These super soft pumpkin crumb cake muffins are topped with pumpkin spice crumbs and finished with sweet maple icing. They’re a reader favorite and after baking one batch, you’ll understand why!
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos and more success tips.
Let’s be honest: the crumbs are the best part of crumb cake.
At least, thatโs what I thoughtโฆ until I created these. Underneath the crumbly pumpkin spice topping is an irresistible pumpkin muffinโsoft, moist, and full of fall flavor. And when you add the maple icing? Forget about any other breakfast food (unless youโre making a batch of these baked pumpkin donuts!).
Readers’ Favorite Pumpkin Muffins
Like clockwork, September rolls around and we all go crazy for these pumpkin crumb cake muffins. They’re the perfect combination of everything we love about fall. Their ease and flavor also help us transition into the chillier months.
Here’s why you’ll love them:
- The batter is based off of my pumpkin breadโit’s SO good
- Easy to make and no mixer required
- Ready in less than one hour
- Soft and moist thanks to power ingredients like pumpkin, oil, eggs, and milk
- Topped with pumpkin spice crumbs + maple icing (you could also leave them plain and you’ll basically have my regular pumpkin muffins)
- Delicious as a breakfast, snack, or dessert
- Packed with warm and cozy fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves
How to Make Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins
Instead of using my iced pumpkin coffee cake recipe as the base, I turned to my pumpkin bread. I LOVE using that bread recipe to make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. All you do here is take out the chocolate chips, reduce the sugar, and use milk instead of orange juice. Though you could definitely use orange juice if you’d like! (Orange juice provides incredible flavor to the bread, trust me on that one.)
Made with basic ingredients, these pumpkin muffins come together quickly.
Mix the dry ingredients together. This includes lots of spice flavor and you can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here.
Whisk the wet ingredients together. Combine wet and dry ingredients, then fill the muffin cupsโalmost full, but leave room for the topping.
Make the crumb topping. Spoon it evenly onto each muffin, pressing the crumbs into the tops. Bake, then whisk the 3 icing ingredients together. Drizzle and serve.
Pumpkin Spice Crumb Topping
If you thought crumb topping couldn’t get any better, think again. We’re topping pumpkin crumb cake muffins with pumpkin spice crumbs. YES!
We use oil in the muffins themselves for extra moisture, but we use melted butter in the crumb topping. Why? FLAVOR. The crumb topping also has brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and pumpkin pie spice. (Like my traditional crumb cake topping but with pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon.) There are repeat ingredients used in the muffins, so this is not only an easy recipe, it’s a convenient one too. By the way, this crumb topping would be fantastic on zucchini muffins and these chocolate pumpkin muffins, too.
I reduced the sugar in these muffins because they’re getting an extra dose of sweet from the crumb topping and maple icing. With that, I also reduced the salt to make sure the muffins didn’t taste salty with less sugar.
Optional Maple Icing
โOptionalโ might not be the right word here, because the icing seeping into the crumb topping is outstanding. While the muffins are wonderful on their own, I highly recommend the quick maple drizzle for an extra indulgent finish.
You could also try the maple icing on these mini pumpkin muffins, too.
Be sure to enjoy a batch with a cup of coffee and homemade pumpkin coffee creamer for the ultimate fall breakfast!
More Crumb Lover Recipes
- Coffee Cake
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Crumb Cake Donuts
- Apple Crumb Cake
- Crumb Cake Muffins
- Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake
- Zucchini Crumb Cake
- Crumb Coffee Cake
Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 15 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft and moist pumpkin crumb cake muffins with pumpkin pie spice and maple icing topping.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) canola or vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) canned pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk, at room temperature*
Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted
Maple Icingย (optional)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g)ย confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk*
Instructions
- Preheat oven toย 425ยฐF (218ยฐC).ย Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners.ย This recipe makes 15 muffins, so prepare a second muffin pan in the same manner.ย Set aside.
- Make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pieย spice, and saltย together until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold everything together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them almostย full.
- Make the crumb topping: Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice together until combined. Using a fork, lightly mix in the melted butter until crumbs form. Don’t over-mix. Spoon crumbs evenly on top of the batter and gently press them down into the batter so they’re snug.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425ยฐF (218ยฐC) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature toย 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Bake for an additionalย 16-17ย minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21-22ย minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan as you make the icing. *For mini muffins, bake for 11-13 minutes atย 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) the entire time.
- Make the icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together until combined and smooth. Drizzle over muffins and serve warm. Cover tightly and store at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: For longer storage, freeze muffins (with or without icing) for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm up in the microwave if desired. Top with icingย before serving if needed.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Spatula | Whisk
- Pumpkin Pie Spice:ย You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your ownย homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you donโt have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each of ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice in the muffin batter. Do not leave out the 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon that is also in the muffin batter. The crumb topping also uses pumpkin pie spice and, again, if you don’t have store-bought or homemade, use 1/4 teaspoon of each of those spices and add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon too.
