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Best Ever Pumpkin Muffins

So just to clarify, by BEST EVER, I mean best that I have ever tasted.  I know it’s pretty presumptuous of me to title any recipe of mine BEST EVER, and I’m sorry if you make a really good pumpkin muffin as well.

I’m not saying yours isn’t the best, but I can’t really know because I’ve never tasted yours, okay?  Don’t want to step on any toes here, I just want you to know how amazing these muffins really are!

Best Ever Pumpkin Muffins on a metal cake stand.

I’m pretty careful about adding that BEST EVER on to any of my recipe titles because I want to save it for when something really deserves it.  I get so many comments from LLK friends who’ve made them saying they totally agree with my BEST EVER claim too!

Best Ever Pumpkin Muffin with its wrapper pulled down and more muffins on a metal cake stand in the background.

I had originally intended to come up with some sort of glaze or frosting to go on these muffins, but when I saw how pretty they looked all on their own, and then tasted their perfection, I knew I had to leave them alone.  No frosting, no glaze, no drizzle, and not even a dusting of powdered sugar.

I love how puffy their muffin tops are, and if you’ve never baked with coconut oil, you won’t believe what it does for the texture of a muffin.  And don’t worry if you don’t like the flavor of coconut – pinky promise, you’d never ever know.  They are anything but dry, and perfectly sweet with a little bit of spice.

Best Ever Pumpkin Muffin with its wrapper pulled down and more muffins on a metal cake stand in the background.

I’ve made a few batches of these over the last month, and I’m pretty sure Little Boy #3 has eaten his weight in pumpkin.  It’s a vegetable right?  Breakfast, lunchbox treat, after school snack… Best Ever Pumpkins for everyone!

Best Ever Pumpkin Muffin with its wrapper pulled down and a bite taken out of it, with more muffins on a metal cake stand in the background.

Your whole house will smell amazing as these bake away in your oven, and I guarantee they’ll be a huge hit with whoever you choose to share them with.  Welcome Fall!

You can also make a mini version of these with a cheese cake filing. Take a peek and see how easy they are to make!

Print

Best Ever Pumpkin Muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.9 from 444 reviews

I’m telling you, these pumpkin muffins are the best I’ve ever tasted! Perfectly sweet with just a little spice and anything but dry!

  • Author: Julie
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 22 minutes
  • Total Time: 42 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place 12 paper liners into each well of your standard size muffin baking pan.
  2. Measure out the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, coconut oil and vanilla extract.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together. Do not over mix, just stir until everything is incorporated into the batter.
  5. It is helpful to use a large scoop (like an ice cream scoop) to evenly distribute the batter into each well. They will be nearly full. This will help give your muffins a nice puffy dome.
  6. Bake your muffins for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction If your coconut oil is solid, warm it up a bit so that it is in liquid form.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Muffin
  • Calories: 267
  • Sugar: 25g
  • Sodium: 209mg
  • Fat: 10g
  • Saturated Fat: 7.8g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 1.3g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 41g
  • Fiber: 1.8g
  • Protein: 3.4g
  • Cholesterol: 31mg

1,308 Comments

    • Thank you Linda! I wouldn’t use pumpkin pie filling as a substitute because it is ready sweetened and spiced. Usually the pumpkin purée is right next to the pie filling at Walmart. Hope you can find it!

      Reply
    • I made these with butternut squash that I just baked I had added a little sugar to the squash when I scooped it out of the shell. Only added a small amount maybe 1/2 cup. The squash was sweet so needed only a little sugar. They are delicious.

      Reply
      • Wonderful recipe.
        I used about 2 cups of mashed sweet potato that I boiled. It was not exact, and they were not smoothly mashed. I only used 2 tsp cinnamon for lack of other. I had no coconut oil , so olive oil was used. I used 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour, the rest was bread flour.
        A handful of walnuts, raisins were added.
        The basic recipe is so very good that many substitutions can be used.
        One of the best basic recipes out there.

      • I will try butternut squash next time. I just made the pumpkin muffins, but made some adjustments, since I am on a weight loss regimen. I substituted whole wheat flour, Trivia white and brown sugars, and used canola oil instead of coconut oil and they came out fantastic

      • this time i used butternut squash i turned out like the best kind of muffins in the world

    • Thank you for this! Just made these for kids class party. They LOVED them! You know they are great when the kids will have a 5 min convo about how the spice is just right 😉 Will be making these again for sure.

