Welcome to the epitome of fall baking! (Well, besides apple cake and apple crisp.) These are my super-moist, deliciously spiced, and extra soft pumpkin muffins. They’re adapted from my popular pumpkin crumb cake muffins and aren’t quite as sweet, making them the perfect “anytime” treat during the fall season. You could even add chocolate chips for extra tasty pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. No mixer required!
One reader, Nicole, commented: “Another winner, of course. We made the mini muffin version and they were so light, moist, and delicious. Perfect breakfast complement for this crisp fall morning! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Holly, commented: “First time making these. Did half regular and half with chocolate chips, and they came out delicious and very moist. Even my picky daughter loved them… This recipe is definitely a keeper. ★★★★★“
Meet my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe, the sequel to my favorite zucchini muffins and banana muffins. I appreciate “simple” muffin recipes like these because sometimes we don’t crave all the bells and whistles of pumpkin cream cheese muffins… right? Over-the-top muffins are undoubtedly delicious, but I’m certain you’ll want to make today’s easy pumpkin muffins again and again. Why?
Here’s Why You’ll Love My Simple Pumpkin Muffins
- Reliable, easy recipe with basic ingredients
- No mixer needed
- Extra soft & moist
- Deep pumpkin spice flavor (you can use your homemade pumpkin pie spice!)
- Dairy free if using dairy-free milk
- Very adaptable recipe—add chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries; sprinkle with coarse sugar; or leave plain
How are these different from pumpkin cupcakes? My pumpkin cupcakes recipe is a favorite! In that recipe, you use less flour and milk with the same amount of pumpkin, so the cupcakes have a much lighter, airier texture. Today’s muffins are thicker and denser with just as much flavor.
Grab These 11 Ingredients:
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour in this recipe. If desired, you can replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour for a heartier, denser pumpkin muffin.
- Baking Soda: Helps the muffins rise. There’s no need for baking powder and, in fact, I’ve made these pumpkin cream cheese muffins with only baking soda before too. (Just leave out the baking powder in those; truly no noticeable difference in the outcome.)
- Cinnamon, Ginger, & Pumpkin Pie Spice: Pumpkin is tasty, but in order to really bring out its flavor, you need some warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice. You can use store-bought or try my homemade pumpkin pie spice blend. Pumpkin pie spice already includes cinnamon and ginger, but for the BEST, deepest flavor, I recommend using all 3. See recipe Note.
- Pumpkin Puree: You need 1 and 1/2 cups (about 340g) of pumpkin puree, which is most of a standard 15-ounce can. Do not use pumpkin pie filling. Just like with these pumpkin snickerdoodles, canned pumpkin is best, but you could use fresh puree if that’s what you have.
- Oil: The muffins taste dry and rubbery without some fat. Just as if we’re making pumpkin cake and pumpkin coffee cake, use vegetable oil. You could also use melted coconut oil.
- Brown & White Sugars: Pumpkin adds a lot of volume to the muffin batter, but doesn’t sweeten it at all. Using half white and brown sugars provide enough sweetening, and the brown sugar adds additional flavor.
- Eggs: Provide structure.
- Milk: Like most muffin recipes, the batter needs a liquid. You can use whole milk, buttermilk, or any dairy or nondairy milk you enjoy. I use orange juice in my pumpkin bread recipe, but using orange juice (for the amount of liquid needed here) wasn’t ideal here. The muffins were too citrus-y. You could, of course, replace *some* of the milk with *some* orange juice.
This is optional, but I love adding a little coarse sugar to the tops of the pumpkin muffins before baking. I do this in a lot of my muffin recipes (both online and in my book) because it adds a sparkly crunch—just like real bakery muffins! You can use something like Sugar in the Raw or white sparkling sugar. And don’t forget my high-temperature trick, included in the written recipe and explained in the Notes below.
As instructed in the printable recipe below, grab a large bowl for the dry ingredients, a medium bowl for the wet ingredients, then whisk it all together. Expect a thick batter:
Fill the muffin liners all the way to the top:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
You can turn these easy pumpkin muffins into pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! Simply fold 1 cup (about 180g) of chocolate chips in the batter right before spooning into your 12-count muffin pan. Or try my mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
If you enjoy pumpkin + chocolate together, be sure to try my chocolate pumpkin muffins as well. For extreme chocolate and pumpkin lovers only!
More Pumpkin Favorites
- Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Pumpkin Cake
- Pumpkin Bars
- Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin Waffles
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Marble Pumpkin Bread
- Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Coffee Creamer
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Pumpkin Hand Pies
- Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ best pumpkin dessert recipes.
