Pumpkin Protein Muffins
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Pumpkin Protein Muffins are easy to make with healthy ingredients like greek yogurt! Gluten free and packed with 9g of protein per muffin. Pair alongside a Pumpkin Spice Latte for a yummy fall treat!
These Pumpkin Protein Muffins are one of the best fall treats! We love all things pumpkin from Pumpkin Chili to Pumpkin Overnight Oats, but these pumpkin protein muffins are a new favorite!
With protein (9g per muffin), naturally sweetened with maple syrup, fiber, and only 160 calories, these tasty muffins are the best way to enjoy a pumpkin treat and make eating healthy a breeze, even when you’re craving some Fall flavors, just like our Apple Protein Muffins.
These muffins are simple to make and perfectly portable, which makes them the best grab-and-go breakfast or snack option. For other high protein muffins, try our Strawberry Protein Muffin, Protein Banana Muffins, and Protein Blueberry Muffins.
Liz’s Tips for pumpkin protein muffins:
- See protein powder tips in the box below for best results. The type of protein powder you use can change the consistency and sweetness of the batter.
- If you purchase canned pumpkin that has quite a bit of liquid on top, you can place a few folded paper towels over the top of the can and turn the covered can upside down on a flat surface for a minute to drain some of the liquid off.
- Using a thicker pumpkin and accurately measure both the dry and wet ingredients to help you achieve a thicker batter. The thicker batter is easier to divide and you get a better rise. If your batter is on the runnier side, you can opt to make 14 muffins instead of 12 to avoid overfilling.
- When measuring oat flour, use the “spoon and level” method to prevent overpacking.
- Silicone muffin liners work well in this recipe but require a slightly longer bake time (only about an extra minute or two). When using paper liners, allow muffins to cool fully to ensure they can remove cleanly from the paper.
- Elevation, the color of your baking pan, and the thickness of your batter can all effect baking times. Check your muffins early to avoid overbaking. To test doneness, prick the center of one of the interior muffins with a toothpick. If it comes out cleanly, the muffins are done.
Ingredients
We like making muffins in a nonstick muffin tin, but these silicone muffin liners are also great!
Substitutions
Pumpkin Puree – There is some variation in canned pumpkin puree between brands. Some options were a thicker texture, while others were more watery. The brands with a lower water content produced a thicker batter and worked a little better. We tested the Walmart, Food Club, and Kroger store brands (Walmart and Food Club being thicker, Kroger being waterier).
If you open a can of puree and find it to be a little watery, you can cover the opened can with several paper towels and place it upside down on top of the towels for a minute to allow some of the excess liquid to drain off before measuring.
Be sure to purchase unsweetened pumpkin puree instead of canned pumpkin pie filling.
Greek Yogurt – Any fat percentage of Greek yogurt will work (even nonfat). We found that using whole milk yogurt produced muffins that were a little more tender and flavorful.
Maple Syrup – Real maple syrup pairs well with pumpkin, but honey will also work.
Eggs – We did not test any egg replacements in this recipe and don’t recommend it. If you try one, we would love to know how it worked in the comments below!
Avocado Oil – Any neutral flavored cooking oil can be used in this recipe, including light olive oil, melted butter, or melted coconut oil. If using melted butter or coconut oil, allow it to cool slightly and allow the eggs and Greek yogurt to come to room temperature before starting the recipe to prevent the oil from solidifying.
Oat Flour – Store-bought or homemade oat flour can be used. If using homemade oat flour, ensure the oats are processed into a very fine flour with no visible oats. Read our post on how to make homemade oat flour for tips and tricks. We have not tried this with any other type of flour so I’m not sure how it will work. Almond flour and coconut flour will not work in this recipe and can’t be substituted 1:1 for oat flour.
Gluten Free: If you need this recipe to be gluten-free, purchase certified gluten-free oat flour or make your own with certified gluten-free old-fashioned oats.
Vanilla Whey Protein Powder – I tested several options for protein powders in this recipe, including non-whey options. See the notes on protein powders in the box below for tips and my favorite tested options. The protein powder you use will affect the sweetness of the recipe and the thickness of the batter. The recipe, even with sweetened protein powder, is not incredibly sweet, so sweetened options are preferred. I recommend this protein powder.
Pumpkin Pie Spice – You can make your own pumpkin pie spice by combining:
- 1 ½ tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon of ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon of ground cloves.
