With just a handful of nutritious ingredients, these Healthy Pumpkin Muffins are a treat that we love to make and enjoy each fall for breakfast, snack time, or as a simple side dish for dinner. And it’s easy to adjust for allergies as needed!
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
This easy muffin recipe is loaded with nutrients and the batter simple stirs together in a bowl or blender. Plus, the muffins bake up in just 14 minutes! We make a few batches of these muffins each fall when pumpkin fever is running high—and if I’m lucky, I get to stash some into the freezer for future days.
I love this recipe even more because you simply stir the ingredients together in a bowl—no fancy tools or a pile of bowls needed. It also tastes, great, is super easy, a great way to use up leftover pumpkin, and would be a great one to make with the kids if you like to have them in the kitchen with you.
We love to eat these plain, topped with a drizzle of honey, or even topped with a smear of cream cheese to transform them into pumpkin cupcakes. And you can make one simple adjustment to make them added-sugar-free as a baby muffin.
Ingredients You Need
To make this pumpkin recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients so you know what to have on hand or to pick up from the store.
- Whole-wheat flour: Or you can trade in a gluten-free flour blend.
- Almond butter: Or you can use peanut or sunflower seed butter.
- Pumpkin puree: You can use canned or homemade pumpkin puree. (Do not use pumpkin pie filling.)
- Vanilla extract
- Neutral oil: Such as canola or avocado. You could also use melted coconut oil or butter.
- Maple syrup: Or honey for kids over age 1. You can also use the same amount of applesauce to make this muffin recipe added-sugar-free.
- Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon: For lots of flavor.
- Baking powder and baking soda: To help the muffins rise nicely.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make these simple Pumpkin Muffins. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full information.
- Preheat oven and grease a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray. Gather all ingredients.
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend well. OR add to a large bowl and whisk well to thoroughly combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Spoon the batter into muffin tins. (Be sure to grease the tin well with nonstick cooking spray. I find that to be better than using muffin liners, which may stick to the muffins.)
- Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
TIP: The muffins are done when they are set on top, have little cracks, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
Protein Muffins with Pumpkin
The nut butter and eggs in these muffins lends each one almost 3 grams of protein, which is pretty good for a little muffin. Each muffin also has a range of balanced nutrition which makes them a nice snack or meal component.
They are very moist and not too dense, which makes them a nice texture for toddlers who may struggle with the texture of bread.
TIP: Cut them into small cubes for younger toddlers as needed for easier chewing.
Can I make these Pumpkin Muffins nut-free?
You can use sunflower seed butter instead of the almond butter called for in the recipe, but know that there seems to be about a 50/50 chance that the finished muffins will turn green. If you do use sunflower seed butter, I would recommend omitting the baking soda to reduce the likelihood of this happening. (They’d still be safe to eat, they’re just a funny looking color!)
How to Store
You can store these Pumpkin Muffins in an airtight container or storage bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge. We like to let these cool fully and eat them at room temperature or chilled.
If freezing in a freezer bag, lay flat so the muffins are in one layer so they’re easy to remove from the bag one at a time—or thaw evenly if thawing the whole bag at once.
Best Tips for Success
- To make this pumpkin muffin recipe nut-free, use sunflower seed butter and omit the baking soda.
- To make egg-free, use a product like Just Eggs instead of something like flax eggs.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature.
- You can use pureed butternut squash instead of pumpkin puree.
- Use canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Add ¼ cup raisins, cranberries, or chocolate chips to the batter for extra flavor. Add extra pumpkin spice or even a little ground ginger if you like.
- Eat these plain, topped with a drizzle of honey, or apple butter.
- Let the almond butter sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to ensure it’s not too hard when it’s time to stir.
- Use the same amount of applesauce in place of the maple syrup to make these added-sugar-free.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear what you think of the recipe if you try it, so please comment below with your thoughts!
Healthy Pumpkin Mini Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or avocado)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray.
- Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and stir for 30-60 seconds to thoroughly combine. Or use a blender and blend well.
- Spoon the batter into muffin tins. It should be about 1 ½ tablespoons of batter in each one.
- Bake 14 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in muffin pan. Remove and serve.
Video
Notes
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or freeze in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months. Serve warm or chilled.
- Add ¼ cup raisins or chocolate chips to the batter for more flavor.
- Nut-free: Use sunflower seed butter in place of the almond butter and omit the baking soda.
