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.
Is it possible to make this nut-free? I’d like to make them for my toddler’s daycare class, but, I need to take into consideration any nut allergies.
Thank you!
Nevermind, I just saw the nut-free comment at the bottom! 🙂
YUM. Toddler and I both love them!!! SO fluffy! I microwaved all the wet ingredients (minus egg of course) instead of waiting on almond butter to soften. Thank you for another great recipe!!!
I am a pumpkin flavor lover. I am on a muffin kick for my little man. I made these this week. Froze 1/2 for later. Then I made them the next day to use up the rest of my pumpkin purée. I will admit I made more because I, myself, have been snacking on them when I want something sweet. These hit the spot for my pumpkin/sweet cravings! Luckily, my little man loves it too. My husband had also approved. An all around win-win. Tastes delicious and they were super easy to make. OH! Great heads up on the sunbutter swap that could make it a greenish color. I vaguely remembered reading that tip. Then went back to check after I noticed some green spots. Did not hurt that taste at all,
Hi, can I make this recipe without the maple syrup?
Just prefer to not add any honey or maple syrup at the moment as my lo is still below 1yo. Or would I still need something to substitute it like dates or banana puree or applesauce?
I think I would sub mashed ripe bananas or applesauce to help balance the flavor. Let me know how that works out if you try it!
I made these without egg.. subbed the egg for 1/3 c flax meal + 1/3 c water, used GF flour and PB. Not bad!
Glad to know that worked for you!
Delicious recipe. I used Sunbutter because my son’s school is nut-free and did not read the part about omitting the baking soda- but no one seems to mind the tie dye dark orange/green muffins. Really easy to but together and I topped with a couple of chocolate chips. Will make these again.
This recipe looks great! What do you think about using pumpkin seed butter instead of almond butter? Thank for you the great recipes and for making them accessible to us!
I haven’t baked with pumpkin seed butter so I can’t say for sure, but it’s usually a similar texture to almond butter so I would think it would work similarly!
Can I use something to replace the eggs? My son is highly allergic.
I don’t know that you can replace the eggs in this recipe since there are so many. I would look at using an egg replacer in this recipe: https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins/
I substitute flax eggs in all the muffin recipes on this site. They usually require a couple extra minutes in the oven, but come out great. Through trial and error I found it works in this recipe, but I add a bit of extra flour to prevent them from being too gummy.
Thanks for sharing that!
Can I use a regular muffin tin? Should I adjust my baking time or temp?
Yes, you can make them regular size to make 12 muffins. I think the baking time would be about 18=20 minutes.
Loved this recipe! It was super easy, I had all the ingredients on hand and the flavor is phenomenal (must love peanut butter – I made recipe the PB instead of almond butter!) I might end up eating them all before my little one.
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed them!
These muffins are fantastic. The combo of pumpkin and almond butter flavor is so tasty and different from every other pumpkin recipe. The pumpkin is more subtle in flavor here. They turned out super moist and fluffy.
Can these be frozen? Thanks for another great recipe!
Yes, store in the freezer in a freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature.
Holy crap, I love this recipe! I especially like the amount of eggs and almond butter in this and the very little flour. Baby has no problem eating carbs but it’s more challenging to get fats and protein in her. I imagine other types of puree would work too in place of the pumpkin (and the pumpkin spice)- what do you think? I just love the base of this recipe so would like to do other flavours 🙂
Yes, I think banana would be great and also sweet potato!
Ok so I tried it with peanut butter instead of the almond butter and banana instead of the pumpkin. Had to reduce the maple syrup by half because of the overripe bananas I used. It turned out great! So fluffy!
This receipt tastes more like almond butter than pumpkin. I questioned the high amount of AB compared to P, but I followed it anyway. I used organic almond butter, not sure if that made a difference. Is your measurement correct of 3/4 cup AB and only 1/2 cup P?
It’s the way we’ve always made them.
These are absolutely phenomenal! I made them with Sweet Potato instead of Pumpkin, and they turned out so fluffy and delicious. My toddler also gobbled them up 😀 Thank you so much for this recipe!