If you prefer more spice, try adding an additional ¼ tsp of ginger, ¼ tsp of allspice, and ¼ tsp of ground cinnamon to the batter.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda – Because Greek yogurt is acidic, you will need both baking soda and baking powder to get a good rise. Add the leavening agents after the oat flour and protein powder have been mixed in to ensure that they are not overactivated.
Even more flavor: To amp up the fall flavor, try adding some extra spices like ¼ tsp of ginger, ¼ tsp of allspice, and ¼ tsp of ground cinnamon in addition to the pumpkin pie spice. You could also try adding walnuts or pecans.
Add chocolate chips: For pumpkin chocolate chip protein muffins, mix in a ½ cup of dark chocolate chips.
Add frosting: Try topping the muffins with this healthy cream cheese frosting.
How to Make
- Whisk wet ingredients together until smooth.
- Whisk in oat flour and protein powder, until there are no lumps. Then, stir in the remaining ingredients until combined (don’t overmix).
- Divide the batter into a prepared 12-count muffin pan.
- Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. Don’t overbake.
- Allow the muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before enjoying!
Notes on Protein Powder
Whey protein is easier to bake with because there are fewer ingredients and therefore fewer variables. When selecting a protein powder to use in baking recipes, fewer ingredients is key. The protein powder should contain protein, sweetener, natural flavor, and not much else.
Using a protein powder that is fairly sweet is important for this recipe. Even with a sweet protein powder, these muffins are not overly sweet, so a lightly sweetened protein powder will likely produce muffins that are not sweet enough.
If using whey protein powder, you should lightly pack it when measuring. This will allow you to produce a thicker batter making it easier to divide and will add a little extra protein. Most vegan protein powders will not require packing.
I found that unflavored whey protein didn’t work well in this recipe. The batter was too thin, making it easy to overfill the muffin wells. If using an unflavored option, you will need to add additional sweetener (I added ¼ cup of granulated sugar, but coconut sugar can also be used), and vanilla extract (1 tsp). Adding additional maple syrup will contribute too much moisture to the muffin batter.
Brands that we have tested in this recipe:
Our Favorite: Iconic Protein Grass-Fed Whey in Vanilla Bean – This option has simple ingredients, worked well for these muffins, and is one of my preferred brands to bake with.
Levels Grass-Fed Whey Protein in Vanilla – Another great option with simple ingredients.
Orgain Simple in Creamy Vanilla (Vegan) – This worked well and tasted great. If using this option, you will not need to pack the protein powder as it is denser.
Isopure Zero Carb Unflavored Whey Isolate – I did not love this option in this recipe. The batter it produced was runny and made it hard not to overfill the wells. The muffins were not as pretty and a little flat.
Be Well by Kelly Beef Protein Isolate – Tasted great but did not dome/rise very well and didn’t seem to full bake in the center. I love this protein powder for drinking, but struggle to bake with it.
Mikuna Vanilla Chocho Protein Powder – This one worked well. I would have preferred it a tad sweetener, but overall good. I did not pack this option when measuring.
What to Serve with this Recipe:
These pumpkin protein muffins are great for breakfast on their own, topped with peanut butter or almond butter, or you could pair them with some eggs. Check out this list of healthy egg recipes or try:
Storage
Storing: These muffins are best stored at room temperature on a plate loosely covered with tinfoil. They can also be sealed in a zipper storage bag, but because of the moisture content, this will make them more prone to mold. On the counter, they will be good for about 4-5 days, but can be stored in the fridge for a few days longer. Allow muffins to cool fully before storing.
Freezing: These protein pumpkin muffins freeze well. To freeze, place fully cooled muffins in a single layer in a gallon-size resealable freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Reheating: To reheat from frozen, simply pull the muffins from the freezer and thaw on the counter for about 24 hours, or pop one in the microwave directly from the freezer and microwave for about 30 seconds on high.
Other high protein recipes:
If you want to eat more protein, check out our free high protein guide or 25+ High Protein Desserts.
Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree 250 g
- ¾ cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt 170 g
- 2/3 cup maple syrup 200g/240 mL
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 ¾ cups oat flour 180 g
- ½ cup vanilla whey protein powder lightly packed, weight will vary based on brand 45g
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12-count muffin tin with paper or silicone liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, and oil. Whisk together until smooth.
- Add the oat flour and vanilla protein powder to the wet ingredients. Whisk together to fully incorporate, making sure there are no lumps.
- Sprinkle in the pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to evenly distribute but avoid over-mixing.
