Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Healthy Pumpkin Muffins contain no refined sugar and make the most delicious pumpkin spice muffins. Packed with the warm spices you expect, they are a no-guilt, healthier treat for breakfast, snacks, or dessert in the fall.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email, and we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get delicious new recipes from us every Friday!
What to Love About Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Refined sugar free, which means no added refined sugar.
- Quick and easy to make for fall breakfasts or snacks.
- Soft and tender muffins with pumpkin spice flavor.
- A healthy “anytime” treat you don’t need to feel guilty about!
With a handful of simple ingredients and one bowl, these simple muffins are delightful to have on hand for the season.
While I don’t see myself ever giving up my pumpkin bread, or traditional pumpkin muffins, and most definitely not pumpkin scones, I reserve these treats for special days, holidays, teatime, or visiting with friends.
Speaking of teatime, these healthy muffins are perfect with a cup of warm tea on chilly days. In fact, TeaBloom thinks so, too, and offers you, dear reader, a coupon for their fabulous tea. I love pairing Earl Grey with pumpkin muffins. What is your favorite pairing?
These healthy pumpkin muffins let me treat myself and my family with little guilt whenever a pumpkin spice craving arises. It’s an “anytime” pumpkin muffin!
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients
These pumpkin muffins are simple to make and require only a handful of ingredients you may already have on hand. The exact ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cooking oil: A neutral oil is best, but olive oil and melted coconut oil work well.
- Maple syrup: I love the combination of maple flavoring with pumpkin, but you can also use honey to sweeten the muffins naturally.
- Large eggs: Bring structure and protein to the muffins
- Pure pumpkin puree: Be sure to use canned pumpkin instead of pumpkin pie mix, which has added sugar and spices
- Pumpkin pie spice: If you don’t have this blend on hand, you can substitute 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cloves (or allspice).
- Baking soda and salt: For leavening and flavor
- Vanilla extract: Isn’t almost everything better with a dash of vanilla?
- Flour: I use white whole wheat in this recipe, but whole wheat pastry flour will make these muffins even lighter and fluffier. All-purpose flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour blends work too.
- Optional Ingredients: You can add chopped nuts to these muffins or even sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of turbinado raw sugar on top for texture and beauty. I normally do not top these muffins when baking them for the family, but I do when making them for friends and neighbors!
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Muffins with No Refined Sugar
Step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here’s a quick overview:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and grease or line a 12-cup standard-size muffin tin.
- Whisk oil and maple syrup together, then whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, spices, soda, vanilla, and salt for the wet ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients until just incorporated into the batter.
- Evenly portion the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 5 minutes at 425°F. Without opening the oven, reduce temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 18 to 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin as they are tender.
Storing Pumpkin Muffins
Keep these pumpkin muffins in your refrigerator for up to 4 days or even in the freezer for quick, easy, and healthy options when craving a seasonal treat.
FAQ
You can store these muffins in an airtight, covered container at room temperature for a couple of days or refrigerate them for up to four days.
Absolutely! They freeze well in a freezer container for up to 3 months for quick and healthy snacks, ready made!
I like to bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F to help the outside edges set, giving you a beautiful domed top. Reducing the oven temperature allows them to bake more slowly for a soft and moist crumb. But you can most definitely bake them at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middles comes out mostly clean.
No refined sugar usually means that a recipe is sweetened only by natural sweeteners. These muffins are sweetened with maple syrup, but honey can easily be substituted if you prefer.
More Healthy Recipes You May Also Enjoy
SAVE THIS AND PIN IT FOR LATER!
If you are not already, you can follow me on Pinterest and keep up with me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. If you make this recipe, I would love it if you would tag me in your photos and leave a star rating below!
To be notified of new recipes, subscribe to my e-mail list. It’s free, and you’ll also receive a free e-book of our reader’s favorite recipes.
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cooking oil olive oil, melted coconut oil, etc
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cup flour I used white whole wheat
- 2 teaspoons turbinado raw sugar for topping but completely optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and grease a 12-cup standard-size muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray, or line with paper cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil and maple syrup, then whisk in the eggs. Add the pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, baking soda, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Add the flour and using a spoon or rubber spatula, incorporate into the batter until it’s just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle raw sugar over the top if desired.
- Bake for 5 minutes and then without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F F and continue baking for another 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
- Remove from the oven and set the muffin tin on a rack to cool. The muffins are tender so it’s best to let them cool before removing from the tin.
Notes
Storing Pumpkin Muffins
- These muffins hold up very well at room temperature for a couple of days or refrigerate for up to 4 days. For longer storage, store in a freezer container for up to 3 months.
Flour Options:
- I’ve used white whole wheat in this recipe but whole wheat pastry flour will make these muffins even lighter and fluffier. All-purpose flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour blends work too.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
These were wonderful! We love pumpkin bread & muffins but my favorite recipe has so much sugar in it. These is a much better replacement, especially for snacks & breakfast. The flavor & sweetness is not sacrificed at all by using maple syrup. I used fresh pumpkin puree because I had it available. I also managed to get about 18 muffins instead of 12 (perhaps because I added chopped nuts which made the batter bulkier). Wonderful recipe, thank you so much!
