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.
Our 7 month old has thoroughly enjoyed your baking recipes, and is currently eating a pumpkin muffin. Thanks for the healthy and satisfying recipes, baby approved!
Adorable! Thanks for letting me know, Kate!
Made these and they were perfect. I want to make them for a get-together but GLUTEN FREE. I bought the Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend and the package states to add Xanthan Gum along with the mix for baking. Is the Xanthan Gum a necessity in this recipe?
Hi Laura, I’ve successfully made this recipe with that flour, without adding xantham gum. You should be fine!
I love these muffins! They were so easy to make and they were absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for creating and sharing this fabulous recipe!!
Thank you, Amber! :)
Just made “regular” muffins last night dear lord I might as well have given the kids Snicker Bars :/ Thanks for this adaptation I will surly use it in the future !
Uh oh! Hope these muffins are a hit, too!
These muffins are delicious! So simple to make, they’re the perfect fall snack :)
These were great! I used 3/4 c. brown rice flour and 1 c. WW flour. Used honey, but topped with maple flakes from tonewood maple. SO GOOD!!!! Great way to use the rest of my can of pumpkin after making pumpkin energy bites!
These were easy to make and taste so delicious!
These muffins are amazing. I made them two days in a row because my family loved them so much, even my 2.5 year old! Thanks for a delicious but healthy recipe!
Made these for the dreaded Nursery Bake Sale today – I’m no good at baking so these things fill me with fear, but I had a surplus of beautiful looking squash I had to use in something. Although the recipe calls for pumpkin and my squash were a bit stringy and bland when made into a purée all the other ingredients came to the rescue (plus a few choc chips to tempt the kids). They were the best muffins I’ve ever made, I handed them over very reluctantly, the ladies running the stall only got 8 of 12 muffins, my 3yr old and I scoffed the rest still slightly warm and totally delicious.
Oh and I used rice flour as that was all I had, I wasn’t sure the consistency would work but it was totally fine so that makes it gluten free too right?
These are delicious! I came home jonesing for some pumpkin muffins and looked at several recipes before finding this one. Thank you Kate! Give Cookie some love from me! =)
I’ve made these muffins several times and they are a winner! I’m in the UK and I wondered whether the oven temperatures given are for a fan assisted or conventional oven? I have just used my judgement in the past, but would be good to get your view. Thank you!
I made these muffins and they are wonderful, light and full of flavor!!
And they were puffier than the photos which I was really happy about. So healthy that I didn’t feel tired and sick after eating them like I do other sugar filled muffins. In fact my husband and I ate up about 4 of them right away. (each!) The only thing I will do different next time is add some organic, dark chocolate chips.
Thank you Kate for giving us something HEALTHY to eat. And… right now at 6:51 a.m. while hubby is still sleeping I am going to make your banana and coconut muffins and he will wake up to YUM and coffee….
May I get the nutritional information for the healthy pumpkin Muffins please? I used honey and whole wheat flour. Thank you
You can easily calculate it yourself! I did it with my version of the recipe by looking at all of the nutrition facts for the ingredients! :)
Love these! I made them 2 times in the last two weeks; once to use them as an easy on-the-go breakfast and once to bring to an autumn party, for which I iced them with cinnamon icing. And right now I’m working on batch number three for a work party! Yum! Thanks for a great recipe!
Made these tonight in mini form! Used coconut milk, vegetable oil, and added in chocolate chips, and they turned out great; thanks!
Soooo yummy! Perfect for the holiday season and healthy enough to indulge! I made a HUGE batch to freeze for when my baby comes (very soon). I also gave a shout out on my blog!
I want to make these in mini muffin tins, how long should I bake them for?
Best recipe I’ve found in awhile. My husband and I are addicted. They always come out perfect.
I just made these and OMG were they good!! I am a pumpkin fanatic, especially at this time of the year. I was so excited to find this recipe. The only thing I changed was using organic sprouted spelt flour (I try to stay away from any wheat flours). I used everything organic as well. My husband even liked it. They were moist and delicious. A great grab and go breakfast. Thank you for sharing this! Will be trying some more of your recipes too!!
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Yikes! I was hoping to read other comments. My muffins were very dense, didn’t rise at all. What did I do wrong? Any suggestions as I followed recipe to a T, using maple syrup and adding chopped pecans.
Hi Carol, are you sure you didn’t forget the baking soda? Or could your baking soda have expired? They definitely should have risen. You can read others’ comments if you keep scrolling down.
Kate, can you pls. explain how you chose baking soda and not baking powder. Usually I use soda with acids and I don’t see an acid in this recipe. Thanks!