      Reply
    • I just made these pumpkin muffins. They have a delicious taste but the texture is a bit firm and dense. I made sure not to over mix. Wonder if there was too much flour. I loved the addition of the coconut oil!

      Reply
      • I saw what you meant about the stiff batter. I added a slash of half-n-half and that did the trick. They were fabulous. Thanks for your comment that alerted me!

      • Thank you for your comment about the half-n-half. The batter was a little thick and I was afraid the muffins would turn out too dense or dry so I added about 1/8 cup of sour cream (no half-n-half on hand). That did the trick. It’s the first time I make this recipe and YES, they are the best pumpkin muffins I’ve not only ever baked but also ever eaten!! Awesome recipe! *****

      • I’m making these now and recipe calls for baking soda… I usually use baking powder when making muffins so they rise… I’m wondering if that was the problem with previous comment…

      • If your batter was a bit stiff, you may have been over mixing without realizing it. Try adding the baking soda at the end.

      • I used 1/4 c of milk because my batter was stiffer with the baked pumpkin, just to moisten it. Also cut down the sugar by 1/2. Ran out of coconut oil so I topped it off with melted butter. still delicous!!

      • I made these except I didn’t have flour so I used white cake mix flour. I left out the white sugar, and baking soda. Had to use regular oil. They turned out beautiful and where sooo yummy. Thanks for your basics.

    • I just made these today and they are delicious. A good friend of mi e made these for us when we were visiting and I’ve wanted to make them ever since. I used a bit less sugar and a little more vanilla and they tasted great.

      Reply
    • These look great. Will try tomorrow with cooked pumpkin (gotta carve up what is left from Halloween). Do you think I can just substitute Gluten Free bisquick (and exclude the soda and salt) or other GF flour for the white flour? I am attempting to be more Gluten Free.

      Reply
      • I really can’t be very helpful on that substitution because I don’t have any experience with the Bisquick. Let me know how it goes if you decide to try it.

      • This may be a bit late to help you out, but I have to be Gluten Free. I have found that I use one of the Gluten Free baking flours. Bob’s Red Mill, the one to one mixture works great. I don’t like their all purpose flour because it makes baked goods taste like beans. There are many GF flours on the market. I use the GF flour in substitute for regular flour and add one teaspoon of Zanthum gum per cup of flour. So far all the regular recipes have turned out great. I don’t bother much with GF recipes. I make all kinds of muffins and am looking forward to trying these pumpkin muffins today. Using a carving pumpkin that I cooked and pureed.

      • I bake GF. I followed your suggestions and the muffins were perfectly delicious. I like nuts and coconut flakes so I added those to the recipe. This will definitely be a go to recipe.

      • A great gluten free option would be coconut flour. I used coconut flour because I follow the paleo diet and it was still amazing 🙂

      • First time I made these I cracked a double yoke egg. And it was the second egg that came out double yoke. The turned out super fluffy and and dense. I made them a second time. Double yoke again lol. Third time the eggs turned out normal. But the texture wasn’t as fluffy and dense. So ever since I added an egg yolk to the recipe.

    • These are excellent! I make these gluten free and egg free using Bob’s Redmill 1 to 1 flour and substituting egg for ground flaxseed . Add some pecans and they are AMAGING! I made 3 batches of these and froze them when I was pregnant. I would take a couple out at a time and let thaw on the counter or throw them in the toaster oven.
      These really are the best muffins ever!

      Reply
      • Now that I think about it, I think they do taste better the next day, but I can’t resist eating them warm either! Hope you enjoy.

      • Best pumpkin muffin recipe I have tried. I used whole wheat flour, only a half cup of granulated sugar and added toasted pumpkin seeds to the batter and the tops. Very happy with these.

      • I agree the muffins are delicious but they are out of this world a few days after baking! I made them according to the recipe.

    • Great recipe! Made these with my nephew and they tasted beyond delicious! I made them with real canned pumpkin puree (15oz) can purchased from Trader Joe’s. If you have one in your area you can purchase it there.

      Reply
      • Great recipe and texture but way to sweet for my liking. I did sub 1/2 butter with the coconut oil as I prefer the taste combo and it worked great. Will try again with less sugar (maybe half) and see how the come out. Also used whole wheat pastry flour which is all I bake with!

