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.
Coffee has become a weekend ritual for me as well. A nice strong cup first thing helps me get into that creative flow to work on my blog. I love the Aeropress btw, you can go with more coffee grinds and get the best espresso ever!
I made these this morning to have for breakfast all week,and they are delicious! I used white whole wheat flour and 2 Tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 1/3 cup water instead of the eggs.Thanks for the recipe!
I have made these 4 times already and they are awesome! The first 2 times I made them with oil in place of coconut oil, and they were really good. The next 2 times I bought some organic coconut oil and they turned out better than I could have imagined. I definitely recommend investing in coconut oil, I found it made a big difference (not sure why) but they are amazing with coconut oil – it makes the texture moist and fluffy!
Thanks for the amazing recipe, love your site!
Thanks, Ana! Glad you’re enjoying the muffins! That’s interesting that the muffins turned out so much better with coconut oil. Good to know! Now I want to try a direct comparison with olive oil.
Oh my goodness these muffins are delicious! Definitely a keeper. I did use buttermilk instead of milk, because I’m located at higher elevation and it helps with the rising. I also added in dried cherries and it was a great combo. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks, Christine! I’m happy you’re enjoying the muffins. Your dried cherry version sounds so good!
Thanks for a recipe that I was proud to serve my son! It was so hard to find a pumpkin muffin without tons of sugar. (I loved it too!)
You’re welcome, Heather! Glad you both enjoyed them. I have some other naturally sweetened muffins/quick bread recipes that you might enjoy over here: https://capital-fly.pro/category/food-recipes/baked-goods/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Thanks for the link! I have banana coconut muffins in the oven and the orange poppy seed bread bookmarked for next week. I’m enjoying browsing through the rest of your blog too. You’ve done such a lovely job with it!
Thanks, Heather! :D
These are AMAZING! I’ve made them twice, once with fresh cranberries – perfection. My housemates and I are very happy to have this recipe in our collection. Thanks, Kate!
Hooray! Thanks, Tenley! Your fresh cranberry version sounds so great.
I made these on a whim after a quick search for a pumpkin oat muffin recipe to use up a scant half can of pumpkin. I had a banana to use, so added that to supplement the pumpkin to make a full cup of “pulp.”
These are great! Tasty, not too sweet, and they rose beautifully with picture perfect tops!
Subs/additions:
added a banana
half honey, half agave
all purpose flour
vegetable oil
These subs were due to using what I had on hand. Thanks for a great recipe that can be flexible – and only one dirty bowl!
These are fantastic! I’ve made them twice within one week-once for breakfast and to go with my pumpkin butternut squash soup and for a school bake sale.
I used canola oil and will add nuts and raisins next time. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks, Laura! :)
These are amazing! I couldn’t believe how moist they were, even with whole wheat flour. I added a swirl of cheesecake in mine (light cream cheese, egg, sugar mixture), and they were better than bakery/coffee shop muffins! I’m about to make my 2nd batch of these this week (this time with raisins instead of the cream cheese mixture.)
Thanks, Natalie! Your cream cheese version sounds divine.
I was SO excited to find this recipe! In my excitement to make them this past weekend, I misread the amount of pumpkin puree, and discovered (much to my relief and delight), that I erred on the side of delicious! I used a 15 oz can of puree, instead of the 1 cup called for in the recipe. When I tasted the batter prior to cooking the muffins, I found it needed to be sweetened a bit more, so I added another ¼ cup maple syrup. Yummy! I have made two batches for my family in 48 hours – a real hit here – thank you! The opinion in our household is that the muffins are tastier using maple syrup as the sweetener, rather than honey. Thanks again for this delicious (and healthy) way to start our morning!
Thanks, Margaret! I’m glad your muffins turned out well! :)
These muffins came out fluffy and moist, yum! This was the perfect recipe for using leftover pumpkin puree, dried cranberries and cream from Thanksgiving. I think I added a little too much baking soda and they have a metallic taste. Leftover cranberry sauce slathered on top solved that problem, lol. Thanks for the muffin recipe!