Print
Easy Pumpkin Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These muffins are adapted from my popular pumpkin crumb cake muffins and aren’t quite as sweet, making them the perfect “anytime” treat during the fall season. You could even add chocolate chips for extra tasty pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. No mixer required!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (113g/120ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut 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 (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (60g/ml) milk (dairy or nondairy)
- optional: 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, 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, and then whisk everything together just until combined and no flour pockets remain. Fold in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, 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 5 minutes in the muffin pan before enjoying.
- Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then heat up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk
- Pumpkin Pie Spice & Spices: 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 ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger. Do not leave out the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon that is also called for in this recipe. Depending how much you like ginger, you can skip or leave in the extra 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger that is also called for in this recipe.
- Can I reduce the sugar or oil? You can absolutely slightly reduce either or both, but understand that sugar and oil help produce moist, tender muffins and the results may be disappointing and your muffins could taste dry. For the oil, feel free to swap *some* for applesauce. You could also try substituting all or most of both sugars with coconut sugar.
- Other Optional Add-ins: Instead of chocolate chips, you can add 1 cup (about 130g) of chopped pecans or walnuts, or 3/4 cup (about 105g) of dried cranberries.
- Mini Muffins: For around 30 mini muffins, line mini muffin pans with liners or spray with nonstick spray. Prepare batter as directed and fill liners to the top. Bake at 350°F (177°C) the entire time (skip the initial high temperature) for 11–13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time. This trick makes beautiful bakery-style muffins every time.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I love all your recipes. I have been making the Simply Pumpkin Muffins and adding chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. They always come out perfect and moist!!
These were fab, very bouncy and moist and not too sweet! I added chocolate chips and found they all sank to the bottom during baking (which isn’t a problem at all haha, they make the bottom nice and melty) but how would you go about keeping chocolate chips even throughout the bake, especially with such a wet recipe as this?
Hi Erin, If your chocolate chips are sinking you can try tossing them in flour before adding them to your batter, or switch to mini chocolate chips instead. Glad you enjoyed them!
I’ve made these sev’l times but there always seems to be something missing and this time I figured out what it is…pure vanilla! Going to try another recipe and see what happens. Also, I added a cup of chopped walnuts and I wonder if I should’ve toaster them first. Thank you.
I made this and I don’t know what I did wrong, but it doesn’t have much flavour and the dough was really sticky. I had some friends taste test and they agreed that it was meh. I notice that a lot of people add sugary items and icing which is maybe what it needs. 🙁
Hi Ruth, Thank you for trying this recipe. How was the texture of the baked muffins? If they didn’t have much flavor, did you check the expiration dates of your spices? Dried spices lose flavor, aroma, and potency over time.
The pictures & video look like the muffins are sprinkled with raw sugar, but I don’t see it mentioned anywhere. Is it plain raw sugar or ?
Hi Blythe, We do add little coarse sugar to the tops of the pumpkin muffins before baking as an optional step (see post above for details). It just adds a sparkly crunch to the tops.
This is a great base recipe, YUM! I added a chopped up apple, toasted walnuts and a cream cheese chunk to each muffin. I also had some left over cream cheese frosting in the freezer that I added maple extract and milk to in order to thin it out to make a muffin drizzle.
I do have a question about the lack of baking powder. I have never baked a muffin without it! I went ahead and added 1.5 tsp. Is it intentionally left out? Maybe next time i’ll try it as written.
Thanks! I will definitely keep making this recipe!
Delicious! I’ve made these several times. Next time, I’ll try to add a dew drops of maple flavoring.
I made your blueberry muffins delicious. I wanted to eat a second one lol
I want to make the pumpkin muffins but I do not use Canola oil etc too much negative can I use olive oil as a substitute??? If not any other suggestions?
Thank you
Hi Marguerite, yes, you can use olive oil in place of the vegetable/melted coconut oil.
I use applesauce as an oil substitute in a lot of my baking and it comes out great. Its a 1:1 ratio.
This is my go-to recipe. I used more wheat flour than white, sometimes all wheat, TSP almond extract, doubled the pumpkin spice instead of added cinnamon, and used 50g maple syrup and 50g granulated sugar. Toasted pecans and walnuts. The muffins were divine. My best batch yet. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I was wondering if anyone make these with white chocolate chips instead of the semi-sweet chips?
Hi Paula, that would be great!
