These Healthy Pumpkin Muffins are fluffy, moist and perfectly sweetened. Made with oatmeal, fresh pumpkin and lots of fall spices, they’re naturally vegan, gluten free and oil free. The perfect breakfast or snack made in 1 bowl in under 30 minutes!
Yes… another pumpkin muffin recipe. But can there ever be enough pumpkin muffin recipes? Everyone has different muffin preferences, but today I’ll be sharing with you these moist, fluffy and perfectly sweetened pumpkin muffins that just also happen to be flourless, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, oil free AND refined sugar free.
This recipe took a total of eight tests. EIGHT!! I listed a set of requirements it needed to hit to make it to the blog. The very first one is NOT being gummy. In my experience, a lot of gluten free (especially with oatmeal) + oil free vegan baked goods are so gummy and have this weird sticky texture in my mouth… and my jaw gets so tired. The potato starch in these muffins bring a cake-y, fluffy and light texture so NO gumminess at all, so check. These muffins needed to be MOIST but not raw, like you know when you cut into a muffin and the bottom is all dense and wet? Nope not in these babies. And my third very important criteria was that they actually tasted like pumpkin and not just sugar.
Okay, now that I’ve covered what to expect from these delicious pumpkin muffins let’s get into how to make these delicious healthy pumpkin treats!
Ingredients
- Flax egg: Mix flax meal and water and wait for it to thicken.
- Pumpkin puree: I use E.D. Smith brand which is slightly more wet than other brands. If using another brand, you may need to add additional non-dairy milk.
- Maple syrup: paired with pumpkin = ♡
- Non dairy milk: To thin out the batter.
- Oat flour: makes these muffins fluffy and hearty.
- Almond flour: what makes these muffins so moist!
- Potato starch: helps absorb excess liquid from the pumpkin.
- Pumpkin pie spice: here’s my favourite homemade pumpkin pie spice blend!
And of course, baking staples like vinegar, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda.
How to make it
- Mix the wet ingredients.
- Mix in the dry ingredients.
- Divide batter between 8 muffin cups and bake!
Why start at a higher temperature to bake muffins?
I’ve used this method ever since my Tahini Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe, and have just always stuck with it. It creates a nice dome like effect on the top. If using smaller muffin tins, this method would help create a nice muffin top because of initial reaction with the baking soda, baking powder and heat that.
And the last step is simply just to let them cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes before digging in 🙂
How to Store Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
These pumpkin muffins are taste best eaten fresh but will keep on the counter in an air tight container for up to 2-3 days. The best method to store would be to freeze them so that they retain their moisture. To reheat, simply let them thaw on the counter at room temperature or nuke with a lightly damp paper towel covered over it for around 30-40 seconds.
These muffins are delicious as is with a slather of vegan butter or nut butter but you can also add in extra delicious ingredients like chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, walnuts or pecans for more variation. Add 1/3 cup of any of these ingredients to switch it up!
I hope you’re left inspired to make these Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Muffins! They’re seriously so delicious and perfect to make ahead of time for meal prep, to bring on the go and snack on when you’re feeling a lil’ snack-y. If you love muffins, I think you’ll also really like these One Bowl Tahini Chocolate Chip Muffins & Vegan Egg Muffins recipe! Or if you have some left over kabocha, try these recipes out:
If you recreate this Healthy Pumpkin Muffins recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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Healthy Pumpkin Muffins (Vegan + Gluten Free)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 muffins 1x
Description
These Healthy Pumpkin Muffins are fluffy, moist and perfectly sweetened. Made with oatmeal, fresh pumpkin and lots of fall spices. The perfect healthy breakfast or snack made in 1 bowl in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 2 tbsp water)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp pumpkin puree (150g)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (80g)
- 3–4 tbsp non dairy milk (45-62g)*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (10g)
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (10g)
- 1 scant cup almond flour (100g)
- 1 cup super fine oat flour (120g)
- 1.5 tbsp potato starch (16g // optional, or sub with more oat flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (7g)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda (3g)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (14g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven ton 425F. Grease or line your muffin tin.
- Make the flax egg and let it sit while gathering the other ingredients. Into a mixing bowl, add pumpkin puree, maple syrup, lesser amount of non dairy milk, vanilla and apple cider vinegar and whisk until combined. Add in the almond flour, oat flour, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt and whisk until combined. Depending on the pumpkin puree you use, you may need to add additional 1-2 tbsp of non dairy milk. The batter should be not too thick but not runny like pancake batter. See photos for batter consistency. Divide the batter between 8 muffin cups.
- Place into the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 F and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Be sure to rotate the pan half way during the baking time to encourage even baking. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick in the centre of one muffin, it should come out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Then carefully remove each muffin, place on the cooling rack and allow to fully cool.
Notes
- Helpful Equipment: spatula, muffin tins, mixing bowls, whisk, muffin liners
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: North American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 253
- Sugar: 19.31
- Sodium: 9.66
- Fat: 9.2
- Saturated Fat: 3.64
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.7
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 39.6
- Fiber: 3.7
- Protein: 5.46
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: pumpkin puree, kabocha, healthy muffins, gluten free
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
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You have truly “nailed it” with this recipe! I tend to use gluten products in my vegan baked goods, having been an avid baker for decades; but when I trust the recipe is healthier I do like to try it. So glad I did. I added 1/3 c chopped walnuts and 1/3 c chopped chocolate however, perhaps over doing your additions list just a bit. These muffins turned out so nice and high and also not gummy as you promised. Thanks for doing all the testing and delivering a great recipe. I used almond milk and took it to almost the maximum you suggested as I was adding both nuts and chocolate. So delicious and I want to vary with pepitas. Chocolate and pumpkin are so great together. I did also sprinkle a little turbinado on the top. Gilding the lily lol!
★★★★★