Not sweet AT ALL. just taste like bread
These turned out well for me! I used coconut milk as I was making them for a nut free class. They are better warm to me; when they are room temp they are much more dense due to the wheat flour. They are amazing with butter and my kids LOVE them which is definitely a huge plus. Will make again, love that there is a lot of pumpkin and the texture is very good! I did triple the recipe and it still turned out great.
Thank you, Caroline! So glad you all are enjoying the muffins.
I made these muffins yesterday and found them very underwhelming. Even though I added an extra shake of spice they were still very bland to me. I won’t be making them again.
I. Love. These. Muffins. I’ve baked these 4 times so far for my boyfriend and I, with and without chocolate chips, every time improving. I already posted a couple photos to Instagram (@alanarene). Thanks so much for this amazing go-to healthy breakfast that’s also easy and fun to bake!
Update: They turned out amazing!
I out my faith in this recipe and made a double batch. I was not disappointed! I doubled the cinnamon and added chopped dates. I will say to not bother wisking until pure added everything. Wishing the oil and honey was like mixing oil and water. In fact is splashed and went everywhere.
Super dee-lish and easy ingredients. All stuff I stock. Repeat for sure – I’ve got tons of pumpkin puree this year.
These muffins were delicious! I love how they are not overly sweet. My very picky, sugar loving 4 year old son loved them and I felt guilt free allowing him to have one for breakfast. I will definitely make them again soon!
I’ve been making many of your amazing recipes and they always come out great. I made these muffins in a new nonstick pan I bought so that I wouldn’t have to keep buying those disposable muffin pans. They came out so dry! Do you think the muffin tin dried them out? Should I be baking for less time when using real metal? Hope I can figure this out and try again- the batter looked amazing :(
Kate your muffin were fabulous ,,,I used cup 4 cup gluten free flour and I have made healthy muffins for fourty years,,,Your are best! Congratulations on figuring out the recipe …….thanks
Oh My GOODness!! These are possibly the best muffins that have ever come out of my kitchen! My daughter says its 3654 thumbs up!!
My son, Dante, says they’re infinity thumbs up;)! While Zoe was at school Dante and I tripled the recipe. We blended some fresh pumpkin that I had stuffed with some rice, apples, walnuts, almonds, raisins all blended together in lieu of the pumpkin and milk. We used maple syrup and for the flour used almond and finely sifted wheat. We also used some oats and flax meal together. We are all so glad we tripled the recipe!! And I have 1 cup of pumpkin left so I think we’ll make one more batch. Im so happy to give these to the kids for breakfast, lunch or snack!
Thank you very much!!! Happy Holidays!!!
I made these exactly by recipe, except adding some raisins and walnuts While they are quite eatable, mine did not rise but just cooked as they were put in the muffin tin. As a result, not very attractive. The batter seemed too thick. I have a similar blueberry muffin recipe, but uses buttermilk and a bit more of it than milk in this recipe. Also, grinds the oats a bit. I may try that next time. I would like more spice!
Are these the big muffin size or the cupcake size?
They are in the oven! I doubled it and got one and half pans. I used freshly ground pastry flour so it may have come out with more batter if the flour had sat for a day. The recipe I usually use calls for 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of sugar. I don’t feel great after I eat them, so I was excited to find this. I did use yogurt instead of milk. Just being a rebel. No, I have seen it in another pumpkin/chocolate chip bread recipe and I just like it.
I peeked. They look pretty!
Very Good! AND…I think I can eat more than one with without feeling terrible later!
Thank you!
Hi! I made this with a few adjustments. Great recipe. I roasted my own pumpkin and packed it into a liquid measuring cup to the 1 cup mark. It came out as 260g. I’m a sucker for cardamom and always add it to my pumpkin spice profile…maybe it was 1/4 tsp. Also, I couldn’t resist adding some of the almond extract I got from Trader Joe’s (1tsp along with 1/2 tsp Vanilla)… I felt I therefore had to add 1/4 cup of raw sliced almonds. Of course, this all led to mixing some cinnamon sugar with some of the almonds and enough oil to make it stick for a fantastic topping. Then more cinnamon sugar, just a light coating. Deeeeeelightful! All the other recipes I read had a full cup of fat in it and a cup and a half of sugar. Thanks for publishing a healthy alternative that’s also tasty and an elegant way to showcase a fall treat.
These were Delicious!! I baked them this morning using organic maple syrup and Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour — actually all ingredients were organic, which is another reason I loved the recipe because I could use all organic ingredients. The muffins came out sooooooooo good!! What a fabulous recipe! Thank you so much for posting / sharing.
Hi, Kate. This is Silvia, from Spain. I just wanted to thank you sooo much for your amazing blog and incredible recipes. From the other edge of the world, this vegetarian family sends you a very big hug. Thank you again for helping us eating more and more delicious veggies.