    • When I was in high school, my best friend and I found my mom’s cook book and made pumpkin muffins from a recipe in there, and my little sister was OBSESSED. That next fall, when she asked me to make them again, I couldn’t find the recipe. From then on, every year, I would try a new one, and they never were as good as the first. I came across your recipe about a year ago (I think), and when I sent a batch to my sister, she called me and said “YOU FINALLY DID IT!” They turn out so amazingly moist and delicious every time! Thank you for putting an end to my 10 year search for a great pumpkin muffin recipe!

      Reply
    • I doubled the recipe and left out 1/2 a cup of sugar and used Molasses because I did not have brown sugar on hand. I also used half coconut oil and half butter – these were AMAZING. So delicious! And the texture is perfect. Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
    • I have made these numerous times and they were delicious. I don’t know if you’ve modified it or what but they turn out terrible.
      Not enough flour.
      I wish I could add a photo. I’m an avid baker and I’m sad that these are different than before.

      Reply
    • This was a delicious moist muffin even with a few modifications. I used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 3/4 cup unbleached white flour, reduced the sugar by almost half, used egg-replacer instead of the eggs and added 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup raisins. So tasty even after 3 days. I will make this recipe again!

      Reply
    • By far the BEST EVER pumpkin muffins I’ve ever made. These are delicious, moist and were a huge hit at my house. Thank you for the great recipe.

      Reply
    • Truly. The. Best. Ever!

      It’s even been requested for birthday breakfast! The usual request is Crepes, there’s some competition now!

      Reply
    • There’s pumpkins since it’s Halloween 🎃 are around and you can low boil on 3 but cover so it’ll get soft quicker for it to get softer and keep poking til the pumpkin falls off fast!! I have a extractor machine for fruits and veggies for extra soft and it looks bright orange and it’s turns out like a whipped sauce,I use it fnstead of canned til pumpkins aren’t sold,then I use olive oil because it’s turned out moist in freezer everytime,everything, to me coconut oil doesn’t feel to me that it doesn’t go and I don’t buy it anyway!! It’s so far down to comment,but thought I’d answer here!!! So moist and yummy pumpkin muffins!! Made ice cream with fresh pumpkin puree too pouring Carmel on it to make it more easy to scoop,good and better for a doggy tummy ache too,anything pumpkin puree fresh,no can!! Can don’t look so good compared to pure!!

      Reply
  1. I tried this recipe tonight. The muffins were absolutely delicious, very moist, on the edge of sweetness, and with just a hint of spice. This is definitely a keeper. I could see keeping this recipe simply the way it is, or adding walnuts, or some chocolate chips for the kids. Thank you.

    Reply
  2. Any suggestions for substituting the eggs for a fully vegan recipe? I was thinking banana to act a binding/thickening but may change the flavor…

    Reply
    • You could try them with a banana instead of an egg, but I think they won’t rise quite as much so you might have a flatter muffin. Let me know if you do try it!

      Reply
      • I replaced one egg with ground flax. I use it to replace eggs often. 1 Tb of ground flax and 2 Tb of water = one egg! or use ground chia seed in the same ratio.
        I only replaced one egg but I am confident that you could replace both with the flax “egg”.

        I also replaced 1/2 of the oil with apple sauce. They turned out beautifully, moist but not dense and so much flavour! I am adding this one to the quiver of muffin recipes!
        OH SO GOOD!

      • I just made these this morning using the flax egg substitute and they are awesome! I am definitely sharing this with my vegan friends! Thanks for a great recipe!

      • you can use ground chia as well, that is what I use, 1 tbsp ground chia 3 tbsp water, they are referred to as a chia egg

      • Thanks for the tip to make these healthier. They look great, but they are so very unhealthy with so much sugar, fat and cholesterol, I’d feel “not” so happy afterwards!

    • Oh I used a banana before as substitute for an egg in a chocolate cake recipe and it was extremely noticeable. Idk if I would use it again unless you are going for the banana flavor.

