Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Easy, healthy pumpkin muffins made with whole grains, natural sweetener (maple syrup) and real pumpkin! These muffins are fluffy and delicious.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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We caught our first cool fall breeze this week. Do you know what that means? It’s pumpkin muffin time.
I snapped some new photos of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe as I satisfied my pumpkin craving. These pumpkin muffins are perfect for chilly fall mornings and afternoon snacks.
They’re healthier than most, since they’re made with whole wheat flour and oats, sweetened with real maple syrup or honey, and call for coconut oil or olive oil instead of butter. Believe it or not, this healthy pumpkin muffin recipe yields light and fluffy muffins.
These pumpkin muffins wouldn’t be complete without plenty of warming spices, including cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Most “pumpkin spice” flavor comes from the spice, not the pumpkin!
I love these muffins with a spread of almond butter, peanut butter or pecan butter on top. Nut butter adds some extra protein, which means that I’m not hungry before lunchtime. If you’re going pumpkin-crazy this time of year, enjoy your muffin with a homemade pumpkin chai latte.
These pumpkin treats have the magical power to convert “healthy muffin” skeptics into fans. Let’s make some!
The Best Pumpkin Muffins
Five reasons to love this pumpkin muffin recipe:
- These muffins are easy to make with basic ingredients. Only one bowl required!
- They’re made with 100% whole grains, yet they’re fluffy and delicious. No one will know the difference.
- They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, rather than loaded with refined sugar. The maple syrup (or honey) offers a touch of extra flavor, which I love.
- These muffins feature a few of your favorite warming spices so they taste like your favorite pumpkin latte.
- They freeze well for later, too. Just defrost individual muffins in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, or until gently warmed through. You don’t want to overdo it.
Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Notes & Tips
Change it up. Add nuts, chocolate chips or chopped fruit cranberries or crystallized ginger. See recipe notes for details.
Simplify the recipe. Substitute 2 teaspoons store-bought pumpkin spice blend for the individual spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice). Or, if your spice drawer is empty, simply use 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and call it good.
Craving a sweet topping? Liz topped these muffins with my maple glaze from my pumpkin scones recipe, which sounds marvelous.
This muffin recipe is special diet-friendly. You can easily adjust this recipe to make it vegan, dairy free, egg free and/or gluten free. See the recipe notes for details.
Watch How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Baking Tips for Success
How to Measure Flour
How you measure your flour is important. Why? If you measure incorrectly, you could end up with up to 50 percent extra flour, which will make your muffins dense, dry and flavorless. Use the spoon and swoop method:
- Gently stir your flour to loosen any clumps.
- Spoon your flour into the measuring cup with a big spoon or a flour scoop. Do not scoop up the flour directly into the measuring cup.
- Level off the top of the cup with a knife. Repeat as necessary.
Use Baking Soda, Not Baking Powder
They are not the same thing. Both are leaveners that help your baked goods rise (baking powder contains some baking soda, but that’s a long story). For ideal results, always follow the recipe and measure carefully.
How to Stir Your Batter
This muffin batter is super simple to stir together by hand, and that’s how I recommend making these muffins. Why? Whipping your batter will make the flour’s gluten protein too strong, yielding tough muffins.
I know it can be tempting to use a stand mixer or hand mixer when it’s within reach. Please don’t! Follow the instructions below and you’ll end up with light, fluffy muffins.
More Pumpkin Treats & Fall Muffins
Craving more? You’re going to love these recipes:
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread (like these muffins, but in bread form)
- Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Healthy Banana Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
Please let me know how these pumpkin muffins turn out for you in the comments. I love hearing from you, and hope these pumpkin muffins become your new favorite.
P.s. That beautiful mug in the photos above and below? That’s handmade by my friend Margaret.