Thanks, Amy! Glad you enjoyed them! Sorry to hear about the baking soda, I did not notice a metallic aftertaste in my muffins! Cranberry sauce sounds like a great topping, though!
thanks for sharing this recipe. I have some left over pumpkin and i was thinking what to do with them. Thanks a lot! i will try them out, they look delicious!!
Thanks, Annie! Hope your muffins turn out great.
I made these yesterday for my preschooler’s & Kindergartner’s lunchbox today. My oldest was not too eager to try these because I have failed miserably at finding the right pumpkin muffin to match their regular Panera muffin that can be found as a special treat in their Monday lunchbox. So I had to make them for Sunday snack to make sure that they were worthy for Monday lunch.
My youngest told me between mouthfuls that these were ‘really good’ and I got a Hi-five from my oldest son. So I will definitely make these again and again for my muffin loving boys!!!
I loved that these were easy to mix and I didn’t have to pull out my mixer. They smelled wonderful as they cooked too!
Also, I am not a baker/cook by any means but this was easy to follow and turned out wonderfully!
Marcia, thank you! I’m happy to hear that these muffins got your kids’ stamp of approval. Yay!
I have been fruitlessly searching for a healthy muffin recipe to enjoy with my 3 year old son. These muffins are exactly what I’ve been looking for – super moist and full of flavour. My son can’t get enough of them which is better than crackers which is all he seems to want these days. Double score! Also, I used half spelt flour and half home-milled flour and this was the first time my baking wasn’t too dense or crumbly! 5 stars!
I’ve been wanting to make these, but I was wondering whether I should use honey or maple syrup. Does one taste better than the other in this recipe?
They’re both delicious, but I prefer maple syrup in these muffins!
Hey Kate!
I’ve made these 3 or 4 times now – always a hit! I got a tin of chai baking spice as a gift recently. It goes excellent in these muffins – the slight hint of cardamon really compliments the pumpkin flavour. Thanks for the great recipe. Cheers,
Sara
Awesome, I’m glad you are enjoying the muffins! Your chai-spiced version sounds marvelous.
These are great! I wanted some chocolate flavour without adding sweetness of chic chips, so I subbed cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of flour. Turned out wonderfully!
That’s a great idea! Thanks, Tova.
Great recipe. My 3 boys loved them. Didn’t have maple syrup or honey so I just used regular sugar but only used half. Thank you.
Thanks, Andrea! Glad you all enjoyed them.
I have made these muffins three times now and they are so fantastic! I live at 7000ft so I make some changes with flour, milk, and baking soda quantities and they come out so moist! The only other change I make is to cut the maple sugar in half (still so tasty and you can always slather honey on in a pinch!). I also add little pieces of crystallized ginger and pumpkin seeds. They are by far my favorite muffins right now! Thank you!
Oh, love the idea of adding crystallized ginger and pumpkin seeds. Yum.
Just made these pumpkin muffins, replaced eggs with ground flax, I also added a small handful of non-dairy chocolate chips.
Oh my, these are the BEST muffins I have ever made. Thanks
Awesome! Thanks, Linda!
I made these with 1 cup steel cut oats and they turned out delicious! My toddler and I love them in the morning. They probably aren’t as light and fluffy as could be. If I want to keep the 1 cup steel cut oats, do you have any suggestions?
Hmm, I’m not sure! Are you using whole wheat pastry flour? They should be pretty fluffy that way.
No, so I can try that. Ultimately they’re wonderful so we’ll eat them either way! :)
I made these a month ago to use up some fresh pumpkin puree I made and I froze them. I just warmed one up with my coffee and they are still perfect! They are so moist and delicious, and I feel better eating them knowing they are made with good for you ingredients. Thanks, Kate!
