This pumpkin muffin recipe has been my go-to recipe for years. Light and moist, perfectly domed and with a lightly crispy top, they are my idea of the perfect pumpkin muffin!
When it comes to pumpkin muffins, I’m a purist. My go-to pumpkin muffin recipe for years has been these Simply Perfect Pumpkin Muffins. They are the best pumpkin muffins I have ever tried! They are the first thing I crave when the weather cools. Slightly warm. With butter. And a cup of tea.
So what makes this muffin simply perfect? These muffins are perfectly pumpkin and simply spiced (just a good spoonful of cinnamon). They are lovely and moist, not greasy and heavy, like pumpkin muffins can sometimes be. These mix up easily, with no butter to soften, as they use oil instead. And finally, these muffins bake up perfectly domes, so they’re always pretty (and pretty counts!).
Tried, tested and reliable, this is a great recipe to enjoy at home, or since it makes a large batch, to make for bake sales or to have lots to share with friends, family and/or neighbours :)
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here are the simple ingredients you will need for these muffins …
White Sugar – it may seem like a lot of sugar, but remember that you are making 18-20 muffins. Be careful reducing the sugar, as sugar in baking recipes do more than sweeten. Sugar is responsible for contributing to moist crumb and extended shelf life.
Vegetable Oil – I swear by vegetable oil for baking, so I do recommend it here. That said, any neutral tasting cooking oil will work here.
Pumpkin Puree – this would be canned pumpkin puree generally. Be sure not to use Pumpkin Pie Filling, which is spiced. You can certainly make your own pumpkin puree and use it here, if canned is not available.
You will also need – Eggs (4), all purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda.
Recipe Video
FAQ
Can I use other/more spices?
Like I often say, in your kitchen, you can do what you like! I believe that sometimes less is more and these muffins are consistent with that thought, I think. Simply spiced, allowing the pumpkin flavour to shine. I would always encourage you to try the recipe as written at least once and then decide if you’d like to add more spices next time you make them :)
Can I use whole wheat flour/gluten-free flour/less sugar/applesauce instead of oil, etc.?
Possibly, but I haven’t tested this recipe with all the possible alterations people might like to make. Just keep in mind that altering the ingredients will almost certainly result in a different outcome and sometimes, not in the best of ways. Whole wheat flour will result in a dense muffin. Reducing the sugar will result in less sweetness and also less moistness/shelf-life of your baked muffin etc.
I can’t buy canned pumpkin here. What else can I use? Any cooked squash, sweet potato, yams etc. should work with these muffins, in equal quantity as the pumpkin.
Can I halve the recipe?
Yes you can, as I realize this recipe does make a large batch. They freeze really well, if you can’t eat them all up right away. What I do though is bake the big batch and freeze some and gift some. A good pumpkin muffin in the Fall makes a great gift ;)
Do I need to use muffin liners?
No, As there is a good amount of oil in these, you can bake them without paper lines without problem. Just allow to cool in the pan a little more before removing.
Can I freeze these muffins?
Absolutely. These muffins freeze beautifully! Simply pop into a freezer bag or container to freeze. To thaw, just set on the counter for 15-20 minutes or pop in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.
Recipe Tips
- I especially love these muffins freshly baked, when they have a lovely, lightly crispy top. While the crispy top diminishes as they sit, the muffin itself is still lovely and moist and every bit as enjoyable.
- When filling the muffin cups/liners, you’ll be filling them to almost the top of the liner, leaving just a bit of the liner exposed. If you divide the batter evenly between 18 muffin liners, you’ll have the perfect size.
- Be sure to spray/grease the top of your muffin tin before lining and adding batter, so these large muffins release easily.
- If you like raisins in your pumpkin muffins, feel free to stir in some plumped raisins before adding the batter to the tins. To plump the raisins, simply soak in very hot water for 15 minutes, then drain and dry before adding to the batter. About a 1/2 cup of so is about right, or more, to taste.
Top Tip
Be sure to fill any empty muffin cups half full with water before putting in the oven, to ensure even baking.
Get the Recipe: Simply Perfect Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups (400 g) white granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (340 ml) vegetable oil, recommended, or canola, sunflower or other neutral-tasting oil
- 1 3/4 cups (400 ml) pure pumpkin puree, not pie filling
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. (not convection/fan-assisted). Prepare 18 muffin cups by greasing (both the cup and the top of the tin) or lining with paper liners and lightly greasing top of tin. (These are fairly moist muffins, so paper liners are not really necessary unless you prefer.) Set prepared pans aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the eggs slightly.
- Add the white sugar, oil and pumpkin and beat thoroughly until well combined and smooth. Add the flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Divide the batter between 18 muffin cups. You'll be filling them almost to the top of the cup or liners, with just a bit of the liner showing.