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Easy, one bowl, healthier pumpkin muffins made with whole wheat grains and naturally sweetened! These pumpkin muffins are as light, fluffy and delicious as their coffee shop counterparts. Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk)
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice or cloves)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour**
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus more for sprinkling on top
- Optional: 2 teaspoons turbinado (raw) sugar for a sweet crunch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs, and beat well. Add the pumpkin purée, milk, pumpkin spice blend, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt.
- Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins***, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with about a tablespoon of oats, followed by a light sprinkle of raw sugar and/or pumpkin spice blend if you’d like. Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. These muffins are delicate until they cool down. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan.
- These muffins taste even better after they have rested for a couple of hours! They’ll keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my honey-sweetened pumpkin bread.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
**Flour alternatives: White whole wheat flour works great, if you can find it. Whole wheat pastry flour yields extra light and fluffy muffins that are delicate until cooled. All-purpose flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour blends work as well.
**Change it up: You could really go crazy with add-ins here. After stirring in the flour and oats, gently fold in up to ¾ cup chocolate chips, chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts, and/or some chopped dried cranberries or crystallized ginger.
Serving suggestions: These muffins are great on their own, with a pat of butter, or spread with almond butter. They would also be fantastic with homemade pecan butter or coconut butter.
Make it egg free: Readers report that these muffins turn out well with flax eggs!
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup, flax eggs and non-dairy milk.
Make it dairy free: Simply use your non-dairy milk of choice.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend works well instead of the whole wheat flour. Or, use 2 ½ cups certified gluten-free oat flour instead.
Make it oat free: Simply omit the oats. No other changes necessary.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet. Choosing olive oil instead of coconut oil will reduce the saturated fat content; total fat content will remain the same.
Update September 24, 2019: I removed white whole wheat flour as an option simply because I can’t find it in stores any more. I also upped the amount of spice from 1 ½ teaspoons to 2 teaspoons.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi Kate, and Cookie,
I just wanted to say that I made these Pumkin Muffins today, and absolutely love them! They are so delicious, tasty, and filling, and they were super moist thanks to your expert tips and techniques. I added 3/4 cup chopped Macadamia and Walnuts for some added goodness, and filled the house with such mouth-watering and spicy aromas. Thanks for this amazing recipe :)
Wonderful to hear!
Great pumpkin whole wheat muffin recipe. Light and fluffy yet filling and not too sweet. Recipe was easy to follow and made small adjustments (added some pecans, flax seeds and zucchinis and a bit more flour and oats to make the dough less watery).
Thank you, Laura! I appreciate your review.
I made this with the GF option you listed and egg free (used egg replacement) due to allergies. Also used coconut milk and my home-canned sweet potatoes. I was worried these would not rise well due to the GF but they rose just fine; because these are GF, I did get 9 muffins instead of 12 but the consistency was great. As usual with GF baked goods, once the muffins were cool, they were moist but not gooey. Enjoyed the recipe – I plan on using this again and build on it to keep in the freezer. Thank you for the recipe.
I was wondering about adding protein powder to make this more of a breakfast muffin. Any suggestions?
I haven’t tried it, sorry!
We liked these! I used canola oil and quick oats since I have one kid who doesn’t like rolled oats.
This is the first time that I impulse-baked upon seeing this recipe in my inbox and all its reviews. It’s the perfect amount of sweetness with the turbinado sugar on top, and my new guilt-free snack to have with coffee! Thank you, Kate!
You’re welcome, Annie!
This is the best sweet baked good I’ve made since becoming vegan about 6 years ago. Flax eggs and olive oil worked fine. When I opened my ground ginger I found that it was empty, so I grated a little fresh ginger into the batter. I doubled the other spices. So good!
Can I swap out applesauce for the coconut oil?
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
These were delicious! I used half honey and half maple syrup for the sweetening. I also used EVOO and did not find the taste overpowering. I do wish they were a tad less sweet and a bit more pumpkiny — I wonder if I can try lowering the honey and substituting with more pumpkin purée? I’ll definitely be making these again.
That’s great to hear, Natalie! I appreciate your review.
