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    You are here: Home / Breakfast / Muffins / The BEST Pumpkin Muffins

    The BEST Pumpkin Muffins

    October 5, 2019 By Sam 114 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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    Muffin with bite taken out

    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!

    Freshly baked pumpkin muffin with vanilla glaze on cooling rack

    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!

    Muffin with bite out of it: Showing the soft fluffy inside of pumpkin muffin

    How to Make Pumpkin Muffins

    Good news: It’s easy!

    1. 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).
    2. Stir in sugars, eggs, pumpkin puree, and milk.
    3. Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
    4. 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.
    5. Portion batter into muffin tin, top with streusel (more on that below) and bake! If desired top with vanilla glaze.
    Ingredients for pumpkin muffins

    Ingredients for Pumpkin Muffins

    Pumpkin muffin batter in glass bowl

    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!? Making pumpkin muffin streusel: clumpy and made with a fork

    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.

    Pumpkin muffin with glaze on cooling rack

    Other Fall Recipes You May Enjoy

    • Pumpkin Coffee Cake
    • Pumpkin Cake
    • Apple Butter
    • Apple Cake

    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!

    Pumpkin Muffin

    The Best Pumpkin Muffins

    These Pumpkin Muffins are soft, fluffy, moist, and loaded with Fall flavor. Top them off with a crumbly, buttery streusel and a simple glaze!
    Recipe includes a video at the bottom of the recipe card!
    5 from 39 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 17 minutes
    Total Time: 27 minutes
    Servings: 12 muffins
    Calories: 390kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    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
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    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

    ¹Make sure you buy puree that is 100% pumpkin and NOT "Pumpkin Pie Filling", which contains other ingredients.
    ²These pumpkin muffins can be made without the streusel topping, they may just need a minute or two less in the oven.
    ³If you don't have salted butter on hand, just use unsalted and add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients for the streusel.
     

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1muffin (with glaze) | Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 263mg | Potassium: 61mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 3200IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1.8mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

    I originally published this recipe 10/3/2018. Post updated with new pictures and more notes 10/4/2019.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ashley

      June 27, 2022 at 1:06 am

      This recipe was PERFECT. It’s summer and I’m pregnant craving a fall treat. Decided to make them and everyone attacked them! The only thing I did different was do a cream cheese glaze on top instead! SO SO good!! Will making again ❤️

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        June 27, 2022 at 9:19 am

        Yum–sounds delicious, Ashley! We’re so happy they were a hit for you 🧡

        Reply
    2. Di

      May 07, 2022 at 4:26 pm

      5 stars
      My picky teen said “best muffins eve!”

      Reply
    3. Jo Painter

      February 04, 2022 at 2:27 pm

      5 stars
      These are fantastic! I made 6 jumbo muffins and they looked better than from a bakery. Be generous with the streusel. These are soft and tender, somewhere between a muffin and cupcake. I will definitely make these again.

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        February 04, 2022 at 5:09 pm

        They sound gorgeous, Jo! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review. Enjoy ♥

        Reply
    4. Eora

      February 02, 2022 at 6:24 pm

      WHAT A MOIST MUFFIN!!! Every single time I try one of your muffin recipes they come out incomparable to all others and I am completely satisfied with the results. I don’t know why I ever try any other food blogger websites because they aaaaaalways disappoint…just human nature I guess?!? I very often substitute cream or, more often, half and half for the milk in your muffin recipes and they always come out amazing. Actually I would really recommend half and half instead of the milk…you know, just to get more fat in there…fat = flavor….I also always use Jovial Foods All Purpose Einkorn flour instead of flavorless modern flour and WOW the flavor it adds to foods is SOOOO satisfying. 10000% recommend. It’s like the flavor you always wanted in baked goods but never knew quite how to get. Plus the fact that it’s not the whole-grain stuff, so that for quick bread recipes you don’t have to modify the recipe at all even though it’s a quite a different flour! To anyone who reads this: please consider switching to all-purpose einkorn. And adding more fat to your foods through dairy. Also to Sugar Spun Run as a website…the actual success and high quality recipes you bring to my life are enough to make a cook cry tears of joy!!!

      Reply
      • Sam

        February 08, 2022 at 10:35 am

        Thank you so much, Eora! I really appreciate your kind and thoughtful comment. I’m so glad you enjoy everything so much. 🙂

        Reply
    5. Kristine Ford

      November 23, 2021 at 4:18 pm

      5 stars
      I made the pumpkin muffins and pumpkin cheesecake today for my husband’s birthday. They turned out absolutely amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing these delicious recipes. I’m looking forward to trying out your others.

      Reply
    6. BK

      November 14, 2021 at 6:12 pm

      Totally impressed with the recipes on this site! Thanks.

      Reply
    7. Nora Brungard

      October 20, 2021 at 12:05 pm

      Sam, do you think this streusel topping could be used on other types of cupcakes say like blueberry for example – I love streusel topping!

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        October 20, 2021 at 12:48 pm

        Absolutely! That’s a delicious combination. Enjoy, Nora! 😊

        Reply
    8. Desi

      October 04, 2021 at 8:57 pm

      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

      Reply
      • Sam

        October 04, 2021 at 9:03 pm

        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!

        Reply
        • Desi Wilson

          October 06, 2021 at 9:44 am

          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. 😊

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    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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