These muffins are delicious! They are moist and the amount of flavor from the spices is perfect. I have a question in general about muffins and cupcakes. Often times, my muffins (these did this) stick to the paper liner. Am I taking them out of the liner too quickly? Should I put a quick spray of vegetable oil on the inside of the liner? I have purchased non-stick paper liners and they do work. However, I have so many that are not non-stick that I’d like to use them up. Thanks for any tips you can share and for all the great recipes! 🙂
Hi Chris! You can try a quick spray, but they may fall off the muffins. The higher-quality liners are definitely better for this reason!
Great recipe, but I cut the sugar in half so it’s 8g per muffin instead of 16g. I also added extra pumpkin spice, pecans, and used half oat flour (whole grain) to make it a little healthier.
I like that it makes exactly 12 and uses the whole (15 oz) can of pumpkin. Going to eat half for breakfast and share the other half with my friends with some cream cheese icing!
Love all your recipes, and have made many of your jumbo muffins….is it possible to adjust this recipe to make pumpkin-banana muffins, and how would i do that? Thanks!
Hi Richard, we haven’t tested it but you should be able to replace some of the pumpkin puree with mashed banana. You could do the same (replace some of the mashed banana with pumpkin puree) in these banana muffins. Let us know if you give anything a try!
Thanks! I’ll let you know!
I tried making these as pumpkin banana muffins by using 3/4 cup pumpkin and 3/4 cup mashed bananas. Came out perfect! The banana plays very well with the pumpkin pie spice blend (homemade). Thanks for your advice!
I want to make a smaller batch of this exact recipe, (to be more precise, I have 140 grams of pumpkin puree) how do I properly cut down the rest of the ingredients?
I’d multiply everything by 0.412, and use only one egg.
My grandson’s favorite muffins are your easy Pumpkin Muffins, me too. I also like the WHISKING method.
Thank you
I made this recipe today. The muffins are decadent with a delicate crumb. I used Sally’s recipe for pumpkin pie spice as well. I am definitely making these again!
These are so delicious. I added cinnamon chips to give it a little extra spice but they are perfect just as they are as well.
These are the best! My boys look forward to this every year. We follow recipe to a T including using a scale, this is why I love Sally’s recipes as they include the weights. My boys love cream cheese icing so we top with that. Thanks!!
I loved these pumpkin muffins. They were so easy to make. Next
time I will double the recipe. My grandkids ate most of them and wanted to take the rest home.
I made these today with the kids and they turned out great. Nice flavor, high tops, perfect moisture.
I used homemade squash puree and still turned out perfect!
Excellent recipe!!! I wish I had ground ginger but I didn’t. I did use semisweet chocolate chunks and so happy I did. Can’t wait to make this again soon with the ground ginger. They even look almost professional. My toddler is a happy girl eating these!
What adjustments should be made ofr high-altitude?
Hi Donna, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
These muffins turned out great. I like that they call for modest amounts of white and brown sugars. I added mini chocolate morsels and a tsp. of vanilla. They were quite moist inside. I used silicone baking liners, baked for 22 minutes at 350 and they rose nice and high. Love your recipes!
Just made these this morning! Happy Fall, they were delicious 🤤
I don’t see anywhere where the calorie amount is per muffin.
Hi Lisa, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one too! I saw in the notes you could add dried cranberries. Could you add frozen or fresh whole cranberries? And if so, how much? Thanks!
Hi Kristin, you could certainly try fresh whole cranberries. (We’d avoid frozen, if you can, since they’ll release a lot of moisture and these are already very moist muffins!). If your cranberries are on the larger side, you may want to half/quarter them. Let us know how it goes!
These muffins are excellent! I added Toasted pumpkin seeds to the tops of mine.
Definitely a recipie worth saving to re-bake!!!
I love 💕 it.
These were too sweet for me. I would reduce the brown and white sugar to 1/3 cup each.
I followed the instructions exactly, and the insides of my muffins turned out gummy (almost like play dough). I tried baking them for 15 minutes longer than the recipe suggested, and they still seemed almost raw inside. I suspect the pumpkin purée and brown sugar added too much moisture to the batter.
Hi Alyssa, I’m sorry your muffins turned out gummy. Pumpkin and brown sugar do add moisture, but the muffins should still bake through. Was your pumpkin purée canned or homemade, and did you make any ingredient substitutions? Was your batter thick like what you see in the picture?
I had this very same problem. No substitutions were made. It was mush inside even after an additional few minutes in the oven.