Yay, thanks Jill!
I made these and they were AMAZING. I froze half the batch to enjoy for about three weeks and I absolutely loved them. Thank you Kate! :)
Hooray! Thanks, Cindy!
Hi Kate ,
Just made your muffins and they came out great! The only thing I did different was baking the muffins in baking cups. No problems getting them out of the muffin pan this way .
Thanks, Alex!
These are really yummy! Thank you!
Love this recipe! I needed something quick, easy and without refined sugar for my dad. These were moist and yummy with just a subtle hint of sweetness. Also easy to whip together. I added walnuts.
Thank you! Glad to hear it!
Love the recipe! They are super moist and delicious. I didn’t see any nutritional info. Any idea how many calories in a muffin?
I just made these with semi sweet chocolate chips — I doubled the recipe as I freeze for kids lunches. so yummy — thanks!
Awesome, glad they turned out well for you!
Made a batch last night.. Doubled the recipe.. Used half maple syrup and half honey and added some white chocolate chips. AMAZING!
So good that I made another batch this morning, doubled it and used banana instead of pumpkin and chocolate chips.. Another great recipe!
Obviously I have kids and am freezing some but I’ve been making banana loaf for years and this recipe kills my other!
Thank you, Lesley! So glad you’re loving my recipe!
These are delicious! I substituted 1 1/4 cups oat flour + 1/2 cup flaxseed meal for the whole wheat flour just because it was what I had on hand. Then I turned them into mini muffins (baked 10 min) so they are toddler friendly! They are moist and just the right amount of sweet; both my daughter and I are thoroughly enjoying them :)
Thank you, Erica! Glad to hear they turned out with oat flour and flax!
Love your honey banana bread and now will be trying this out. Quick question though – the pumpkin puree is just pureed peeled raw pumpkin right? You dont boil or steam it or anything?
Hi Ekta! I used canned pumpkin puree, which I believe *is* cooked beforehand. Here’s a recipe for it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pumpkin-puree-recipe.html
Made these muffins today but used extra pumkin puree insted of eggs to make them vegan. (Also added dried cranberries) While the texture is a little dense, the flavor is delicious! Thank for sharing the recipe!
Thanks, Grace! Glad to hear it!
Made these for my toddler and they are delicious!
Thank you, Allison! :)
Thank you for a really great recipe. I wanted to make a pumpkin muffin this morning with whole wheat flour. I read an article yesterday about white flour. It made me realize how bad the stuff can be for our bodies. So you came up first on my google search. I love your site so I knew they would be good. And they are!! I am having one now. I have a question, in the photo at the end you have your muffin spread with some yummy looking “something”. What is it? It doesn’t appear to be plain butter. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!!
Thank you, Marsha! I’m glad you found this one. I avoid white flour like the plague because I’m hypoglycemic (it really does a number on my blood sugar levels). That spread is almond butter from Trader Joe’s, I believe! Just like peanut butter, but made from almonds.
The muffins were so yummy! I sprinkled mine with a little bit of brown sugar before I baked them :)
Next time I think I will try adding candied ginger chunks!
Thank you!
Thanks, Kristin! Love the ginger idea!
These were so great! The tops were a little under baked, but I like it like that. I made them with honey (to save money) and put in raisins.
Thank you, Jane!
These were not my favorite healthy muffin unfortunately. They barely rose and were dense, but that could be because I used whole wheat flour and not pastry flour (my country doesn’t have whole wheat pastry flour, womp womp). So I imagine that is why my batter was so thick. Like, it wasn’t a batter, more like a dough I had to scoop in, instead of pour in, which I normally do. So, anyone else use regular whole wheat flour and have that problem?
I’m sorry to hear that, Catherine! I’m guessing that most of the people who have made these muffins have used regular whole wheat flour, so I’m not sure why your dough was so thick! Are you sure your baking soda hasn’t expired/stopped working? Any chance you could have forgotten to add the oil?
