made these muffins with flax eggs and they turned out good.
Thank you Kate.
How do you think avocado oil would work in these as a sub?
You could try it! It should work, although I haven’t tried it in this application. Let me know how it works for you, Amber.
Made this gluten free (cup 4 cup flour) for our grand daughter. EVERYONE loved them. Loved them so much they doubled the recipe (such a great option button BTW) and our Celiac adult kiddo took half home! (I used the 1/2 C honey) option.
I made these muffins last week and they were delicious! I’m going to make them again today!
Could you make this into a loaf of pumpkin bread? If so, what would need to be altered, if anything.
Hi! I would recommend my pumpkin bread instead.
It’s cold here in South America! Perfect time to bake.
These muffins were a huge hit with the American crowd (especially since I added carefully guarded Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips from the US :-)
I just made these; I had some left over pumpkin… so i cut the recipe in half!
I used all oat flour (made myself)… Delicious!!!
I ate one right out of the oven sooo good!!
I will make this recipe again and again!
This is a great recipe!! Turned out light and fluffy despite being whole wheat – a first time for me!
I’m glad you were pleasantly surprise, Anisha! Thank you for your review.
My favorite pumpkin recipe. They are super healthy and easy to make, the oats on the top add a good texture. I added a little bit of cinnamon sugar and butter to the top for extra flavor. For me it made closer to two dozen muffins (in a regular medium sized muffin tin). I was feeling adventurous so I pipped some of the batter into donuts. It worked AMAZINGLY (I added butter and rolled them in cinnamon sugar.) It’s a great recipe and my muffins turned out delicious, definitely worth making.
That sounds like a delicious addition, Grace! Thank you for sharing.
Delicious. Nice to eat warm and delicious the next day. Will keep well for a few days. I use whole-wheat spelt flour with a dash more milk. Maple syrup and coconut oil.
I wish this recipe was available in Metric or Imperial measurements rather than US cups. Every think it’s just much simpler in pounds and ounces/ grams in kilos.
Perfection! Had my nephew in for the week and had to make a batch every 2 days because he was popping them all day long!
I really wanted to like these but they were horrible! Followed the recipe exactly using the maple syrup.
Hi my partner and I are vacationing in New York’s Catskills mountains where healthy. ingredients are in short supply. I happened to bring a bag of Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour with me but was short of the required amount so I used extra oatmeal. We used NY maple syrup and threw in some raisins and topped the muffins with turninado sugar. A bit chewy with all the oatmeal but yummy! My partner suggests doubling the spices next time which we’ll try. Thanks for the fun recipe!
I’ve tried so many pumpkin muffin recipes, and this is one of the best! I added chocolate chips to the batter, and the muffins turned out delicious.
Made these today using fresh roasted pumpkin. Also used lakanto sugar-free maple syrup. My very picky husband liked it, which says a lot!! My only comment is that it tasted a bit too salty, will add less salt next time! Thanks!!
I’m trying to get my girl to get more protein. Do you know how I could add chickpeas to this?
Hi Nicole! I’m not sure about adding chickpeas. You can serve this with a nut butter that has more protein.
This recipe doesn’t specify the size of the pumpkin puree can! Is it the 796mL can or the smaller one??
I love everything pumpkin and I look forward to trying these healthy muffins!
Thx!
Hi Cathy, I’m sorry you are frustrated. It does specify as it calls for 1 cup pumpkin purée – US standard measuring. It’s the 4th ingredient listed. I hope this helps!
Hi there,
loveyour healthy recipes. i made the above with homemade pumpkin puree and lil changes like i increased the oil from 1/3 to 1/2, left out the oats, as i had none, and milk coz the consistency was right, i felt..and it turned out moist and sweet enuf… oh did i mention i put in 60%bitter sweet chocolate chips;)
i increased the oil as i had made your healthy blueberry muffins & banana bread & found them lil too dry. Thank you for sharing you recipes & looking forward to more of ’em…. Susan
Hi, I made these today and they were delicious and moist. I used the coconut oil, whole wheat pastry flour, 1% milk, fresh baked pumpkin, and honey. I added mini chocolate chips. I love chocolate but these muffins were so good, I actually wish I left the choc. chips out. I made half with the turbinado sugar and spices on top, but the muffins really did not need anything on top. Truly, in this case, I think less is better. I didn’t even think they needed butter on them. I will definitely make these again.
