Easy pumpkin muffins recipe

Now that autumn can no longer be denied, it is time for one of my favorite muffin recipes. It goes perfect with this season and I make them for Christmas, Thanksgiving and just about any holiday in between. Ok, and even when there is no reason to make them. It’s a great recipe that will make you feel all cosy due to the warm spices. Perfect for a chilly fall morning.

Easy pumpkin muffins recipe

We’re going straight into the Christmas season and the pumpkin season has officially started. If you noticed my latest recipes, you can see there is a heavy pumpkin theme going on. I’ve already shared this delicious pumpkin pie and the easiest way to make pumpkin puree. You’ll be needing the pumpkin puree for this recipe as well.

For today I am sharing my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe. It is delicious and moist and perfect for this season.

What goes into the pumpkin muffins?

These muffins are pretty straightforward to make. You will need the following simple ingredients:

• all purpose flour
• baking soda
• baking powder
• pumpkin pie spice – Use store-bought or make your own. Adding some additional ginger makes it even better but totally optional too. (also perfect for these pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies!)
• pumpkin puree – use a canned variety or make your own.
• brown sugar – I use a light brown variety, but dark brown is also a good option
• milk
• large egg
• sunflower oil – or use another neutral vegetable oil. Don’t use olive oil as the flavor is most likely too strong. You can also use coconut oil here. But unless you want the muffins to taste like coconut, use neutral coconut oil. Melted butter is another good alternative.
• Pecans – optional

In addition to that you will need muffin cups or muffin liners and a large bowl for mixing. Because mixing the muffins is so easy you don’t really need a food processor or stand mixer. You will also need a 12-cup muffin pan (the recipe makes 8, but I don’t think there is an 8 cup pan)

Making the muffins

For making the muffins I first add all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, pumpkin spice and salt together in a large or medium bowl and mix it together with a spatula. I then add the wet ingredients in (pumpkin puree, milk, egg, sunflower oil and vanilla extract).

Mix it together with your spatula. This batter is so forgiving that a few lumps here and there don’t really make a difference. So don’t overmix the batter as that will give you less tasty results.

Now for the best muffins I like to use silicon liners, but you can also use paper liners (make sure to follow my tip on how to prevent the liners becoming greasy) The biggest advantage with silicon is that they come out so much easier and I find it makes them look prettier too.

Divide the batter into the muffin liners and press a single pecan into the tops of the muffins. That is totally optional but it looks nice. You can also sprinkle a little granulated sugar over the top for texture or use something like a few chocolate chips for a nice variation. And anything tastes better with some extra chocolate right?

For placing the batter into the tin I use a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop. That way it ensures you have equally sized pumpkin cupcakes.

Once the muffin batter is divided place the muffin tin into the preheated oven and bake them for around 18 minutes until they are golden brown or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Place the muffins on a wire rack to cool down to room temperature before you dive in.

Variations

While this is a pretty classic pumpkin muffin recipe you can also vary the recipe pretty easily. So if you want to change things around for next time you can add flavors or toppings. This would work well with a cream cheese buttercream (or my cream cheese frosting!) on top or add other sprinkles to the muffin tops.

You can also make mini muffins with this recipe. In that case you can make about 20-24 pieces.