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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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Best Ever Pumpkin Muffins
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
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!
Ingredients
- 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
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place 12 paper liners into each well of your standard size muffin baking pan.
- Measure out the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, coconut oil and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together. Do not over mix, just stir until everything is incorporated into the batter.
- 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.
- 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
Danielle says
These are sooo amazing!! I’ve made them twice in one week because my friends loved them so much! Thank you for such a great go-to recipe 🙂
Julie says
They never last long, so good thing they are so easy. Glad you liked them as much as we do!
Vera says
Fantastic muffins! I used homemade pumpkin puree and also added 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. 1/2 of the batch I added dried cranberries. Very moist and flavorful and a definite keeper.
Diana says
These were so good it took me forever to get to the bottom of the page, I guess I’m not the only one who loves this recipe!
Linda says
Mine are in the oven now. But just a suggestion. Mention earlier in the recipe that you need to melt the cocoonut oil before using. In the ingredient list would be good. (Coconut oil, melted) Or at least “*” it in the directions. Those of us not accustomed to bakimg with coconut oil may not know that. I saw the last line too late.
Julie says
Thanks for that tip Linda, I’ll edit the recipe to be more clear.
Colleen says
I made these last night with pumpkin puree that I made. Used the coconut oil, added walnuts & some chocolate chips. I will say that I don’t ever measure the spices – you can never have too much cinnamon! …. They are deeeeeee-lish.
Julie says
Wonderful Colleen!
Melissa Weakley says
oh my goodness I cannot say enough about these. now I always have to put my own little twist on everything so I doubled the cinnamon because we love it. I also added a third egg because I doubled the recipe and I don’t exactly measure it to the exactness of everything I also added a little extra vanilla and since I used my own homemade pumpkin that I processed myself from a Cinderella pumpkin I used 2 full cups of pumpkin and it was not a puree–it was somewhere in between a puree and how you would grate carrots for a carrot cake—super moist and so yummy without any kind of additional frosting or butter. doing it this way I doubled the recipe and it made almost 30 muffins and I baked mine in silicone baking cups– honestly every holiday season from now on these will be replacing the traditional pumpkin bread because they are so much moister the way I did it as well as the fact that they bake less than 30 minutes—thank you thank you thank you and yes in my opinion they are definitely the best pumpkin muffins ever
G says
Such a fantastic recipe. These are my go to muffins for
the forseeable future 🙂 thank you!
Diana says
Oh yes ! I made a batch of these for my elderly mother to have for an easy breakfast and she loved them so much that I am now making a third batch for her in just over a month. I have never been very fond of muffins until now. You have a convert. Thanks for posting.
Joey Yang says
I am not a big fan of pumpkin desserts, but WOW! I used actual pumpkins, but they were from pre-Halloween ago so they were a bit dry after I took them out of the blender. Since I didn’t have anything on hand, I used apple juice for a little more juice – plus a tad bit of milk. They turned out good, and don’t even need icing or anything! I wasn’t sure I’d like the flavor so much, so I topped them off with a glaze. SO NOT NEEDED. These were amazingly sweet already, and so moist. I have never had anything that was this moist before. Can’t wait to try these again without the apple juice. I think that’s what threw off the flavor a bit & made them taste a tad like gingerbread. Amazing recipe, Julie & thanks for sharing! Definitely going in my recipe book! =D
Julie says
Glad you loved them Joey!
Nicola says
I was so excited at the sound of your pumpkin scones as I had fresh pumpkin in my fridge. I was disappointed to see that you used canned pumpkin…. Is it not readily available where you are? I like all my cooking to be from fresh ingredients when ever possible. Maybe an option of how to use fresh in your recipe would be nice. 😊
Julie says
Hi Nicola, we definitely use more canned pumpkin than fresh here, but I have had some readers say they have made this recipe with fresh pumpkin with great success! You can check out other comments to see what worked for them, but I think they just roasted their fresh pumpkins, scooped out the flesh and used the same amount called for in the recipe. Hope this helps!
Ruth says
I used frozen pureed pumpkin from our garden but they’re completely interchangeable. I drain it before freezing (and sometimes after thawing if it’s still too wet) but it’s still definitely not as dry/solid packed as canned so be prepared to bake your muffins longer (like 25 minutes or more depending on your moisture level).
Bonnie Lenhart says
Hello! Really good muffins! They didn’t look as smooth as the pictures above but VERY tasty! Took to work for our all day Xmas pot luck, and were a big hit. Thanks!
Donna says
Great Muffins ! I made them using Bob Red Mill’s gluten free 1:1 flour and they were delicious and moist. had to bake them a few extra minutes. Can’t wait to try the next batch with raisins.