- Bake at 375° F. for 22 – 25 minutes, testing with a cake tester to be sure they are cooked before removing from oven (If undercooked, they will collapse as they cool, so be sure to test. They will look done even when they’re not actually). Muffins should be very lightly browned on top and around edges when cooked. My oven is usually 25 minutes.
- Allow to cool in pans at least 5 minutes before removing from pans, as they are quite soft when hot.
- These are at their best on the day they are baked. They lose their crunchy top as they sit too long at room temperature. If you aren’t eating right away, freezing is a good option to keep the crunch.
Notes
More Pumpkin Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Just made these beautiful recipe! Very easy to make and bake and it tastes great! Very uncomplicated. Thank you for sharing it!
So glad you enjoyed them, Lilit :) Thanks!
This recipe is amazing! I’ve used it to make banana muffins too, and they’re delicious. Thank you so much!
So glad to hear, Krista! And I have to ask of course, how do you adapt it for banana muffins?
Hi Jennifer, how do you recommend thawing from freezing and eating? Leave it in the fridge overnight and eat the next day? Reheat in microwave? Thanks!
Hi Shal, If I only want one, I generally just take it out of the freezer and set it on the counter for 20-30 minutes. If I want it faster, I will pop in the microwave for just 10 seconds or so. For a whole frozen bag or container, yes, I would probably pop in the fridge overnight, then onto the counter to take the cool edge off them.
Turned out awesome! Thanks!
Happy to hear! Thanks :)
This is my go-to recipe for both pumpkin muffins and banana muffins (substitute the same amount of banana for the pumpkin). I also add a tablespoon of vanilla, and it’s absolutely perfect. Thank you! :D
So glad to hear, Ren! And I love the idea of using it with banana, too. I’ll be trying that :) Thanks!
Hey Miss Jennifer
I just used your recipe to make the muffins and I have zero regrets! They are absolutely amazing! I used fresh pumpkin and added a tablespoon of brown sugar to the mix instead of the full two cups of white sugar, and it’s fantastic! Definitely keeping this recipe for future use!
Hi Dan, so good to know! I have zero experience starting with fresh pumpkin (canned pumpkin is just too handy here :), so great to know it doesn’t need pre-cooking. So much easier. Thanks so much!
Best pumpkin muffins we ever tasted! I replace 1/3 of flour with powdered chia seeds & add 1/2 tsp of nutmeg & 1/2 tsp of ginger & sprinkle brown sugar on top before cooking! MMmmmmMmmMmm soooooooo gooooood!!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much :)
I have a fan assisted oven. Baked for 20 minutes and they were a bit over cooked. Next time will reduce temperature. ….. that aside, they tasted delicious. Thanks for the recipe :)
Thanks Shaz and yes, all of my recipes are written for non-fan-assisted time/temp. Reducing 25 degrees F should do the trick for fan-assisted.
Hello, do you cook the pumpkin before making it into a purée?
Hi Rama, this recipe is assuming you would be using canned pumpkin puree (which is cooked, of course). I understand canned pumpkin is unavailable in some areas of the world. If you are in that area then yes, you would cook the pumpkin and puree before using in these muffins :)
Hey Rama – I just made these muffins and they turned out fantastic. I didn’t cook the pumpkin at all. I gutted the pumpkin on the table (removing the seeds of course), puréed it in the blender, and went from there. I’m sure they would turn out great if you pre-cooked the pumpkin, but from my experience it’s not necessary
Absolutely brilliant recipe, I couldn’t believe how easy, my nephew tells everyone he hates pumpkin 🎃 he had 4 before I told him lol. I am going to try carrot next v
So glad to hear, Collette! Thanks so much :)
Just a quick message, do you think I could use any other type of sugar? Here in Scotland/ uk we use caster sugar in baking which is finer also all purpose flour is equivalent to our plain flour do you think you could use self raising and take out baking powder ?
Although your measurements are perfect I would be worried to change it.
I’m going to try carrot ones and also apples, will let you know how they turn out !!😄
Hi Collette, so Google is saying that caster sugar can be used 1:1 for the white sugar, if you prefer. It may change the texture slightly, but probably not significantly. As for the flour, my thought would be to stick with the plain flour + baking powder, as self-raising is also salted and this recipe has no added salt (though there is some sodium in the pumpkin). Using self-raising may result in a too salty muffin. Hope that helps :)
Thanks I can’t believe I’m just getting back ! I did as you suggested and used plain flour and just used granulated. Here we don’t use a lot of pumpkin 🎃 unless in season but I have substituted it for bananas and my son can’t get enough of them ! Yesterday I mixed banana and pineapple together as didn’t have enough banana anyway turned out great going to try apple next. Thanks jennifer
So glad to hear, Collette :) Thanks!