- Using a scoop or large spoon, divide the batter between the muffin wells (take care not to overfill the wells if your batter is on the thinner side).
- Place the muffins in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (17 minutes was perfect for my oven).
- Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes before enjoying.
Video
Truly don’t even taste like they’re healthy! I love to have them in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast.
So I had some leftover pumpkin puree I needed to use up and was looking forward to this recipe. I had to make a few modifications because of what I had on hand. I didn’t have oat flour so I finished my casava flour. I didn’t have full fat greek yogurt, I only had non fat greek yogurt. And finally I didn’t have vanilla flavored whey protein powder, instead I had a plant based vanilla cookie flavored powder. That being said, they came out okay. The batter was REALLY thick and I made 18 muffins with it. They came out kind of crunchy/cookie like on the outside but still moist on the inside. I had them 10 minutes after they came out of the oven, so I will try them again later when they are cooled completely or rewarmed to see if that changes the texture/taste. I would like to try this again using the correct ingredients.
Hi Ella! Thanks for trying the muffins. They should have a regular muffin like texture (not crunchy at all) so I’m guessing that’s because of the substitutes but I’m glad you enjoyed them regardless!
Amazing muffins. Been making this weekly and they are kid approved.
These are delicious. I only used 2 T syrup and added some monk fruit. These are great!
Only had regular whole fat yogurt, but it turned out great! Really delicious, goes together easily and everyone loved them.
Thank you!
These are the absolute best muffins!!!! The taste is great. They are moist. I gave some to my personal trainer. He asked for the recipe. I cook a lot. He says these are the best I’ve ever made.
I haven’t made these muffins yet.i intend to.can you make mini muffins?
I haven’t tried making mini muffins so I’m not sure how that would work – I’m sorry!
Absolutely love these! Perfect flavor. I shared with my personal trainer who says these are by far the best! My husband loves them! I will eat 2 for breakfast with some fruit, in place of my usual eggs for breakfast.
Substituted Orgain chocolate protein powder (didn’t have vanilla) and they still turned so good!
I am usually prepared to sacrifice flavor and texture for baked goods with protein powder in them but these were great! Still soft and moist and sweet enough for me! I swapped the avocado oil for two tablespoons of margarine because I wanted a slight buttery taste and swapped out the maple syrup for monk fruit sweetener and honey (I used 2/3 cup of monk fruit sweetener mixed with a little water to make a paste and then stirred in a tablespoon of honey just so the texture wasn’t too different from the maple syrup) and it was great! Philadelphia has a pumpkin spice flavored cream cheese out right now and I added a bit on top before I ate one and it was amazing!
I didn’t have high hopes for these as recipes with protein powder usually let me down. These are pretty good flavor wise (and great texture, very moist!). I used sugar free maple syrup, but added 2tbs of monkfruit sweetener as the batter didn’t taste sweet enough before baking. I didn’t bake long enough, so next time I’ll be sure to add another 5 minutes. My only complaint…these are not “high protein”. I followed the recipe exactly other than the sugar free maple syrup, and based on my calculations, each muffin is 168kcal with 5g protein. Mine made 17 muffins, so my nutrition info is 120kcal with 3.5g protein each. Even if I eat 4 of these at 480 calories for breakfast…that still only gives me 14g of protein. I suppose they’re higher protein than a bakery muffin, but not by a lot.
Hi Samantha- You used different ingredients than the recipe calls for, so you’re not going to get the same results in taste, texture or protein content. Because you used different ingredients, you got a different amount of batter, which resulted in a different amount of muffins. A different yield of muffins is going to create a different protein content per muffin. I’m sorry you were disappointed by them, but I just double checked and with the ingredients I used, the nutrition content is accurate!
These were delicious!! My son doesn’t prefer the texture of oat flour, so I used regular, and it worked great! I also added chocolate chips which was perfect.
Absolutely loved these! I wanted more protein snacks without so much sugar and these were exactly what I needed! My kids who are super picky even have asked to take them to school for a snack. I literally have to have one with my coffee every morning now. 😁
Love this recipe! My whole family loves it too. My kids jump up and down when they see that I made them. That’s a win win in my book. Very easy recipe to make and has protein!
I love these muffins! I would say the best pumpkin muffin recipe I’ve tried. Easy way to get extra protein in. We added pecans to the recipe for some crunch. Store them in the fridge and heat up in the oven for 5-10 min. Great with coffee.