This is truly the BEST Pumpkin Muffins recipe — they’ve been carefully tested to be soft, fluffy, moist, and loaded with fall flavor! My recipe is easy (no mixer or pastry cutter needed!) and takes just 10 minutes to prep. Recipe includes a how-to video.
Top-Rated Pumpkin Muffins
These easy pumpkin muffins are every bit as delectable as my pumpkin cupcakes, but slightly more suitable for breakfast! With their buttery streusel topping and their moist and flavorful pumpkin-y centers, they rival my banana muffins in terms of favorite muffins ever.
The streusel is what takes these muffins from delicious to irresistible. It’s buttery and crisp against the super soft and moist pumpkin muffin interior. The best part? Instead of using cold butter and working it into the sugar and flour with a pastry cutter, my recipe uses a simpler method with melted butter. It’s not only easier, but it also lends itself to a more buttery streusel–yum!
What you’ll love about my recipe:
- Only 10 minutes to prep!
- Uses simple ingredients with incredibly moist and tender results.
- No mixer or pastry cutter needed.
- Includes an easy (optional) 2-ingredient glaze!
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients in my pumpkin muffin recipe:
- Sugar. I like to use both white and brown sugar. The brown sugar adds subtle molasses tones that really complement the pumpkin and the spiced fall flavors.
- Butter. Let your butter cool after melting, otherwise it will melt your sugars, yielding flat, sub-par results.
- Canned pumpkin. Make sure you use pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, which has other additives that can keep your muffins from tasting as they should.
- Milk. Since it’s such a small amount, really any kind will work. I use whole milk.
- Pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can always whip up a batch of my homemade pumpkin spice!
SAM’S TIP: These pumpkin muffins would look so nice in my parchment paper muffin liners! They’re extremely easy to make and have a pretty and professional look.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins
- Stir the sugars, eggs, pumpkin puree, and milk into the (cooled) melted butter until combined.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually fold them into the wet ingredients. With muffins, it’s important that you don’t over-mix the batter, so do this step by hand (with a spatula) and be gentle. Don’t use an electric mixer here (!) and stir until just-combined.
- Evenly portion your batter into a lined muffin tin and set this aside while you prepare your streusel.
- Whisk together the flour, sugars, and cinnamon.
- Pour melted butter over the mixture and toss with a fork until clumps form.
- Sprinkle the streusel over your prepared muffins and bake for 17-19 minutes.
- Let the muffins cool before topping with vanilla glaze (if using).
SAM’S TIP: 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 paste rather than the crumbly topping that we’re aiming for.
Frequently Asked Questions
These will be fine at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days. They could be refrigerated, but the fridge tends to dry out muffins and so I don’t recommend it.
Yes! Your bake time will be different though (less time for mini, likely about 14 minutes, and more time for jumbo), so keep an eye on them.
You could, but I’d recommend making my pumpkin bread instead. It’s meant to be baked in a loaf pan and has a perfectly dense crumb that’s designed to be sliced without crumbling (which might happen if you use this recipe!).
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
The Best Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 10 minutes
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten (room temperature preferred)
- 1 cup (240 g) canned pumpkin puree¹
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour
- 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 (156 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) salted butter³ melted and cooled until no longer warm to the touch
Glaze (optional)
- ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
Recommended Equipment
- Muffin pan
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.¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- Stir in eggs. Add pumpkin puree, milk, and vanilla extract and stir well.2 large eggs, 1 cup (240 g) canned pumpkin puree¹, 2 Tablespoons milk, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon until well-combined.1 ¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 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.1 ¼ cup (156 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar tightly packed, ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar, ¾ teaspoon ground 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!6 Tablespoons (85 g) salted butter³
- 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 in muffin pan for 5 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- If desired, make glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over cooled pumpkin muffins½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar, 2-3 teaspoons milk
Notes
¹Pumpkin Puree
Make sure you buy puree that is 100% pumpkin and NOT “Pumpkin Pie Filling”, which contains other ingredients.²Streusel topping
These pumpkin muffins can be made without the streusel topping, they may just need a minute or two less in the oven. A few people have commented that the streusel recipe made more than they needed for their muffins. The amount listed is exactly as much as I use and as is shown in the photos and in the video, but feel free to reduce the amount in half if you don’t like a lot of streusel.³Salted vs unsalted butter
If you don’t have salted butter on hand, just use unsalted and add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients for the streusel.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Muffins may also be tightly wrapped and frozen for several months.Nutrition
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.
I originally published this recipe 10/3/2018. Post updated with new pictures and more notes, recipe is the same.