I made this and it’s really amazing. I added nutmeg, allspice and 1/4 of sea salt. I used the left over butter nut squash we had for dinner. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thanks so much, Corrie :)
Thank you so much for sharing this Jennifer!! My first-time-ever-muffins turned out to be a 100% success on the Thanksgiving potluck <3 they are amazing, thank you so very much!
So glad to hear, Lada! Thanks so much :)
Hi there !
This recipe for pumpkin muffins really caught my eye…so much so that I will be making them to share after our Sunday Thanksgiving day service.
I wondered what your thoughts would be about dipping the tops in melted butter and then sprinkling with white sugar OR a dollop of cream cheese on top OR any other ideas you may have and would be willing to share…
Many thanks
Sharin
Hi Sharin, I know it’s hard to believe this without having tried these muffins, but these ones need absolutely nothing else. Not even a smear of butter on it. These are already a simply perfect pumpkin muffin, just as they are and doing anything else too them would be unnecessary. Hope you’ll trust me on this :) Your guests will love them!
Do you think the recipe would still turn out if I halved the amount of sugar??
Hi Matricia, as a general rule, you can probably reduce the sugar in muffins/cakes by 20-25% without creating significant issues. Do note though that in addition to reducing the overall sweetness of the muffin, reducing sugar will also reduce both the moistness and shelf-life of the finished muffins. Reducing by 50% is moving into territory that will likely affect the quality of the finished muffin more significantly. As I’ve never done it myself, I can’t tell you exactly what that looks like. The only way to know is to try it and decide if the finished product is acceptable to you.
I halved this receipe and it turned out great! Made 10 large muffins. I did not reduce the cinnamon and added 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg and allspice. Lovely muffins! Will definitely make again!
So glad to hear, Lisa :) Thanks!
I am missing October and the pumpkin flavored everything, was excited to find this recipe. My son and I love these muffins! Feels like fall in this freezing winter weather here. Thank you for sharing your recipe :)
I miss October, too :) So glad you are enjoying these. Thanks!
I made these muffins for the first time, and they were good. The second time: I added 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, and they were AMAZING! It’s a great recipe, thank you so much Jennifer!!!
Sounds delicious, Jen! Thanks :)
These are amazing! I added a cup or so of gently crushed pecan nuts and they were awesome!
So glad you enjoyed them, Sarah :) Thanks!
I had pumpkins I wasn’t able to carve for Halloween so I cooked them and pureed them. Not wanting to make generic pumpkin pie I searched high and low for a basic simple pumpkin muffin recipe.
Low and behold yours was the winner.
So simple. I had to double the recipe as I was short 1/4 cup of puree from what id thawed already so I made a tonne of minis along with the normal size.
10-12 mins for the minis seems sufficient to give them a nice golden brown colour!
Huge hit. My husband and 1 year old daughter put back so many! My husband even grabbed a big one straight out of the hot pan because he couldn’t wait!
Can’t wait to see what the real judge, my 10 year old son, thinks of the muffins when he gets home from his bio dad’s!
I have one more small pumpkin left to cook and I know what I’ll be using the puree for!!! ❤️
So glad to hear, Lindsay! Thanks :)
These are wonderful muffins and so easy to make. I am a calorie counter, do you know how many calories are in a muffin.
Thanks Scott and so glad you enjoyed them. My recipe card software calculates the calories to 202 (it’s displayed in the header of all the recipe cards as “Energy”). I would suggest running through your favourite calorie counting tool yourself though, as I can’t vouch for the accuracy (and would depend on how many muffins you got from a batch).
Thank you for this amazing recipe- I have been making these muffins constantly since finding it- always a hit in my house!
So glad to hear, Nicole :) Thanks!
These are fantastic muffins! And easy to make!
I made these last year and they got rave reviews from the recipients. Decided to repeat this year with same comments!
Made 6 regular muffins (for us!) and 48 mini muffins.
So glad you are enjoying them! These are the only pumpkin muffins I ever make :) Thanks!
Lovely recipe. I had a can of pumpkin in the cupboard that I needed to use. Now I have bought more canned pumpkin just to make this recipe (plus my cat loves pumpkin). The muffins were very light and moist and tasty.
Thanks so much, Annika! So glad you enjoyed them :)
Sorry Jennifer, in my previous comment I forgot to ask how many raisins do you recommend adding to this recipe?
I think 1 1/2 – 2 cups of raisins would be good :)
I plan to try this delicious sounding recipe. I love the idea of adding raisins that have been plumped up with added alcohol or liqueur. Can you recommend what alcohol or liqueur would taste best with pumpkin and how much of it to add with the hot water?
Hmmmm … my first thought was some sort of nut-based liqueur (maybe hazelnut), or there’s the maple one (Sortilège) or some more basic ones – rum or whiskey. Depends on your taste :) Enjoy!