Maple Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Continuing in our celebration of pumpkin season, I’ve go another great recipe for a chilly fall morning - my maple pumpkin muffin recipe!

Did you check out yesterday's recipe for pumpkin pancakes?

Well, as is generally the case when baking anything - short of a pumpkin pie- with a can of pumpkin puree, we ended up with leftover pumpkin.

In addition to being a great way to indulge in fall flavor, these delicious pumpkin muffins are the perfect way to use up some of that leftover pumpkin.

And so, here we are!

This pumpkin spice muffins recipe makes rich, dense, moist muffins, that aren't too sweet.

They have the perfect balance of warm spices and pumpkin flavor, great as a quick breakfast - and are sure to satisfy any pumpkin spice cravings this time of year!~

I’ve always loved using fruit (well - in this case - gourd!) in my delicious muffin recipes, as you may have noticed from such recipes as my:

Apple Blueberry Muffins
Cardamom Pear Streusel Muffins
Carrot Cake Muffins
Peach Cobbler Muffins
Pina Colada Muffins

... I just realized that I never posted any of my recipes for banana muffins. Whoops. I should get on that.

Anyway... Yes - incorporating fruit / gourd puree into muffins is a great way to ensure great texture and moisture retention.

These easy pumpkin spice muffins are great on their own, warm or cold... but would also be fabulous with sweet cream cheese, or a bit of cream cheese frosting. (Pumpkin cupcakes, I guess!)

As regular-sized muffins, they’re great as not only as an easy, grab-and-go breakfast, but also as a relatively healthy snack during the fall season.

Anyway, let’s get to it!

Ingredients

This is an easy recipe with really basic ingredients. You shouldn’t have any difficulty finding any of the ingredients in your local grocery store

I have a few notes for you...

Pure Pumpkin Puree

You want to use actual pumpkin puree - whether as canned pumpkin, or fresh pumpkin puree you made yourself.

This is not the same thing as pumpkin pie filling, which is usually sold in the same area. “Pie filling” has additional fillers and such, and won’t work as well.

Plus? The actual pumpkin flavor will be diluted. Just go with the pure puree!

As a note - you won’t use a whole can of pumpkin for this easy pumpkin muffin recipe - see further down in this post for a bunch of recipe links to use up the rest of it!

Maple Syrup

Be sure to use actual maple syrup in this pumpkin muffins recipe. By that, I mean the boiled sap that’s drained from a tree - NOT pancake syrup.

It’s not the same thing!

Also: best to get the darkest maple syrup you can, as darker = more intensely flavoured.

Spices

I individually measure Ground Cinnamon, Ground Cloves, Ground Ginger, and Ground Nutmeg in this recipe, as my own pumpkin spice blend.

That said, you can use a premixed Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend, if you prefer - about 4 ½ - 5 teaspoons of it.

Butter & Milk

If you’d like to make this a dairy free muffin, you can swap the melted butter out for the same amount of oil - vegetable oil, coconut oil, canola oil, or even MCT oil.

I just wouldn’t necessarily recommend olive oil, as it can be pretty strongly flavoured.

In terms of milk, you can use whatever milk you’d like - whole milk, 2%, or plant based milk.

We usually use an unsweetened almond milk when making this pumpkin spice muffin recipe, as that’s what we tend to have on hand.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you’ll need:

All purpose flour
Granulated sugar (Can sub brown sugar)
Large eggs
Vanilla extract
Baking powder
Salt

... I just don’t have anything to say about these simple ingredients :).

Pumpkin Muffin Variations

Part of what makes these the best pumpkin muffins is their versatility!

Make them as-is, or shake it up a bit with one or more of the following variations:

For pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, add 1-1 ½ cups of milk or dark chocolate chips to the dry ingredients mixture, after mixing it together.

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Add 1 - 1 ½ cups of chopped nuts after mixing dry ingredients together, if you'd like. Walnuts and pecans work best with this healthy pumpkin muffins recipe, IMHO.

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You know the pretty, crunchy, crystallized muffin tops that you see in some bakery-style muffin varieties?

That’s Pearl Sugar - you can sprinkle some on the muffin batter just before putting them in the oven.

For that matter, you can sprinkle the tops of the muffins with Maple Sugar Flakes or Maple Sugar Pebbles.

Again, do this after scooping the batter, just before baking.

I’m ALL about the maple, this time of year!

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On the subject of muffin toppings, cinnamon sugar is another great option to sprinkle on top of each muffin, as is streusel.

The streusel topping I use in my Nutmeg Coffee Cake Muffins works well with these muffins.

I’ll usually swap the nutmeg out for cinnamon, or pumpkin spice.

How to Make Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Heat oven to 375, grease a standard 12 cavity muffin pan, or line muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.

Note: I like to use fall themed cupcake liners with this recipe. It feels festive!

In a separate bowl (I use a medium bowl), whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, milk, maple syrup, melted butter/oil and vanilla until smooth.

Add pumpkin mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be slightly lumpy.)

Divide muffin batter among 12 prepared muffin tin.

Note: I like to use an ice cream scoop / cookie scoop to spoon batter into the pan. Easy to portion out!

Bake muffins in the preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.

Note: Bake time may vary based on the material your pan is made from. For best results, keep an eye on it, take it out as soon as it passes the toothpick test!

Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.

Leftovers

Once cooled to room temperature, leftover muffins can be transferred to an airtight container and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or so.

Alternately, arranging them on a plate and completely covering them with plastic wrap is another option.

More Pumpkin Recipes

When fall is here, is there anything better than indulging in some pumpkin goodies? We’re down for all things pumpkin, whether for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or a random Tuesday!

Here are our favourite ways to use the gourd!

Baked Pumpkin Custard
Copycat Pumpkin Spice Latte
Easy Pumpkin Martini
Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro
How to Make Pumpkin Mead
Maple Pumpkin Spice Bagels
Maple Pumpkin Buns with Maple Glaze
Pumpkin Spice Nanaimo Bars
Quick Pumpkin Bread
Traditional Pumpkin Mousse

... and from my other blogs:

Gluten Free Maple Pumpkin Pie
Gluten-free Pumpkin Bread
Gluten Free Mini Pumpkin Donuts
Gluten-Free Sopaipillas Pasadas
Keto Pumpkin Fat Bombs
Keto Pumpkin Bars
Homemade Pumpkin Chai Latte
Pumpkin Chia Pudding

Share the Love!

Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

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