This is our best pumpkin muffin recipe! It’s easy to make, full of pumpkin flavor, and uses simple ingredients. They turn out beautifully every time!
Inspired by our favorite pumpkin bread, these muffins are slightly tweaked to make 18 perfectly moist, spiced muffins. With melted butter, plenty of pumpkin spice, and pumpkin puree (yes, canned pumpkin works perfectly), they turn out incredibly delicious.
If you can stir ingredients together with a spoon, you can make these pumpkin muffins!
Key Ingredients
- Pumpkin: Use pure pumpkin puree for these muffins. Libby’s or Whole Foods’ 365 are reliable store-bought options. If you have access to baking pumpkins, you can make your own puree. Here’s how to make pumpkin puree to help you out.
- Butter: Melted butter makes these muffins quick and easy to mix. I use unsalted butter and add salt to the batter. If you use salted butter, reduce the added salt (see tips below the recipe).
- Eggs: These add structure and moisture.
- Sugar: A combination of granulated and brown sugar gives the best flavor and texture. If using only one, go with brown sugar for its rich flavor.
- Flour: All-purpose flour works perfectly here.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: We use both for lift since the pumpkin puree adds extra weight. Level your teaspoons for accurate measuring.
- Pumpkin Spice and Vanilla: I use my homemade pumpkin pie spice that calls for cinnamon, ginger, and cloves (plus optional allspice and nutmeg). You can also use your favorite store-bought jar. Don’t skip the vanilla, it adds a really lovely flavor.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Pumpkin Muffins
Tip 1: Mix melted butter and sugars first. One thing I love about using melted butter in this recipe is that you can stir the warm butter directly into the sugars. This cools the butter slightly and helps dissolve any lumps of brown sugar (something I struggle with since we live in a dry climate).
Tip 2: Whisk the dry ingredients thoroughly. Use a whisk (or sifter) to fully combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. For the best rise and even texture, it’s really important that the leaveners are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Tip 3: Mix the batter by hand. I make these pumpkin muffins the same way I make banana muffins or pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another, then fold them together with a spatula. There’s no need for an electric mixer. A whisk and spoon or spatula work perfectly.
Tip 4: Divide the batter evenly. This recipe consistently makes 18 nicely sized muffins. Add about 4 tablespoons of batter to each muffin cup, filling them about three-quarters full.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
- Spiced Pumpkin Scones
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Easy Pumpkin Muffins
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These pumpkin muffins turn out perfectly every time and are made with lots of pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and melted butter. Canned pumpkin puree is great for these, or you can substitute homemade puree (here’s our pumpkin puree recipe, if you need it).
You Will Need
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (140g)
2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (260g)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, reduce to ¾ teaspoon if sensitive to salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice, see homemade pumpkin spice
¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (150g)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin, like Libby’s, or 1 ¾ cups homemade pumpkin puree (450g)
Directions
1Prep: Heat to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-cup muffin cup with liners. If your oven fits two muffin pans, line 18 cups. For only one pan, you will bake these in two batches.
2Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice until evenly blended.
3Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and melted butter. If you see any large lumps of brown sugar, break them up. Then, whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree until smooth and well combined.
4Combine: Add the dry ingredients, in three parts, to the wet mixture. Folding the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until you no longer see any streaks of flour.
5Bake: Divide the batter evenly between muffin cups, filling them ¾ of the way full (about 4 tablespoons in each cup). Bake for 16 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are okay).
6Cool: Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Store the muffins at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. Refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw at room temperature, and warm in the oven or toaster before serving.
- Salted butter: If you have salted butter, reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon fine salt.
- The nutrition information provided are estimates.
I haven’t made anything yet, because I need a couple ingredients. I will be making these muffins later today.
Wonderful! We hope you love them!
These were really good, I added 1 Tablespoon of Chia/Flax Seed to the mix. Will definately make again!
Fabulous and easy to make! Could I double the recipe? Also could I make it in a Bundt pan?
Hi Enid, Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed them. Yes, you can definitely double the recipe. As for a bundt pan, I haven’t tested it, so I’m not sure how the bake time or texture would change. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out.
The pumpkin muffins are the BEST! Earlier in the week I made this recipe into pumpkin bread. Today I used the gluten free 1/1 flour and they turned out just as well. The bread was devoured in one day. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Pat, Thank you so much. I’m really glad you enjoyed both the bread and the gluten-free version. That’s great to hear! It means a lot that the recipe has been such a hit in your house.
These were delicious! I followed your instructions to make homemade pumpkin puree with a couple of baking pumpkins, and these muffins were the perfect use for it! Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Hi, these muffins are absolutely wonderful with rich but not overpowering pumpkin flavor! Plus they are beyond easy to make. Have you made this recipe in a loaf pan? Do you think that it would bake all the way through without burning the edges?
Much Thanks
Hi there, you can make this in a loaf pan (us a 9×5-inch loaf pan or 8-cup capacity), and expect it to bake for 55 to 70 minutes. I also really love this pumpkin bread!
This recipe was really easy and fun! I had been wanting to make pumpkin muffins for a while, but never got to it. My favorite part was whisking all the wet ingredients together, SO SATISFYING. I’ve got 2 brothers, so next time I make this, I definitely have to double it! Anyway, thanks for the awesome recipe!
Yay! You are so welcome and we are thrilled that your family loved the recipe 🙂
We are so happy you enjoyed them, Willow!
Any ideas on how to make these gluten free? They sound great. Thks, Barbara
Hi Barbara, We have not tested this recipe with a gluten-free flour blend, however, I’d imagine they would work out well. If you do try this, use a standard 1:1 all-purpose flour blend.
Thank you for making a recipe that uses the whole can of pumpkin! Also, for those wondering, I substituted fresh milled flour (soft white) for 100% of the flour in this, and they were still great! I also made this into 6 regular muffins and 24 mini muffins and just baked the mini ones a few min less. Both were wonderful.
Hi Karis, I love that you turned some into mini muffins! Thanks for sharing your tips.
Baked these pumpkin muffins this morning, they are easy to make and just delicious.
Yay! Thank you for coming back to leave a review 🙂
Can I add walnuts to this recipe?
Hi Darlene, Walnuts would be lovely! I’d add about 1/2 cup.
Can you use dark brown sugar instead of light?
Hi Linda, Dark brown sugar is fine.
You guys are the best! I love opening your emails and finding all your easy-to-follow recipes. I love these pumpkin muffins, and I don’t know how Adam doesn’t weigh 400 pounds. Do you have any suggestions for someone who wants/needs to be sugar-free?
Hi Michael, Glad you enjoy our recipes. You can reduce the sugar a bit in these, but I’m not sure how well a sugar substitute would work out as I have never used them in my kitchen. You could try following the sugar substitutes package directions for how to replace sugar in baking recipes. These muffins are quite flexible, so you might find it works out well.