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed them. It’s wonderful when you can have both flavor and better for you ingredients! Thank you for trying the recipe and letting me know your thoughts!
I made this pumpkin muffin recipe today. I substituted the oil for 1/2 cup melted butter and used einkorn all purpose flour. Whole these were baking the house smelled amazing. Muffins turned out moist and delicious.
I will probably use honey as the sweetener on the next go. And possibly adjust and add yogurt to add some additional protein.
Great recipe, I will make these again.
I only have fluted silicon cups (I have a toaster oven.) how should I adjust cooking time/temps?
Hi Janet, I’ve not tested these muffins in a toaster oven (its on my wish list), however, muffins do tend to bake faster in a toaster oven. If I were testing them, I would preheat the toaster oven to 400 degrees, bake for 4 minutes, and then reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Baking time will vary depending on the oven. I would bake for 9 minutes and then check to them to see if the the tops spring back and access the baking time from there. If you try them, I’d love to hear how they turned out!
Can you use almond flour
Can you use almond flour
Hi Nancy— that is a great question, but I haven’t tried this recipe with almond flour. I know it would with gluten free all purpose flour.
These muffins were delicious! I made them with coconut oil and did 6 jumbo muffins. They turned out so good. Not overly sweet. I added pecans to a few and chocolate chips to a few and both were great!
These muffins were delicious! I used coconut oil, all-purpose flour and maple syrup. I added chocolate chips to half the batter because I’m a chocolate-holic. I would’ve added them to the whole batch, but I wanted to see what they tasted without the chocolate. They had just enough sweetness with the turbinado sugar.
Would the muffins work with an egg replacer due to anaphylactic allergy? I also have to make it GF. I know that’s a challenge but most recipes are a challenge in our house 😆
Hi Donna! I know the recipe works well with gluten free flour, most of the readers are using Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 flour, but I haven’t tested it with an egg substitute yet. I did come across an article from a health food market I frequent on the best egg substitutes in baking. It’s a great article with lots of choices. Here is the link to PCC Markets: https://www.pccmarkets.com/taste/2013-03/egg_substitutes/. If you try any of these, I’d love to hear how they turned out!
I know it can be challenging and I completely understand. Some in our extended family also have both gluten, nut, and egg allergies. I’m so happy you are looking for alternatives!
Will oatmeal flour work
Hi Rena, although I haven’t tested this recipe using oat flour, I wouldn’t recommend it. Oat flour is usually best with cookies and brownies as it is more crumbly.
Best recipe I have found to make GF pumpkin muffins. I used Bob Red Mill GF 1:1 flour, sugar for maple syrup and avocado for the oil. I topped with a sprinkle of crystalized sugar and chopped pecans. Instead of oiling a muffin pan I used the silicon baking cups. I made 10 muffins that were perfect. The silicon baking cups are a must for all the muffins I make.
Hi Lee! I can’t tell you how happy your comment makes me! Thank you for sharing the specific ingredients you used as well as the tools. I’m craving those chopped pecans right about now! Thank you for trying the recipe and letting me know how it worked out for you.
Could you make mini muffins? And if so, how long and at what temperature?
Hi Marcie! I’ve not yet tested these as mini muffins, but when I do, I will bake at 350 degrees F (without the temperature change like the larger muffins have) and bake from 9 to 13 minutes, but watch them carefully. As you know, it’s super easy to overbake mini muffins. Hope this helps.
Looks like a recipe I will enjoy! Do you think I could use applesauce in place of oil? Or maybe 1/4 c applesauce and 1/4 c of oil?
Hi Nancy! I have not tested this recipe using unsweetened applesauce, but it is usually a good substitute for oil. If you try it, I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi,
Could you substitute oat flour instead of regular flour?
Hi Jill, I love using oat flour but in my experience, it doesn’t work well for muffins, better for cookies and brownies, otherwise they become crumbly.
This is a really good recipe. I’ve made a lot of pumpkin muffin recipes and this is now the favorite. I used honey as the sweetener and all purpose flour. Just had one, delicious.
Thank you, Emily, for trying these! I love them too. Thank you for also sharing the sweetener you used.
You’ve made my day! Thank you, Emily for trying the recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thank you also for sharing which sweetener you used.
Made these muffins today. I used coconut oil, regular white flour, and molasses since I didn’t have maple syrup on hand and they came out moist and delicious. They weren’t as sweet as my go-to pumpkin muffins (probably due to the molasses) but my kids and I didn’t mind the lack of sugar. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Heather! Thank you for trying the recipe and sharing your substitutions– and I agree with you, maple syrup is a bit sweeter than molasses. But I LOVE the molasses variation!
Will agave work in this receipe?
Hi Ann, agave will definitely work in the pumpkin muffins.
Do you need to use pure maple syrup?
Hi Henrietta! I do prefer to use pure maple syrup as it is less processed.