Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
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Healthy Pumpkin Muffins are a delicious refined sugar free treat!. Naturally gluten free – these muffins are easy to make and so tasty!
This post contains affiliate links. This post was shared in 2017 but has since been updated.
These healthy pumpkin muffins might be the best muffins we’ve ever made.
These healthy muffins are naturally sweetened with maple syrup, made with whole grain oat flour and other basic pantry staples. They take less than 15 minutes to prep and are so tsty!
I’ll admit it, I’m one of those people that LOVES pumpkin, so it was easy to fall in love with these muffins. If you love pumpkin, you have to checkout these 34+ Healthy Pumpkin Recipes!
liz’s top tips for healthy pumpkin muffins
- If you don’t have these spices, try substituting with pumpkin pie spice!
- Be sure to grab pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling at the grocery store! Pie filling can be full of sugar and spices.
Ingredients
I love this non stick muffin tin or these silicone muffin liners for baking muffins.
Substitutions
Milk: You can use any milk you like in this recipe. Dairy or non dairy (almond, soy, oat, coconut) will all work
Oat Flour: You can make your own oat flour following this oat flour recipe. You can’t use coconut flour or almond flour in this recipe. I haven’t tried this recipe with whole wheat flour but I think it would work!
Sweetener: You can sub maple syrup for the honey in this recipe.
Add ins: I like adding chocolate chips. Chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or seeds are also delicious.
Spices: You can use 3.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice in these muffins. If you do not have nutmeg or cloves, just add a little bit more cinnamon/ginger.
Pumpkin: If you’re out of pumpkin, you can use mashed bananas. You could also make these Healthy Banana Muffins! I have not tried subbing the pumpkin puree for sweet potatoes, but I think it would work. Otherwise you could try this Sweet Potato Muffin Recipe!
Is pumpkin puree the same as canned pumpkin? Yes! Pumpkin puree and canned pumpkin are the same thing. Make sure you are buying pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin Pie filling has sugar and spices added.
Vegan: I have not tried making these muffins vegan, but you might be able to substitute the eggs with flax eggs. You can substitute maple syrup for honey.
High Protein: We love these Pumpkin Protein Muffins as a higher protein fall muffin (9g per serving).
Bread: I haven’t tried making this recipe into a pumpkin bread, but you can try our healthy pumpkin bread recipe!
How to make Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine maple syrup, pumpkin puree, eggs, and milk.
- Once combined, add in baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and cloves.
- Add the oat flour to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined (don’t over mix!)
- Gently fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips on top if you’d like.
- Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the muffins.
- Enjoy with a vanilla latte!
Storage Options
These low fat pumpkin muffins won’t last long in your house. I love to snack on them with a Low Sugar Pumpkin Spice Latte!
Storing: Let the muffins cool at room temperature, then store the leftover muffins in the fridge for up to a week to maintain freshness. You can leave them out of the refrigerator, but they will not last as long because they’re very moist and will get moldy.
Can you freeze pumpkin muffins?
Yes, you can freeze these pumpkin muffins! Allow the muffins to cool, then store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag in the freezer. To defrost, leave out the night before in the fridge and they will thaw out. Or, just pop in the microwave for 1-2 minutes directly from the freezer
Other healthy muffin recipes you’ll love:
We love healthy muffin recipes so much that we created a whole free muffin ebook about them! You can get it here or check out these Healthy Muffins:
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup milk regular or nondairy
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups oat flour gluten free if necessary
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a greased or lined muffin tin. We recommend using silicone muffin liners or a nonstick muffin tin.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, milk, vanilla and eggs.
- Once combined, add in the oat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Mix until just combined (don't over mix!)
- Gently fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into greased or lined muffin tins, filling each cup with ⅓ cup batter. Sprinkle with extra chocolate chips on top if you'd like.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the muffins.
Video
Notes
- Milk: You can use any milk you like in this recipe. Dairy or non dairy (almond, soy, oat, coconut) will all work
- Oat Flour: You can make your own oat flour following this oat flour recipe. You can’t use coconut flour or almond flour in this recipe. I haven’t tried this recipe with whole wheat flour but I think it would work!
- Sweetener: You can sub maple syrup for the honey in this recipe.
- Add ins: I like adding chocolate chips. Chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or seeds are also delicious.
- Spices: You can use 3.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice in these muffins. If you do not have nutmeg or cloves, just add a little bit more cinnamon/ginger.
Can I use gluten free regular flour in this recipe? Making this last minute.
I’m so sorry but I haven’t tried this recipe with GF flour. You can use certified GF oat flour and it will work just fine! Hope this helps!
I made these this morning—I halved the recipe and made mini muffins. They are fantastic! Definitely will make again
These were SO good & super easy to make!!! LOVE THEM!
Can you do a flax egg instead?
I haven’t tried it- maybe! Sorry! Without testing it I can’t be sure!
So delicious!! Great with gf flour too – definitely would recommend. A fall staple!!
These were great I made these today. I did sub the pumpkin pie spice. Thanks for the conversion on that. Also added some chopped pecans and used Lily‘s chocolate chips just to keep the sugar content low really easy great recipe for a quick sweet treat. Can’t wait to try more fall recipes from your website.
These weee delicious! I would love to sneak more protein in but overall great! Picky child approved!!
Such an easy recipe to follow and the muffins turned out so delicious. I will be adding this one to my favorites!
Allergic to oats – can these be made with almond flour?
I’m sorry but they can’t. I would try googling a paleo pumpkin muffin or almond flour specific muffin. You’ll need less liquid in the batter. I’d hate for you to make this recipe and have it not work!
I made mine with almond flour! Turned out great!
Did you make any other changes? A lot of people have asked how the almond flour would work in this. Would love to know if you did anything differently 🙂
The muffins were so delicious. My husband and daughter literally ask me to make them all the time now. Thank you so much!
I love your recipes but would love them even more if you provided metric measurements! Thanks!
Sorry but we aren’t able to do that! I’m glad you like the recipes!
Hi Cecilia! I prefer using a scale over dirtying my measuring cups. I have had great luck using AI to convert recipes, and double verify from my memory. This one panned out great for me!
120 mL maple syrup
250 g pumpkin
2 eggs
60 mL milk
10 g baking soda
5 g cinnamon
1 g nutmeg
1 g ginger
1 g cloves
240 g oat flour
90 g chocolate chips
Enjoy your baking adventure! I specifically have Snapchat for their AI feature and using it for cooking…it just seems to be the easiest one to use. Copy paste the recipe and ask for it in metric!
Theses are delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
These muffins were amazing! I used honey instead of maple syrup and pumpkin spice seasoning.
These muffins are the best. I have been looking for a healthier way to eat without feeling like I’m sacrificing flavor and these are great. Easy to make and delicious. Only complaint I wish I found this recipe sooner.