Julie says
Thanks Donna, good to know!
Carla M says
I made these muffins numerous times over the past 3 months.
The first time I used grape seed oil, the next times a combination of butter and/or olive oil, just butter, vegetable oil. The last times I finally had coconut oil on hand and that’s what I now use. The muffins tasted perfect each and every time. I add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger to it. Sometimes I add part whole wheat and ground flaxseed to make them healthier. I topped them with a caramel and gave them to many neighbors, friends, teachers and health care providers for the holidays and they ALL raved about them. This is my go to recipe for the holidays, much easier than making cookies for everyone. With or without this caramel they are awesome.
This is the caramel topping I use which you could make as thin or thick as you’d like (longer cooking is thicker but do not overcook or you will make candy)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Combine all in heavy sauce pot. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir until syrupy. Cook a little longer on lower heat if you want it thicker.
Thank you so much for this recipe.
Whatever you have left over is perfect to use in crepes or to dip apples in.
Julie says
I am LOVING that caramel topping idea! Thanks Carla! Glad you like them.
Hannah says
These are the best! You were right! I followed the recipe to a T and they turned out exactly as you described! These will definitely be a go-to from now on! Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Julie says
You are so welcome Hannah. Glad they worked out so well for you!
Janet Reed says
Hi, I made these last night and they’re great! Is there a calorie count available — or should I assume they have no calories since I didn’t see one on the page?
Julie says
Sorry Janet, I do not list out nutritional information for my recipes. Glad you enjoyed the muffins!
Jacqueline Christon says
I made these to your exact recipe and they came out great but too sweet for me. I tried again with half the amount of sugar and they didn’t rise at all. I tried again half the sugar, new baking powder, definitely didn’t over beat, again flat. Is it the sugar which is helping them to rise? How do I get the same results but less sugar?
Thanks loads
Julie says
Hi Jacqueline! That is a great question. Yes, the amount of sugar in baked goods does affect the rise. It plays a part in the leavening process along with the eggs, and baking soda. Here is an interesting read about the role of sugar in baking if you have a minute! http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-sugar-affects-baking.aspx?pg=1
Jacqueline Christon says
Many thanks Julie, well at least I know now why they didn’t rise. But do you have any tips on having a less sweet pumpkin muffin or am I destined to either having them sweet or not at all 🙁
Julie says
These are on the sweet side Jacqueline. I’m afraid the line between muffin and cupcake is pretty blurred these days! I think you would just have to try experimenting with the recipe – decreasing the sugar by a little bit and adding a little more flour to compensate. I’m not sure if you would find the muffins more on the dry side, but that is how I would do it. Hope this is helpful!
Dona says
THANK YOU!!! My family and I agree that these are the best pumpkin muffins ever.
For Jacqueline’s info, though, I did tinker with it a bit, and was able to make them less sweet. I substituted 3/4 cup of white whole wheat, left out the white sugar altogether, added 1/3 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, and added 1/4 tsp ground ginger.
They were moist and fluffy fresh out of the oven. While suspect that they would dry out faster than a sweeter muffin, I will probably never know. They’re never going to last long enough in my house for me to find out.
Julie says
Thanks for sharing that info Dona. I’ll have to try your version next time.
Michelle says
I made these into mini muffins to share with my fitness class, I veganized it with a simple egg replacer and also used pumpkin pie mix, added a tiny bit or cardamom and ginger and extra vanilla and omg! they were amazing! everyone loved them. I also made them whole wheat and used raw turbinado cane sugar instead of the white and brown.
I will definitely be making these more often! incredible!
and doing the mini size muffin pan i made about 50! great for holiday potlucks 🙂
Julie says
Thanks for letting me know how they turned out Michelle. Love that you made them your own!
Rebecca says
Amazing muffins! I substituted the flour with gluten free flour, used a 1 3/4 cup of fresh pumpkin (steamed then mashed), left out 1/4 of the white sugar and added a massive pile of chocolate chunks. So delicious thanks for the recipe! It is pumpkin season here in New Zealand and they are so cheap in the supermarket so I am going to make some more tomorrow!
Carol Kalan says
Julie, My daughter brought your recipe of these moist delicious muffins. My sister is looking for a pumpkin bread recipe of which I have not tasted but she tasted at a church function. She said it was the best she had ever tasted and the baker refused to share the recipe. Can this dough be made into a bread?
Julie says
Hi Carol, I’m so glad you all liked it! I adapted these muffins from a bread recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Here is a link to that recipe: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/09/08/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-bread/