These Pumpkin Muffins are my new favorite homemade muffin! They’re soft, fluffy, moist, and loaded with Fall flavor! Easy to make and absolutely irresistible, this moist pumpkin muffin recipe can be whipped up in under 30 minutes! Recipe includes plenty of tips and a how-to video.
Topped with a crumbly, buttery streusel and a simple glaze, these easy pumpkin muffins are every bit as delectable as my pumpkin cupcakes, but slightly more suitable for breakfast! If you happen to not have pumpkin pie spice on hand you can always whip up a batch of my homemade pumpkin spice!
The Best Pumpkin Muffins
The amount of pumpkin puree that I’ve gone through in the past few weeks is slightly obscene. Not quite as obscene as the amount of pumpkin muffins I’ve consumed over the past few days, but close.
I have a few more pumpkin recipes coming your way this beautiful Fall season, but these are my current favorite (OK, they’re tied with the pumpkin cheesecake). With their buttery streusel topping and their moist and flavorful pumpkin-y centers, they rival my banana muffins in terms of favorite muffins ever. Guaranteed to be a bright spot in anyone’s morning.
Just look at them!
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins
Good news: It’s easy!
- Melt your butter, but let it cool so that it’s no longer warm to the touch (if it’s too hot it’ll melt your sugar and that’s just no good).
- Stir in sugars, eggs, pumpkin puree, and milk.
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Gradually, with a light hand stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Remember, when making muffins it’s important that you don’t over-work the ingredients or you could end up with dense, dry muffins. Stir just until combined.
- Portion batter into muffin tin, top with streusel (more on that below) and bake! If desired top with vanilla glaze.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Muffins
It’s Really All About the Streusel
The streusel for these pumpkin muffins is similar to the one that I use on my favorite coffee cake recipe. It’s buttery and crisp against the super soft and moist pumpkin muffin interior and it takes these muffins from delicious to irresistible.
Instead of using cold butter and working that into the sugar and flour with a pastry cutter, I prefer a simpler method of using melted butter. We’ll work that into the dry ingredients with a fork. It’s not only easier, but lends itself to a more buttery streusel — and did I mention it’s easier to make!? 
One thing to keep in mind for successful streusel is don’t over-work the ingredients.
The key to good streusel is a mixture that’s nice and clumpy, so don’t break up the clumps that form as you stir in your butter. If you over-work your streusel you’ll end up with a weird paste rather than the crumbly topping that we’re aiming for. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll still taste good (ask me how I know) but aim for a clumpy, crumbly topping, as shown above.
Other Fall Recipes You May Enjoy
My video for How to Make Pumpkin Muffins is at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching my recipe videos, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
The Best Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 10 minutes (170g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar (50g)
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten (room temperature preferred)
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree¹ (240g)
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (156g)
- ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice (click the link for instructions to make your own pumpkin spice)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Streusel Topping²
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (156g)
- ½ cup light brown sugar tightly packed (100g)
- ⅓ cup sugar (66g)
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter³ melted and cooled until no longer warm to the touch (85g)
Glaze (optional)
- ½ cup powdered sugar (65g)
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners (or lightly grease and flour). Set aside.
- Combine melted, cooled butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl and stir well.
- Stir in eggs. Add pumpkin puree, milk, and vanilla extract and stir well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon until well-combined.
- Add your dry ingredients into your wet and gently stir until just combined, taking care to not overmix the batter.
- Evenly divide muffin batter into prepared muffin tins (filling each ¾ full). Set aside while you prepare your streusel.
Streusel
- Prepare your streusel by whisking together flour, sugars and cinnamon.
- Pour the melted butter into the mixture and, using a fork, stir until crumbles form. Don't overwork the streusel or you'll end up with a paste, you want it to be nice and clumpy!
- Using your hands, evenly divide streusel over muffin batter, piling the streusel over the batter and gently pressing the topping into the batter.
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Allow muffins to cool before serving.
Glaze
- If desired, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over cooled pumpkin muffins
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally published this recipe 10/3/2018. Post updated with new pictures and more notes 10/4/2019.
Desi
Hi, I’m new to you blog and want to try this recipe. My question is, once I fill my cupcake liners, can I put the streusel on top then freeze? When I decide to bake a few at a time, do I defrost them, then bake or put in the oven frozen to bake? Thanks!!
Desi
Sam
Hi Desi! I’ve never tried freezing the muffin batter before baking, I think it would probably be best to bake them and then freeze, honestly. However if anyone else has tried this method I’m curious to hear how it has worked!
Desi Wilson
Thank you Sam. I have definitely frozen my baked muffins before but, I was just wondering about freezing before baking. I’ll try it and see how it works. 😊