I’m really loving baking for my 9 mo baby, but I’ve only made things that use bananas for the sweetener. Do you have any suggestions for subbing bananas for the maple syrup? Thanks! PS. I love these muffins and have made them prior to my baby. They’re a family fav :)
I love these! I used applesauce instead of the coconut oil, and added some frozen cranberries.
Delicious. I’ve made them both ways but prefer them without oats. Any calorie count available?
Hi Ann, the nutritional information is below the notes section.
Did I miss seeing the nutritional values in the muffin recipe?
Hi Trish! It’s below the notes section of the recipe.
These were amazing!! My little girls love pumpkin bread and this was a much healthier alternative for them! I was wondering, could oat flour be used entirely by itself?
I would suggest using my How to Make Oat Flour for help with how to convert the recipe. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Another great recipe. Thank you! White whole wheat flour is available at Target and at Kroger-owned stores – Harris Teeter in my area.
What size of canned pumpkin??
You won’t need the entire can, but 15 oz can will give you more than one cup of pumpkin.
Great recipe, easy and not too sweet but not bland either
Love, love, love! Made these today and used EVOO, could not taste it at all! I also added raisins – delish. Big winner for me and my almost 4yo! I will 100% be making again!
Wow so good! I only did 1/3 cup honey and I think it’s sweet enough. I made mini muffins at 12 minutes. Will def make again! My toddlers loved them!
I usually dont have recipe fails. These were awful. I followed recipe exactly. They did not rise they stayed in exact shape of batter i put in tins. They are very dry. I used olive oil option and did not put sugar on top. As i read comments ( after baking 1st mistake) most comment have some substitute! Will not try sgain sorry
I’m sorry to hear that. Was your baking old?
I live in India and bought a tin of Libby’s Pumpkin puree (for $10!) especially to make these. SO glad I did.
The muffins are tender, delish and are perfect with the maple glaze … Also with all the healthy ingredients packed in it … they’re as healthy as a salad!
I’m going to add in chocolate chips the next time I make them!
Made these with the coconut oil and some raisins. The kids and I loved them!
This recipe didn’t work out for me. The coconut oil overpowers the pumpkin and even though I doubled the spices, the recipe tastes chalky and flat.
I’m sorry to hear you were disappointed. I appreciate your feedback.
A sign of Fall in our house, this is our go-to pumpkin muffin recipe. We use NY maple syrup maple syrup because we have a great source. Thank you for sharing it – so yummy!
Soooooo good! I used spelt flour (because that’s what I had on hand) and they were amazing! Light and airy, perfectly sweet, and moist. Perfect afternoon snack with a cup of tea.
I tend to bake items with unsweetened apple sauce to replace oil/eggs. Would that work in this recipe? Thank you! I am very excited to try it out!
Great recipe! I followed it exactly and the muffins are amazing! Thank you!
Thank you, Emily!
This recipe worked out great and muffins had good texture. I used half all purpose and half wholewheat flour and went with a scant 1/2 cup of the maple syrup and both my 1 year old and 3 year old ate them.
That’s great to hear, Stacey! Thank you for your review.
These were SO good! My daughter is on a strict no dairy/no gluten diet. I made these with flax seed eggs and gluten free flour. They were DELISH! My husband and I went crazy for them. My daughter didn’t like them…I think that the oatmeal was a turn off for her. Have you ever blended the oat meal into flour? I was thinking of trying that next time. Not sure if I should use the same amount though.
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed them, Tiana!
Perfect! Thank you, Cookie & Kate! I substituted an equal amount (1/2C) of brown sugar for the maple syrup/honey and it was just as good! Added 1/2 C. of chocolate chips, and sprinkled King Arthur Baking Co.’s sparkling white sugar on top. Whole wheat, pumpkin, and oat goodness with the right amount of sweet and chocolate.
The 1C pumpkin is an odd measurement, as most cans of pumpkin pureé are 1 3/4C. Could you add a 2x recipe adaptation? Cheers!
loved these! Can’t wait to see if the grandkids like them!