These muffins are absolutely delicious! I love coconut oil and maple syrup as healthier ingredients. I made these tonight and used regular flour. Then I made a cream cheese filling (8 oz cream cheese, two egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar and two squeezed wedges of lemon juice – mixed with mixer). I dropped a tiny blob of cream cheese in between two scoops of muffin batter for each muffin. SO good! Thank you for a healthy recipe that does not taste bland.
I’ve been making these pretty frequently since September, I guess you can say I’m hooked! I made them for breakfast at my mom’s house across the country when I visited for the holidays, and they were a hit! Thanks, Kate!
Anyway, has anyone tried this except replacing the coconut oil with applesauce or mashed banana, as a low-fat, lower-cal option? I’m attempting it now so I guess we’ll see…
Update: It works great subbing the coconut oil with applesauce/mashed banana. 1/6c mashed banana and 1/6c applesauce (to equal 1/3). It works 1:1 as a replacement.
I made these and the kids straight away ate 2 and a half which is a tick. They were nice straight out of the oven. I have a convection oven so they may have not been as good as yours and i used plain flour and rice malt syrup instead of wholemeal and maple syrup. When room temperature they seemed a bit dense and I doubled the spices but they seemed a ….bit bland. Maybe its because rice malt is not as sweet and wholemeal has more taste than plain flour.Its hard to say as I had maybe half of one that night as that was all that was left. They were very nice straight out of the oven and tasty and flavorsome. Maybe it just needed 10 seconds in the microwave. But I would make again hopefully I have wholemeal and maple in the cupboard next time. Thank you for sharing!
I always hate people that say I loved these but I changed this… Well I made them EXACTLY as the recipe says and they were yummy. Then, the second time, I used 1 full cup of oats and added dark chocolate chips – even yummier, although the muffins were a bit heavier. If you do use whole wheat flour, I calculated that if you make 6 jumbo muffins instead of 12, there is at least 10 grams of protein per muffin and make a perfect breakfast on the go.
Girl, you do you – I like my recipes the way I post them, but that doesn’t mean people can’t adjust to their personal preferences! My goal is to make you healthy *and* happy, so if chocolate chips are your happiness, I say go for it :)
Hi,
I normally don’t leave comments but I have to let you know that I’ve been making this recipe for my son since he was about 2 years old (he’s about to turn 4!!); I gotta tell you he LOVE these! He is a picky eater very, very picky but when I make these he asks for a second and third and I really have to hide them because he would eat them all! Good thing these muffins are healthy! :) Thanks for the recipe!
That is so great! Thank you very much for letting me know, Amarilys.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know I made these and this is a great and adaptable recipe.
I used maple syrup, coconut oil, dark chocolate chips, walnuts, almond milk, and only one egg. AND I’m at high altitude.
And it worked perfectly.
Wow, so happy these worked with your variation! Thanks, Jala.
I made these according to the recipe & sadly, they were too dry & bland for my taste. I am a big fan of a range of muffin recipes healthier to more dessert-style but this one was lacking. I do really appreciate all your notes of how to make it dairy free or according to other diets. That’s so useful! :) I am willing to try more of your recipes, I just wanted to share my honest feedback.
Thanks for the feedback, Sara. It’s always appreciated.
We make these muffins a lot! My whole family loves them, and you really have the very best baking recipes on the web in my opinion! We top them with pepitas as well as oats and they are so pretty and I feel good about my kiddos eating them double fisted! :)
Happy to hear these are kiddo-approved :) And the toppings sounds really pretty, too.
My eight year old LOVED these muffins!! Why would we ever use butter and white sugar again? I am so happy he liked them – feel like I tried using alternative ingredients before and he turned his nose up. New baking chapter! Thank you! Now the whole family can eat the same muffins! Wahoo!
Awesome!! And yep, totally possible to have the same delicious result without all those processed ingredients. Happy the kiddo approved, too!
Pumpkin muffins look great. Pls. include nutrition information if possible. I’m on Weight Watchers as are many friends and we need to know how much we’re indulging:) Thanks!
Hey, June. Unfortunately, I don’t have nutritional info available for my recipes just yet. I’m looking for a solution, and will update about it once I find one. Thanks!
Can you use white whole wheat flour for this? If so, same amount?
Yes, same amount, Jean! The only difference between the two is the variety of wheat, but they can be used interchangeably.
Muffins were good!! Moist and great texture.
Great!
I’ve had good luck with Cookie and Kate recipes before, but I found this one bland and a little dry. I even added raisins. Oh well. My husband will still eat them, but I won’t make them again.
I’m sorry to hear that! My muffins were far from dry. It sounds like maybe your muffins had too much flour in them. I measure my flour using the spoon and swoop method—spoon the flour into the cups and level with a knife, rather than scooping flour into the cups (which could result in up to 50% more flour). Hope your next C+K recipe turns out great.