      Reply
  3. Ooh!! If you say it’s THE BEST, I must must try! Love the use of coconut oil, and won’t you know it? I have all the ingredients on hand! Yipee!! My weekend “project.” Love when your house smells like fall 😉

    Reply
  4. DELISH!!! Even my husband praised them, and he’s a tough critic! Now to take them to the in-laws for thanksgiving dinner (if they don’t all get eaten 1st). I will be putting this in the “annual recipe bank” for sure. Love the coconut oil. I also used WWflour and cut the sugar a teeny bit to make them feel healthy 😉 thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  5. I have been on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin muffin and I think I finally found it! My only question is what kind of coconut oil do you use? Extra virgin or processed? So, flavored or unflavored? Thanks! Can’t wait to make these!!! Oh, and have you tried using fresh pumpkin instead of canned? Do you think I would need to alter the recipe at all if I use fresh since it has extra water?

    Reply
    • Hi Traci, my coconut oil just says “virgin” on the label. I haven’t tried using fresh pumpkin, but I made a batch today with organic pumpkin and noticed that it was much thinner than the can of nonorganic pumpkin I used in my last batch. I added another 1/4 cup of flour to the batter to help thicken it up, and they turned out just fine! I did notice that the organic pumpkin is more yellow, and the nonorganic is more orange, so I thought that was interesting! Hope this is helpful for you. Thanks for your questions!

      Reply
      • Hi Julie! I am in the hunt for making pumpkin muffins and came here. Now I need to decide on whether to make these or those mini cream cheese ones from the video. Maybe both 😉
        This caught my attention so I wanted to share what I learned from a post last year. Basically the USDA doesn’t make companies distinguish between pumpkin or squash. Libby’s pumpkin purée is pure pumpkin. I will always go for organic when possible but the organic I’ve picked up in the past was yellowish. Basically squash and not that deep rich orange color from Libby’s. So if I’m not roasting my own pumpkins I will reach for Libby’s. And besides I couldn’t pass up the deal at Costco for Libby’s pumpkin purée. Libby’s also words their product to be pure pumpkin and others, organic or not don’t. Hope that helps! Thanks for your post!

        http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-actually-in-your-canned-pumpkin-puree-ingredient-intelligence-69123

      • I used canola oil instead because my kids do not like anything coconut (and always know when I try to sneak in coconut oil in baked goods). I’m going to try using applesauce instead next time to reduce the overall fat.

      • Most cans of pumpkin have different types of squash mixed in. This is what causes the orange color instead of yellow. Common practice by the companies because there is not enough pumpkins grown to fill the demand. This is allowed by the FDA.

    • I used fresh “pie pumpkins” when I made these today, and they came out fabulously! I roasted the pumpkins and blended them with a splash of water once they cooled to room temperature. Then I refrigerated them for an hour before making the muffins. Delish!

      Reply
  6. I live in a place where coconut oil isn’t easy to find, so I’m thinking I’ll just use unsalted butter or another kind of oil. Is your coconut oil liquid or solid? Would I be better off cutting some butter in with the dry ingredients or just using vegetable oil with the wet? Thanks!

    Reply
      • Made them exactly as written and they’re perfect. Super easy to make. Wow – moist, tasty, and they look beautiful, too. Brought some to a neighbor who promptly ate 4 in a row! Can’t wait to make them again.

    • I have noticed recently both Sam’s and Walmart carry coconut oil and have ordered it from Amazon in the past when I couldn’t find it.

      Reply
      • Made these today. They are great for texture and easy. I discovered my coconut oil is unrefined and unfortunately it has a strong coconut flavor so I ended up with Pumpkin & Coconut Muffins. Would have preferred straight up Pumpkin. Will have to try again with the right one.

      • I stopped using unrefined coconut oil due to the strong flavor as well. Also it tends to taste soapy in foods when it’s cooked or baked.

    • may be a little late but I used butter because I don’t like coconut oil and they turned out fantastic. I kept everything else exactly as in the recipe. Oh and I just melted the butter in the microwave.

      Reply
  7. I made these last weekend for my neighbors. They were delicious! They were so moist. The only thing I added was a bit of cinnamon and sugar on top before baking, to form a bit of a crust. I think im going to make the muffins again this weekend for a few more people. These would be great as cupcakes too! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Rosie, I haven’t tried them with whole wheat flour but one of my readers has. Check out the comment above from Corrie. Hope you enjoy!

      Reply
  8. I just made these this afternoon and they are delicious! I made them with organic spelt flour instead of all purpose. The only difference i found was the timing…they were not close to being done at 20 min, so i put them back in for another 7-10min and then they were done. Thanks for this great simple recipe! 🙂

    Reply
  9. These. Are. Amazing. I used 2 cups of homemade pumpkin puree and the recipe made 18 muffins (maybe my muffin pans are small??) between 3 of us they were gone in 2 days… 🙂
    Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply
  10. I haven’t made these yet but am looking forward to doing so. Can I substitute the Coconut Oil for something else, such as butter? My husband and I are on cholesterol medicines?

