Pumpkin Muffins {Bakery Style!} – Chelsea’s Messy Apron

Luscious, bakery-style Pumpkin Muffins are dense, moist, and perfectly spiced.

Pumpkin spice is one of my favorite flavors, and we use it in more than just these delicious muffins! Check out our other recipes for Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Snickerdoodles! Go get the oven preheated!  

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

These Pumpkin Muffins are incredible — soft, moist, and so flavorful. This recipe is for classic, bakery-style muffins with a quick, crunchy top. We love this recipe exactly how it’s written, but this is also a great muffin to tweak and make your own.

You can add in anything from chopped nuts to mini chocolate chips. Just toss up to 1 cup of “add-ins” with the flour–and you can also increase the spices if you like a zestier muffin. Just remember to keep the add-ins small (like finely chopped nuts or shredded coconut).

Truly, these muffins just get better with time — the spices intensify and become even more flavorful!

Making Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

While these muffins are definitely a treat, a lot of fat and oil (that you’d find in a typical muffin recipe) is replaced with pumpkin. The spices also add so much flavor without adding extra calories. Additionally, these muffins call for coconut oil, which is a healthier oil choice, and eggs, which are loaded with protein and nutrients.

QUICK TIP

Healthy swap suggestion: Make healthier muffins with unsweetened applesauce instead of coconut oil. Just replace 1/4 cup coconut oil with 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce. (I wouldn’t recommend replacing all the oil.) Note that the muffins are more moist with this change. While not muffins, you might want to try this wildly popular Healthy Pumpkin Bread!

How To Make Pumpkin Muffins

• Generously grease the muffin tin. I don’t recommend muffin liners; the batter sticks to the liners.
• Measure the coconut oil when melted. Measure 1/2 cup of melted (not hardened) coconut oil. Then let it slightly cool (hot oil + eggs is not a good combo in this recipe!)
• Check the baking agents. Before spending time, energy, and money on baking, be sure that the baking soda you’ll be using are fresh. Here’s how to determine that.
• Pumpkin pie spice is a delicious combination of warming spices (including cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice). It can be found among other spices in the grocery store, or you can make your own pumpkin pie spice!

QUICK TIP

Use a good nonstick muffin tin for easy muffin removal. I can’t say enough good things about this muffin pan; these Pumpkin Muffins always come out perfectly!

Pumpkin Muffins

Luscious bakery-style Pumpkin Muffins are dense, moist, and perfectly spiced.

Pumpkin Muffins

Luscious bakery-style Pumpkin Muffins are dense, moist, and perfectly spiced.

Instructions

• PREP: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously grease a muffin tin with nonstick spray. Lightly dust with flour and set aside. (Don’t use liners; these muffins stick!) If using coconut oil, melt it then measure to get 1/2 cup. Set it aside so it can come back to room temperature.

• WET INGREDIENTS: Measure out pumpkin to get exactly 1 and 1/2 cups. Add to a large bowl (you’ll have a few tablespoons pumpkin leftover — the perfect amount for pumpkin protein shake or pumpkin overnight oats!).

• WET INGREDIENTS CONT.: To the pumpkin, add in 3/4 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup melted coconut oil that has cooled back to room temperature. (We want it melted, but not hot). Mix with a wooden spoon until combined and emulsified. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

• DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, whisk together 1-3/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/16 teaspoon cloves (if using), and any desired mix-ins (see Note 1). Stir until combined.

• COMBINE: Add 1/2 of dry ingredients right on top of wet and stir, with a wooden spoon, until combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until combined and there are no streaks of flour. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin tin cavities, using all the batter. (The muffin cavities will be very full!)

• TOPPING: In a separate small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons tightly packed brown sugar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Sprinkle this mixture evenly on the tops of the muffins.

• BAKE: Bake for 23-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center muffin (25 mins is perfect in my oven!). Don’t under-bake or these will be overly moist. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack to allow them to finish cooling. These muffins are best at room temperature, so allow time for them to thoroughly cool.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Pumpkin: Make sure to measure out the pumpkin — we only want 1-1/2 cups which is almost the full can, but you’ll have about 3-4 tablespoons leftover. We recommend using good-quality canned pumpkin. Canned, solid-pack pumpkin puree contains cooked pumpkin and nothing else. (Pumpkin pie filling, on the other hand, contains spices, water, sweetener, and other ingredients so that it’s ready to be made into a pie.) We highly recommend Libby’s® canned pumpkin (not sponsored).
Note 2: Add-ins: You can customize Pumpkin Muffins by adding in your choice of an add-in. Make sure it’s something small, such as mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut, finely chopped nuts, or raisins. Add in up to one cup of this extra ingredient.
Nutrition information does not include add-ins

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 12large muffins | Calories: 349kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 255mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 5562IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.