Omg this recipe is Devine! Thank you! Mine turned out so great, moist & tasty. I used maple syrup & all purpose flour because that’s all I had. I also roasted pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin I used & sprinkled salt on it for roasting, then I sprinkled my muffins with them & also topped with a small pinch of cinnamon sugar. Yummy. Oh I also roasted my pumpkin in the oven, then blended because I didn’t have canned pumpkin. I was also heavy on the spices. So happy with this.
I just made these today, very good! I left them in for 25 minutes just a little too long for our oven. The chocolate chips were a nice touch.
My 2 year old loves these muffins!! I followed the recipe but left out the sprinkling of oats and sugar. I made mini muffins, used paper liners, and baked for 13 minutes. No issues with the muffins detaching from the liners. Thank you for the delicious recipe!!
Beautiful website! Will make pumpkin muffins, love all the Alternative ingredients you Provide.
LOVE these!! so moist, and not bland at all. Love the spice blend. Perfect consistency! Always always love your recipes!
Thank you, Kate!! This is a fantastic recipe! I subbed the honey/maple syrup for a half cup of unsweetened applesauce and added raisins as you suggested. They turned out amazing! They even come off of the paper lining with zero stickiness. My family – my husband and 4 teenagers – loved them!! Perfect for back to school. Thank you again!
Can I blend the oats to use oat flour for the muffins?
Hi Yasmeen! I haven’t tried it with this, but I think it could work. Checkout my oat flour post on how to change out for wheat flour.
These are soooo good! Used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and went with coconut oil / honey. Added 1/3 cup sunflower seeds to the batter. These muffins are tender, slightly sweet and warmly spicy. I’ll surely make these again.
I’m glad you loved them! Thank you for your review, Heidi.
I followed the directions and paid extra attention to how I measured and handled the flour and these muffins came out SO moist and perfectly textured! Also, I noticed some people commented on the flavor being “bland” and I didn’t want to change the recipe too much so I for the more customizable ingredients I used olive oil, honey, 2% milk. Then for the topping, I added the rolled oats, pumpkin spice, and a little light brown sugar which I believe really elevated the flavor :) anyways I love this recipe! Delicious!
Made this with my children. 6 and 4. They loved helping mix the batter and pouring them into the muffin cups. They taste amazing. Great texture. They are a hit! Thanks for this recipe.
Made these this morning, hearty and delicious! They’re not overly sweet, and are nice and moist. I added some dried cranberries and used all purpose flour because it’s what I had on hand, but I’m excited to try whole wheat. Thanks for this recipe, it is exactly what I was looking for.
You’re welcome, Rachel! Thank you for sharing.
Wow. I’ve made these a couple times now, and they’re AMAZING.
I used coconut oil. I replaced one of the eggs with a chia seed “egg”. Then I used about half gluten-free flour blend and half plain brown rice flour.
For the spices, I just threw in what I thought was good. It was about the same as what you put down, except I was out of nutmeg and added both allspice AND cloves.
We used some of the batter for quick microwave muffins, and the last time I tried this recipe I actually baked it in a loaf pan (my muffin tin was dirty). I added more bake time, of course.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! It may be the best pumpkin muffin recipe I’ve ever tried.
Added 2 tblso apple sauce for flavor and moistness. Crainsins& walnuts also delicious crunch and color .
All of your muffin recipes are amazing and I make them all the time! That is why I thought you should know that this site posted your exact recipe without credit recently (it sounded too familiar).
These were AMAZING. I used applesauce instead of oil because I wanted more fall taste, and slightly reduced the maple syrup to compensate for the increased natural sweetness. They’re fantastic- soft and fluffy, with lots of sweet spice.
I made these muffins yesterday using almond flour as that is what I had on hand and extra virgin olive oil.
These muffins were fabulous. I absolutely loved them and so did my kids. I will definitely make these again.
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
i made these with honey and chopped pecans and they’re absolutely delicious ! i added a vegan cream cheese pumpkin icing nd it adds a great touch.
Hi. Can almond flour be used here?
Hi Andrea! Almond flour doesn’t typically work well as a 1:1 since other ingredients would need to be adjusted creating a new recipe. If you need it to be gluten free, check out how to use oat flour as a replacement instead!