    Reply
    • Shirley, not sure if this goes along with your diet restrictions, but you can use vegetable oil in this recipe rather than the coconut oil.

      Reply
  11. These are the best pumpkin muffins I have ever tasted!!!!! I had to use vegetable oil because I didn’t have any coconut oil, and they turned out perfectly- just as pictured! Thank you for sharing this recipe!

    Reply
  12. I just made these omg so good five stars for me. I added a sprinkle of pecans ,pumpkin seeds and brown sugar on top for a sweet crunch. These were totally amazing!!!

    Reply
  13. Hi. Ok I tried this recipe and used 1/2 sugar and 1/2 stevia and they came out great! Such an easy recipe and loved how the came out perfectly puffy! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  14. Just finished topping these beauties with cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts! They came out looking exactly like your pics and taste fantastic:-) Thank you so much and happy holidays

    Reply
  15. Great photos! These look delicious. Just double checking that the ratio of pumpkin puree (2 c.) to flour (1 3/4 c.) is accurate in the recipe. Most recipes I’ve seen use 3-3.5 cups of flour if using 2 c. of pumpkin puree. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  16. I made these this morning and was actually shocked that they were in fact the best pumpkin muffins ever! Seriously so amazing. I didn’t change a thing and would make them exactly the same way next time. Thanks for a fabulous recipe!

    Reply
  17. Incredibly moist and delicious! I doubled the recipe and subbed half the coconut oil for applesauce. It turned out very well like that. I cut back the sugar by a bit (1/4 cup less per recipe, so 1/2 cup less since I doubled it), since I added some chocolate chips. I highly recommend the addition of chocolate– as we all know, it makes everything better! 🙂

    Reply
  18. Also, I subbed an all-purpose gluten free flour and it worked wonderfully! These are some tasty, tasty muffins. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • I’ve made these twice with a gluten free flour substitute. They come out fantastic! Make sure to use a blend with xanthum or guar gum and not just flour and starch blend. Thank you for the recipe! You’ve made my GF pumpkin loving family very happy!

      Reply
  19. Thanks, Julie! These are the best pumpkin muffins ever. I made them for my son’s Thanksgiving Day party at school and they turned out perfect.

    Reply
  20. Absolutely delicious…thanks for sharing! I cut the sugar in half because I added dark chocolate chips and diced pecans and i think next time I could cut the sugar even more. I also used a pumpkin purée I made (2cups) instead of the 15oz can. They needed a little extra time to cook (28minutes), but are so moist and delicious it’s going to be tough to not eat all 12. A new favorite for sure…thank you!!!

    Reply
  21. Just tried the recipe and they turned out amazing. Although I added a little oatmeal, used whole wheat flour and had to use almond extract instead of vanilla. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂

    Reply
  22. Geez you weren’t kiddin when you said these are the best muffins ever. Just made them and I’m pretty excited! Super moist and delicious. I used veggie oil inplace of coconut cause that’s all I had. Used half of sugar and sprinkled a bit of raw sugar on the tops for crunch. YUMMMY 🙂

    Reply
    • Great muffins! I added a few “yummies” as my husband calls them to jazz them up a bit for a change, but they are just as good as written. I added chopped crystallized ginger, dark chocolate chips, and a few chopped pecans. Delightful!

      Reply
  23. I just made these and realized I was out of pumpkin too late so I used 3 ripe smashed bananas instead…. and you could just as easily call this post best ever banana muffins!

    And to the person who asked above, you can use ground flaxseed as an egg substitute for a fully vegan recipe.

    Thank – this recipe is a keeper!

    Reply
  24. These are amazing. I have a gluten free in the house and I am always on the lookout for recipes that I can use. I used my favorite blend of gluten free flour. One third white rice flour, one third brown rice flour, then the last third is half tapioca flour and corn starch. I added walnuts and chocolate chips. My gluten free daughter loved them… Thank you

    Reply
  25. These are absolutely incredible! I added chocolate chips to half, and wow! Both so so good. Thank you for sharing, i cannot get over how yummythey are!

    Reply

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