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, that’s what I thought… until I created these. Underneath the crumbly pumpkin spice topping is an irresistible pumpkin muffin—soft, moist, and full of fall flavor. And when you add the maple icing? Forget about any other breakfast food (unless you’re 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 bread—it’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 cups—almost 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
“Optional” 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 flour (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 flour (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 Icing (optional)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 15 muffins, so prepare a second muffin pan in the same manner. Set aside.
- Make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt 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 almost 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 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21-22 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 at 350°F (177°C) 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 icing before serving if needed.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Spatula | Whisk
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t 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 came out so good despite me accidently leaving out the eggs lol… silly me I was having my 3 year old help me and I set thefts out of reach and d idnt realize I forgot to put them in until I was all done baking and cleaning up… nonetheless they were delicious…..note to self next batch I make will have eggs in it
These are delicious! They remind me of pumpkin bread in a cup. The flavors mesh and are even better the second day!
Excellent. Quick and easy! Whipped some up to take to the neighbors last night-delivered still warm. Some raisins macerated and some chopped walnuts will be good next time. Will make again! Thanks!
Just made these this weekend! KILLER! Definitely keeping this in my recipe box to make over and over. They are the best homemade muffin I have made- they usually come dry but this recipe does now! Amazing!
These muffins turned out great! My fiance who doesn’t like pumpkin even ate a few. I subbed softened butter for the melted butter in the crumb topping and it turned out fine after working it into the flour/sugar mixture with my hands. This made 12 regular muffins and 9 mini muffins (baked for only 10 minutes total) for me.
GREAT recipe! Thank you for the option to swap out milk for orange juice; I opted for fresh squeezed OJ + zest both in the batter and the glaze. I only have a 6 muffin baking tin so it was fun to make regular and mini’s. Moist, flavorful; your recipe absolutely delivered. Your why-behind-the-what tips make all the difference. I will make these again.
I am often let down by pumpkin recipes – the batter will taste delicious and then they come out bland. But these did not disappoint! They were just out of control delicious. So perfectly moist and flavorful. My new fall go-to!
I made these last night and they are DELICIOUS!
Easy to make. The timing turned out to be 17 minutes total with my oven. Perfect all the way through.
These were supreme! Thank you for the recipe!
Can I sub melted butter for the canola oil??
You can, yes, but the muffins won’t be as moist.
This Pumpkin Crumb Cake muffin recipe is great!!! I have another favorite but didn’t have access to it, so knew you would have one ” to fill the bill!” You have great recipes,and frequently tell my sister to go to your site. The cake came out very moist,with crunchy, sweet crumble. Lots of spice flavors too!
These are the best! Made twice this week already, my family loves them!
I made half a recipe yesterday….OH MY….talk about tasty…I did leave off the maple topping…not a fan…and did accidentally add baking powder….OOPS..so I added in the baking soda for good measure….but everyone here LOVED them….a winner winner…thank you
I just made these for our yearly family apple picking morning. My crumb topping came out very buttery, not crummy at all. When finished my muffins came out very heavy, didn’t rise at all. The smell wonderful! I never lay blame with the original recipe, I always blame myself cuz it usually is me. :0 Can’t wait to taste them. Thanks so much for sharing.
Wow, these were absolutely delicious! I used refined coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and they turned out perfectly. This recipe will definitely be going into my fall baking arsenal!
Can you substitute coconut oil for the vegetable oil?
Melted coconut oil would work.
This recipe turned out absolutely perfect and is the best pumpkin recipe I have made in 40 years of baking! *Love*
I opted out of liners, greasing and flouring muffin tin.
I also used OJ instead of milk as she suggested in blog , if desired. Substitued in batter and drizzle since I am dairy free. What an amazing recipe, delicious!
These turned out fantastic! It was nice to have everything I needed in the pantry. I was initially hesitant to add the maple to the glaze since that can overpower at times but I am so glad I did. These muffins will be a go to from here on out. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe.
I made these yesterday and they are so good! Its going to be hard not to gobble them all up! LOL! While they were baking it smelled like a pumpkin pie in the oven. Instead of using maple syrup in the icing I used some Maple sugar and it is tasty.
Thanks for all your fantastic recipes! And i really enjoyed experiencing your visit to NYC bakeries, I will be sure to hit a couple of them when we go.
Rebecca C.
WOW.
I made these and brought them to work. They were gone within 20 minutes of setting them on the table. Everyone was SO impressed with these scrumptious goodies. No food has ever created a buzz in the office the way these did. Haha. And they’re easy and fun to make to boot!! I will definitely keep this recipe in my back pocket.
These pumpkin muffins were on point. Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
Could these be made as a crumb cake in an 8×8 or 13×9 pan?
Yes, absolutely! I’d use a 9×9 square pan.
These are very tasty! The crumb texture top goes great with the tender cake bottom, and don`t leave off the glaze drizzle. I cut that recipe in half and it was the perfect icing on the cake!
SO simple and SO delicious- love love love these! I’d eat these for breakfast (and dessert) every day if I could!
Made these today – was shocked that I had all of the ingredients in the pantry already! A HUGE hit. I made one pan of regular muffins and with the extra batter I did about 10 mini muffins. I took them out a few minutes before the larger ones and they were perfect. And adorable. The girls friends loved them too! Thanks for the recipe
Saw these on Friday and decided I needed to do a little Sunday morning baking. They were a huge hit! The family loved them, as did my coworkers who got the leftovers today.
Thank you for giving me a reason to make some yummy Fall treats!
I simply LOVED them! My whole house smelled like fall <3 I´ll definitely be making this again, thanks for the recipe Sally!
Sally…this muffin recipe looked so delicious I decided I had make it Sunday morning.
I have to say, I love your suggestion to make at a high temp for 5 minutes to get the “popped top”. That said, I did make the muffins and shared them…warm from the oven, with my dear neighbors. I often share my bake good with them and they now jokingly call me their private baker. This is the review I received Sunday,late afternoon: “Those pumpkin muffins were great, Nancy! I particularly loved the complementary contrast between the lightly crunchy texture and sweetness of the topping with the beautifully moist texture and not-too-sweet pumpkin-y flavor of the muffin base. Truly delicious — thanks so much for sharing with us!”
I gave you and your blog full credit in a return response. Thanks again for sharing. This recipe is a sure keeper.
I made these today! I followed your recipe to the letter and they turned out amazing! Everything about them is perfect! My husband immediately polished off 3 of them! I plan on adding these to our Christmas brunch buffet this year!
First time making these Muffins and came out soo good!! I love the crumbs on top with the pumpkin spice flavor, it’s incredible! The cakes came out so soft, moist and spongy not dry at all! Definitely a Must try.