- Gluten-free: Use cup for cup GF flour in place of the whole wheat flour.
- Use canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature.
- Eat these plain, topped with a drizzle of honey, or apple butter.
- You can use honey instead of maple syrup if you prefer for kids over age 1.
- Use ¼ cup applesauce in place of the maple syrup to make these added-sugar-free.
Nutrition
This post was first published November 2017.
I love these. I don’t bother measuring the almond butter because it’s a pain to scoop out. My toddler eats them up on the first day and then gets pickier throughout the week. Sometimes I put honey or jam to entice him.
Not sure if it’s because they are less moist (I usually microwave the ones from the fridge for a few seconds) or he isn’t always in the mood for almond butter? Doesn’t matter, I happily finish them off.
I have olive oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil, and canola in my kitchen. What is considered neutral oil? Which one do you recommend using? Or does it not really matter? Thanks!
I typically use canola for this recipe.
Turned out delicious and so very moist. I’ve been looking everywhere for an all wheat recipe as avoid giving my lo all purpose flour! Just didn’t have enough pumpkin purée so used some carrot purée s as well! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Next up is your wheat bread recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Can I use peanut butter instead of almond butter?
Sure
Super easy recipe and delicious! My LO loved it, your recipes are amazing!!
These are SO good and moist! My toddler loves these! You think it’s possible to sub the pumpkin puree for apple sauce or another puree? Just thinking of how else to make variations of this same muffin. Thanks!!
I’m so glad! I haven’t tried this, but usually well mashed ripe banana, roasted sweet potato, and applesauce works similarly to pumpkin puree in baked goods. Applesauce is a little wetter though, so you may want to use a little less.
This is probably the 5th recipe I’ve made from your site this month, and they are all fantastic! I loved this one and so did my 1.5 year old. Great flavor and texture. Thank you for your amazing recipes for growing toddlers!
Hi! Love this recipe as is for my kiddos – but wondering if I could sub applesauce for the oil, or if that would ruin the consistency? Thoughts? 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe – it’s so lovely!!
I think you could or just use additional pumpkin puree
I used sunbutter and made full size muffins. The recipe is wonderful and healthy but for some reason my muffins turned green!?
Here’s what I mention in the post about this: “You can use Sunbutter instead of the almond butter called for in the recipe, but know that there seems to be about a 50/50 chance that the finished muffins will turn green. If you do use Sunbutter, I would recommend omitting the baking soda to reduce the likelihood of this happening. (They’d still be safe to eat, they’re just a funny looking color!)”
Can I use regular butter instead of nut butter? Would anything change? Would the recipe need to change?Would the nutrition facts change much?
I haven’t tested it that way so I am not sure if it would work exactly the same. And yes, the nutrition info would change since nut butter has more protein than regular butter (though since it’s distributed throughout the whole batch, I don’t think it would be a giant difference.)
How long do I bake for if I use a regular muffin pan, not a mini one? Thanks for your reply! This looks yummy!
I would guess in the 18-20 minute range!
will this recipe work with flax eggs? my kiddo has an egg allergy but since there are quite a few eggs in the recipe, i’m not sure if it would work? I’ve only ever subbed for 1 egg max . thanks!
I don’t think this is a good candidate for flax eggs due to the mix of ingredients.
So fluffy and light! Thanks for the awesome recipe aw always!
Amazing Recipe Amy. I tried this just few days ago, but I used regular butter. Lol.. and it came out really buttery because of the regular butter, but delicious! I just refrigerated just to control the butter. Added almond butter in the grocery list 😉 . Thanks for sharing yummy recipe! My toddler really enjoyed them! I realized if I used less butter when using regular butter, should have worked just fine.
Yum!! Both my 15month old and I both love these. They are delicate, with an almost cake-like texture, and with satisfying pumpkin-y spice flavours. I only have a standard muffin tin at this point but other wise I’m following the recipe exactly. I also really like that there’s more protein and fat than flour in this recipe. It’s now in my ‘keepers’ recipe file!
I wondered if you ever tested mashed banana (frozen & thawed, or fresh) with this recipe? I have some leftover frozen bananas that I would love to use in baking because turns out that my little one doesn’t love smoothies at this point.
Thanks again!
Hi! I haven’t used bananas in this recipe but if you search “banana muffins” in the little search bar on my site, you’ll see a lot of options to use yours up!