Had the same problem using King Arthur 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat flour. Followed the recipe exactly. Had to bake a total of 30 minutes and they are chewy and I felt they were under spiced.
Made these just as recipe written. Really good, not too sweet and nice pumpkin flavor.
in the middle of the night I realized I wanted pumpkin muffins for breakfast, so I made these- with some substitutions because of what I have on hand. But they are perfect!!! I used olive oil, regular ww flour, and molasses. I also added pecans. My parents heartily approve, and my dogs are insanely jealous!
Thank you, thank you!!
Well, I’m glad you enjoyed them so much! Thanks, Harmony!
I’m usually a huge fan of all your recipes but these muffins were SO dry!! I used a GF all purpose flour and kept everything else the same. Not sure what went wrong. Next time maybe I’ll add some plain greek yogurt to the recipe or toast with cream cheese. Good flavor and glad they weren’t too sweet!
I’m sorry to hear that, Cheryl! Most commenters report that their muffins are moist and fluffy, so I suspect it has something to do with your GF flour. :(
Yes, stupid gf hubby! A friend told me she always adds a bit more oil and milk when cooking gluten free so I’ll have to try that next time. But I made a pumpkin cream cheese to go on them which helped
Not sure why Cheryl’s turned out dry, but mine were super moist. No complaints here. These were a hit for me. I just went through my first batch…it’s the perfect think to make in bulk on a busy week and just grab first thing in the morning. Making another batch soon. Thank you!!!
Thank you, Lauren! Glad to hear it!
I made this recipe yesterday and it was amazing! I used half honey and half maple because I was excited to start using honey in my one year old daughters foods. I added walnuts and apples. It is my new favorite recipe! Had one with a October beer for dessert last night and one with my coffee this morning. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Awesome! Thank you!
I loved this recipe!!!! I made it yesterday but i didnt have whole grain flour so i replace it with 1 cup white flour and 3/4 cup oatmeal flour. The result was perfect, delicious!!!! Thanks for sharing, kisses from Uruguay
Thank you, Maggie! Glad you enjoyed it!
I just made these with coconut oil, honey, ground flaxseed & chocolate chips. They are hearty and delicious. My three old devoured two today, too! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Jennie! Your version sounds great!
I’ve made these muffins a few times now (I always double the receipe and use 1 can of pumpkin) and they are always the perfect combination of moist and dense. My husband and I have one each day for our snack. I’m always on the look-out for pumpkin receipes and I love oats, so you can imagine my excitment when I saw this one. I use 1 cup white flour, 1 cup oat flour and 1 1/2 cups WWP flour combination. I freeze 8 muffins for the next week which works great. I gave several to my mom last week and she now wants to buy some from me whenever I make them (LOL). Thanks for all the work you do to publish healthy and delicious receipes!
Thank you, Caroline! So glad you’re enjoying these!
These muffins have become a staple in our kitchen. So delicious and easy to make. My 3-year-old loves them too and always asks me to bake more! Please post some more fall muffin recipes.
Hooray, thanks Julie! I will try to come up with another fall muffin recipe soon.
As someone who has a terrible sweet tooth and is trying to cut back, this is a great recipe! Just sweet enough to satisfy my cravings. My fiancé enjoyed them with peanut butter! Will definitely make again.
Thank you, Jeri!
Made these today. I used oat flour instead of AP or WW. Amazing.
Thanks, Daniela!
These muffins are incredible! I followed the recipe exactly and they were so delicious. I struggle with baking and really appreciate that these are healthy, easy to make, and the texture was perfect. Such an awesome afternoon pick-me-up with coffee or tea. Can’t wait to make the banana version!!
Happy to hear it! Thanks, Jillian!
I haven’t liked the bowl for a recipe in quite a while. The first thing my husband said is “these are going to be good.” We are now diligently letting theme cool…
Hope they turned out great! Thanks, Laura!