Great to hear, Louise!
The best pumpkin muffins! They are light and tasty. Just wondering, if I follow the original recipe, what is the calorie count per muffin?
Hi Beth, the nutrition information is below the notes section. I’m glad you loved this recipe!
These were wonderful! I made them vegan with flax eggs. I was worried that they would be too sweet with 1/2 cup maple syrup, but they were just right. I sprinkled oats, but not sugar on top of them. I actually used butternut squash because orange squash is orange squash to me!
Thank you for sharing, Susan!
I made these last night, and used 1/2 honey and 1/2 the amount of pure maple syrup. I also added 1/4 cup of brown sugar to make it slightly sweeter. Also, used 1/2 the amount of vegetable oil and 1/2 virgin olive oil, including whole wheat flour.
Hello
I have enjoyed a fair share of your recipes and was eager to try out this Healthy Pumpkin Muffins recipe to use up my pumpkin puree supply. Unfortunately, I found the muffins very bland, with a spongy texture. :(
I’m sorry to hear that. I appreciate your feedback.
Batter was to dry — did not spread out when baked. I would add more milk next time. 1/2 c honey and not very sweet. Fine for healthy muffins but if you like a sweeter muffins add sugar or other sweetener. I did not add sugar to top as the recipe directed.
Has anyone tried making this as a loaf instead of muffins? I see there is a pumpkin bread recipe posted also, but it is missing the oats etc., which makes these muffins awesome! Thanks!
Love them! Made with honey and all greek yogurt for extra protein.
What size can pumpkin?
15 ounce can, but you will only use the directed amount. I hope you enjoy these muffins!
I’ve made these a few times now and they are a huge hit! The recipes works to do a 1 1/2 amount so you can use a whole can of pumpkin puree as well. I use the coconut oil, maple syrup and almond milk and organic whole wheat flour. Perfect every time!
I thought these were really yummy and had a great texture. My changes… 1. didn’t have a full cup of pumpkin puree (more like 3/4 cup) so added 2 mashed bananas. I make your healthy banana bread all the time and 2x the amount of bananas, so knew this could handle a little more moisture. 2) I didn’t have oats so skipped that part but opened a packet of instant oatmeal and sprinkled that on top
My only feedback is that is was too light on the spice factor for me. I would probably go 3 teaspoons spice – I want more pumpkin pie flavor! But texture/taste was spot on. Thanks!
Love them. To make it even healthier,substitute the honey for dates.
Kate, Thank you for a delicious recipe. I make these muffins often.
Your cookbook just arrived as a Christmas gift to myself. Can’t wait to read and meal prep wonderful dinners and sides.
Last week I gifted a thrift store casserole dish with your veggie lasagna. My friend can’t stop thanking me.
I’m not a fan of super sweet so I added 1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut and only a 1/4 cup of the maple syrup and it was perfectly delicious. This is a family favorite now. Thank you!
I tried these used honey and maple syrup as didn’t have enough honey. turned out really well, my family enjoyed , as well put in raisons. nuts would be nice too. definitely making again. I didn’t have olive oil, so used vegetable oil . still worked. had made for xmas morning
made again for the 2nd time doubled the recipe and freezing for later very well liked in the family and they are moist.
I looked up this muffin. I was interested in your recipe. I had everything in my pantry. I used the coconut oil. They are DELICIOUS! I told my daughter and she’s going to make them.
I was just wondering if you were know the calories per muffin?
Hi from England.
Made your muffins today.
What a hit!
They turned out perfect and delicious.
I’ve already passed on your recipe.
Thank you so much
You’re welcome, Marion!
These are amazing!! Light, fluffy, and flavorful, which is saying something considering that I grind my own flour (I used spelt in these) so baked goods can get SUPER dense. These are going into regular rotation for sure.
Just made these exactly as you said and I added chocolate chips. Absolutely delicious! These could be a breakfast muffin or an afternoon snack.