Sam
Hi Diane! I’m so bummed to hear this! One thing I’ve found recently is if the muffins stay in the pan for too long the liners can become greasy and wet, I’m going to add a note to remove them from the pan to a cooling rack after 5 minutes. I do use the weights listed so those are all accurate. It sounds like you followed the instructions pretty closely so this shouldn’t be an issue, but it’s worth mentioning that if your butter was too warm it will melt the sugars and can cause the muffins to be greasy, too. If you do try it again, please let me know how it turns out for you! Sorry again to hear about this!
Kara
Love these muffins so much! I have even had requests for them for my friend’s dinner party. I now need to make a few dozen for work and was wondering if I can double or triple the recipe or if I should make separate batches… thank you!!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone has enjoyed them so much, Kara! You should be able to double it in one shot. Just be careful to not over-mix the batter. 🙂
K. Weaver
Best pumpkin muffins I’ve ever had! Thank you! Any tips on how to store them so the topping stays nice and crunchy? I stored mine in an airtight container and within 24hrs they were all soft and mooshy on the top…
Sam
I’m so happy you enjoyed them! Make sure when you cover/store them they are completely cooled before being put away, the residual heat could make the streusel too soft. The streusel WILL soften some just from the moisture of the muffin, but it shouldn’t become mushy on top. I hope that helps!
Joan
I love these muffins!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the review, Joan! We’re so happy they are a hit for you 🩷
Sharon
love this recipe made it so many times.
just a quick question can I make it with gluten free flour?
sister loves this but she had to go gluten free.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We think using a 1:1 gluten free flour will work just fine here 😊
Kailyn
Loved the taste of this recipe, however I only used 1/3 of the streusel as there was way too much in the recipe.
LisaB
Great taste and texture to the bread. The streusel recipe can be cut in half, imo.
Jill Collins
I just made these and oh my are they DELICIOUS!! Thank you for sharing, this will be on my rotation!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for the review, Jill! We are so happy you loved them 🥰
Brittany
I made these with homemade pumpkin puree and added some maple syrup to the glaze – Amazing!!! Definitely saving this recipe to use for all future pumpkin muffins!
Wanda
Muffins were terrific, easy to follow recipe. Suggestion: recalculate streusel recipe so there isn’t so much left over.
Geri
Way too much streusel topping. I made half and I have enough left over for another batch. Otherwise, great recipe. I also substituted canola oil for the butter and added half a cup of rolled oats to the pumpkin batter.
Samantha Magnolia
Hi Sam! My husband usually not a fan of pumpkin muffins, but this recipe made him a lover. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, thank you so much for trying my recipe, Samantha! 🙂
Fiona Dunn
Oh my goodness – these are just yummy muffins.
I was looking for a Thanksgiving treat I could bake for the office as we have some lovely US staff here in Australia. These muffins were soft and fluffy with a crunchy top!! Delish!
Over here its hard to find pumpkin pure so I just roasted a butternut pumpkin and pureed a cupful. The batter was a bit more runny than I’m used to – and I think Australian cup cake pans are a bit smaller than the US ones as this made 24 muffins!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Fiona! 🙂
BonJon
Fiona, next time you make your own puree, for 1 cup of finished puree, measure out 1.5 cups to 2 cups of puree into a canning sieve or wire mesh strainer. Let that sit for at least 8 hours. (I let it sit for 24) You’ll end up with “pumpkin juice” in the catch bowl under the strainer and nice thick pumpkin puree for baking. BTW, that pumpkin juice is wonderful (full of Vitamin A) to use in juices, ciders, smoothies, meat stews, chili, marinara sauces: it’s marvelous as the liquid in risottos and curries! It actually IS a thick vegetable broth!
Denise
These were so good! Definitely making these again! Great recipe and thank you for sharing. I also made your potato soup recipe and wow…that’s a 5 star recipe for sure!
Erica
Oh my, INCREDIBLE. They smelled heavenly in the oven, and I devoured two as soon as they were cooled. Light, tender, moist, with a delicate crunch from the streusel topping—YUM! This recipe was a breeze to follow, too! I made a mistake when mixing my wet ingredients by adding in my milk totally cold, which made my butter solidify and broke the emulsion, but fortunately since I hadn’t added the egg yet and had used a steel mixing bowl, I was able to re-melt the butter and fix it by putting the bowl over a medium-low burner and stirring it constantly for 5 minutes. Phew! Aside from that slip-up, this recipe was very simple. I made my own pumpkin pie spice following your recipe, and the spicing is perfect! Such a delicious, comforting fall treat. I’m lucky my husband doesn’t like pumpkin, so I’ll be able to savor the rest of these babies all by myself!
Sharon
I made your Best Pumpkin Muffins today. Indeed they are the “best”!! Such a light, tender crumb and SO delicious!!! Plan to make more next week for a church bake sale; bet they will bring rave reviews!! Love your videos with so many baking tips & new exciting techniques