This best pumpkin muffin recipe with cinnamon and nutmeg is so simple, yet so delicious. The muffins are perfectly sweetened, with a soft texture that melts in your mouth while the streusel topping adds a little bit of crunch.
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Ingredients you will need
Flour - Use all-purpose flour for this recipe.
Spices - I use cinnamon and nutmeg for my muffins, but you can replace them with pumpkin spice.
Leavening agents - Since pumpkin purée is acidic, baking powder may not be strong enough to lift our muffins and make them fluffy. That's why we add baking soda – to support the baking powder.
Pumpkin purée - I use 100% natural canned pumpkin purée from Libby's, but you can choose whatever brand you like. Just make sure that there are no additives like sugar. Alternatively, you can make your purée at home.
Eggs - We will need two large eggs at room temperature.
Butter and oil - I like to add both types of fat to my baking goods because they affect the resulting product differently. Butter adds a lot of flavors and improves the texture, while oil (I use mild olive oil, but you can use any vegetable oil or coconut oil) will keep your muffins soft and moist even after 4 days. You can combine butter and oil in a small bowl and heat it in the microwave just until the butter has melted. Then, add to the rest of the wet ingredients to make delicious and moist pumpkin muffins.
Sugar - Use white granulated sugar and brown sugar for the muffins and just brown sugar for the streusel topping.
For the streusel - Same as with my Blueberry muffins, I decided to make a streusel topping for my pumpkin muffins recipe. Streusel is made of three ingredients - sugar, cold butter, and flour.
Cooking tips
Prepare all the ingredients. Preferably, you want to weigh everything using a digital kitchen scale. Otherwise, you can press US customary in the recipe card to see US cup measurements.
Wet ingredients should be at room temperature. Using cold eggs or pumpkin purée will make our melted butter solid again. It won't mix well with the rest ingredients and will affect the texture of the muffins.
Don't overmix the batter! These are very easy pumpkin muffins to make because you don't need any special equipment. You can mix everything with a fork, spoon, or spatula, if you want. However, don't overmix the batter, as it will make your muffins dense. Once you don't see any dry ingredients left, it's ready to bake.
Step by step directions
1. In a food processor or blender, combine all the streusel ingredients until the mixture resembles wet sand. You can also use a bowl and a pastry cutter or rub all the ingredients with your hands to achieve the same result. When done, refrigerate.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
4. Into another bowl, add the pumpkin purée, white, and brown sugar, eggs, butter, and oil. Whisk to a homogenous consistency.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix just until no dry ingredients are left.
6. Spread the batter between the pumpkin liners so they are ⅔ full.
7. Spread the streusel between the tops and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
8. Let cool down for 10 minutes in a muffin tin, then remove onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.
Flavor variations
Chocolate - If you want to make a pumpkin with chocolate chip muffins, add ⅓ cup of your favorite chocolate chips to the batter and mix well before filling the muffin cups.
Nuts - Crushed nuts, like walnuts or pecans, go well with the pumpkin flavor. You can add nuts right into the batter or sprinkle some on top.
Pepitas - Same goes for pepitas or pumpkin seeds, if you will. I prefer to sprinkle some on top of my muffins, but you can add them right into the batter.
Decoration variations
If you don't like streusel, there are other things you can use to top your muffins.
Simple icing - Drizzle your favorite sugar icing on top of your muffins. Make sure that the muffins are at room temperature or slightly chilled. Otherwise, your icing will melt and become transparent instead of staying white.
Chocolate - You can drizzle chocolate ganache on top of these pumpkin muffins (like I did for my Chocolate pound cake), or you can simply melt your favorite type of chocolate in the microwave, and use it.
Cream cheese frosting - Transform your muffins into cupcakes by making cream cheese frosting and piping beautiful hats on top of your muffins.
Salted caramel - You can always drizzle homemade Salted caramel on your muffins. I think there's no doubt that pumpkin pie spice and caramel go together well.
FAQ
Store them at room temperature in an air-tight container lined with paper towels for up to 4 days. If you frost your muffins with frosting like cream cheese frosting, store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
You can freeze fully cooled muffins for up to 3 months in a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible and then wrap the bag with the muffins in a piece of foil to prevent frostbite. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then gently heat for 5-10 seconds in the microwave or oven before serving.
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Recipe card
Pumpkin muffins
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners
Ingredients
For the streusel
- 30 g all-purpose flour
- 30 g brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 20 g unsalted butter very cold
For the muffins
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 360 g pumpkin puree at room temperature
- 100 g white sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 60 g unsalted butter melted
- 30 g vegetable oil such as canola oil
Instructions
For the streusel
- In a food processor or blender, combine all the streusel ingredients until the mixture resembles wet sand. You can also use a bowl and a pastry cutter or rub all the ingredients with your hands to achieve the same result. When done, refrigerate.
For the muffins
- Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Into another bowl, add the pumpkin purée, white and brown sugar, eggs, melted butter, and oil. Whisk to a homogenous consistency.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix just until no dry ingredients are left.
- Spread the batter between the pumpkin liners so they are ⅔ full.
- Spread the streusel between the tops and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
- Let cool down for 10 minutes in a muffin tin, then remove onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.
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