- Milk: Any milk works. I’ve tested with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, whole milk, and skim milk. You can use any, dairy or non.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These are amazing with or without the maple drizzle! I use melted crisco, or lard for the oil. I always let the batter sit for 15 minutes before baking. Perfect every time!
I just made these and they are so soft and the crumb topping is a perfect topping. I did substitute the milk for buttermilk and everything else I followed the recipe. Weigh the flour is key I think.
I made this recipe and made the muffins larger by scooping 12 instead of the 15.
Followed recipe exactly until the glaze topping. Didn’t have confectioners sugar, so I just drizzled maple syrup on muffin tops while still warm. It absorbed into the muffin and the end result was outstanding pumpkin spice muffins. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!!
Love these so much, and so do my family and friends. We leave the icing off but they are good with that too. Thank you
Could I use heavy cream for the milk in this recipe? Maybe it’s obvious, I’m just not sure if it’s included as a type of milk. Excited to give this a try!
Hi Elle! Heavy cream will be a little too thick here.
Loooove these!
Could coconut oil be subbed for vegetable oil?
Hi Emmalee, many readers have commented that they successfully made these muffins with coconut oil.
Ohhhhhhhh my!! I baked these gems today, and I am trying not to eat them all. First of all, use parchment paper cups. I baked these gems with no modifications. They’re not overly sweet. I didn’t use all of the icing. I used a small whisk to apply the icing. Less is more. I didn’t find the muffin to be overly sticky or messy. It was incredible!! Do not skimp, use real maple syrup, not the fake stuff. These will make you look like a Rockstar, thank you!!
Hi there! I am wondering if I can substitute butter for the oil? If so, how much butter?
Hi Lauren, you could substitute melted butter in a pinch, but the muffins wonโt be nearly as moist. We recommend using oil for best results.
Hi Michelle, i have a friend who is gluten free and dairy free, can these be made gluten free and dairy free?
What substitutions would I use.
I made them and they are excellent, but she can eat them.
Thanks for your help.
Hi Donna, You can use a dairy free milk but we have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour. Let us know if you try it!
Delicious muffin! I even used spelt flour and only coconut sugar and they are a hit!! Thank u!
Thinking about adding nuts, like pecans. How much would you recommend?
Hi Amber, You can add them to the batter or add them in after youโve created the crumb topping or simply sprinkle them on top and slightly press them in like we do with the crumb topping. Let us know how it goes!
Hi Sally,
Can this be made into a loaf for bread?
Thanks, Tina
Hi Tina, yes, you can use this batter in a 9ร5-inch loaf pan. Weโre unsure of the exact bake time, but you can use this pumpkin bread as a guide.
I normally put all of Sally’s recipes at 5 stars, but this one really just didn’t hit home for me. I followed the instructions to a T, and heres my thoughts:
– The comments about it sticking to the cupcake liners are 100% true, and it’s pretty bad. I loose most of my muffin to the liner and have to spend a few minutes pulling it off with my nails first. It comes off in streaks, leaving behind some paper scraps.
– The comments about the icing are also very true — it’s incredibly sweet. Honestly, I find the sweetness level complimentary to the muffin, but the texture is *awful*. Using maple syrup makes it a sticky disaster, and I end up having to wash my hands after wrestling the liner off and after eating it. If you don’t like sticky hands, 100% switch out the icing for a cinnamon roll glaze or something similar
– And last but not least — they’re honestly quite bland. Like, they’re fluffy and the crumb cake portion has a great texture, but the muffin itself is very plain.
Honestly, I think these are fine as is. They’re not stand-out, but they’re not awful. With my complaints in mind I would personally make these changes if I were to make them again:
– Double the spices. Absolutely needed to make it less bland
– Switch the icing for a cinnamon roll glaze, or anything remotely similar, just don’t use maple syrup.
– I think part of why they stick to the liners is an over-abundance of moisture, so I would either squeeze some of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree first (not all, but some), or add more flour.
Not the best, but not the worst.
For anyone gluten free – I have made these with King Arthur measure for measure and used flax eggs due to new food allergies and they turned out so good no one could tell they were not the original recipe as I usually make. I am so glad for such good recipes from Sallyโs Baking Addition that I can continue to use them now that Iโm gluten free. Iโm looking forward to trying out more with gluten and egg free swaps!
Thank you so much for the recipe. It was fun to make and turned out great! They are so soft and light. Really liked the maple syrup in the drizzle.
So good! I added choc chips and pumpkin seeds, drizzled the top with maple syrup instead of icing:). Great recipe!
very good but icing is very sweet so beware!!!
Can these be made mini? I want to make mini muffins for my sonโs preschool. I have tulip liners. Thanks
Hi Hannah, absolutely. For mini muffins, bake for 11-13 minutes at 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) the entire time.
I loved the muffinsโthey turned out great! However, they didnโt release cleanly from the paper liners. The bottoms stuck quite a bit. Do you know what might have caused that?
Use Paper Chef brand parchment cups and you will have zero sticking. I buy them off Amazon or sometimes the grocery carries them ๐