These homemade Pumpkin Muffins are moist, perfectly spiced and made entirely from scratch.  Serve plain or with a slather of honey butter for a simple, delicious treat packed with fall flavors.

Homemade Pumpkin Muffins baked and cooling in a muffin pan.

Homemade Pumpkin Muffins

These sweet, buttery, homemade Pumpkin Muffins are so easy to make from scratch.  They are super moist, packed with seasonal spices and pumpkin puree and take just a few minutes to throw together.  You won’t even need to pull out a mixer.

While we do love a tasty streusel topping, as seen in our 4-ingredient Easy Pumpkin Muffins recipe, these guys are plain-Jane.  No streusel or glaze, just delicious muffin through and through.  If you’re feeling sassy, though, go ahead and toss in a cup of chocolate chips, dried fruits or nuts.

Pumpkin Muffins make a great portable snack, breakfast, or even a lunch box treat.  Most often I serve them as is, but they sure do taste great slathered with our Whipped Cinnamon Honey Butter.

Ingredients You Will Need

  • Pumpkin Puree – the easiest route to go is to buy unsweetened canned pumpkin puree.  Make sure you don’t accidentally buy pumpkin pie filling because it has additional spices and sweeteners in it.  You can also make your own Homemade Pumpkin Puree using small pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins.
  • Brown Sugar – you can use light or dark brown sugar for this recipe.  
  • Sugar – this recipe also uses white granulated sugar.
  • Butter – unsalted butter works great.  You’ll want to melt it but make sure it’s not hot.  You could also substitute vegetable oil if you want to make this dairy-free.
  • Eggs – any kind of large eggs will work great.  It’s helpful if they are at room temperature when you go to mix them.  If you forget to pull them out ahead of time, you can also run the eggs under warm water for a minute or so.
  • Flour – all-purpose flour works great, as does cake flour.
  • Baking Powder and Baking Soda – these ingredients help the Pumpkin Muffins rise in the oven as well as keep the crumb nice and soft.
  • Spices – this recipe calls for cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.  You could also substitute an equal amount of pumpkin pie spice.
Three photos showing how to make quick bread batter and fill into muffin tins.  The first photo shows unmixed ingredients in a large glass bowl.  The second shows the mixed batter.  The third shows a muffin tin lined with paper liners and filled with batter ready to bake.

How to Make Pumpkin Muffins from Scratch

  1. Mix the batter.  In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, and melted butter.  Mix well using a rubber spatula.  In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and whisk together.  Combine the flour mixture with the pumpkin mixture and stir together with a rubber spatula, mixing just until combined.  
  2. Bake.  Divide the batter evenly between 20-24 cupcake tins, lined with cupcake liners and lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  3. Cool.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.  
  4. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Muffins from scratch on a counter top with one removed from the paper liner and torn in half.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are my Pumpkin Muffins dense?

The most common reason for dense muffins is that the batter was mixed too much, causing the gluten to develop in the flour.  Make sure and mix only as much as needed to combine the ingredients.  Another common reason for dense muffins is if you add too much baking powder or baking soda.

Can I make this recipe using fresh pumpkin?

Absolutely!  If it’s pumpkin season and you have a surplus, you can easily make your own Homemade Pumpkin Puree using our recipe.  Otherwise, canned pumpkin works great and quite honestly has the pumpkin flavor that most people are used to.  Just be sure you don’t use pumpkin pie filling because it has other flavors and sugars added to it.

What size muffin tin should I use?

This recipe makes between 20-24 regular sized muffins.  You could use mini muffin tins, filling them still about ? full.  The only difference will be that the bake time will be shorter.  Or, bake in large muffin tins and bake for longer.

A close up of baked Pumpkin Muffins in a muffin tin.

Storing and Freezing

  • Refrigerator: store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.  We recommend bringing them to room temperature before eating.
  • Freezer: these freeze great for up to 2 months.  Store wrapped in plastic wrap or freezer bags and thaw out in the fridge overnight or on the counter top for a few hours.
  • Make-ahead: you can make the batter up to 1 day in advance and store covered in the fridge.
5 from 1 vote

Homemade Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

Author The Carefree Kitchen
These homemade pumpkin muffins are moist, perfectly spiced and made entirely from scratch.  Serve plain or with a slather of honey butter for a simple, delicious treat packed with fall flavors.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Yields24 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 4 large eggs
  • cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Line two 12-count cupcake pans with cupcake liners, spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, and melted butter. Mix well using a rubber spatula.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and whisk together.
  • Combine the flour mixture with the wet ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula, mixing just until combined. Divide the batter evenly the prepared cupcake tins, filling each about 2/3 full.
  • Bake muffins in a preheated 350 degree oven for 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Remove from the oven and let pans cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Notes

Mini loaves: You can also bake this recipe in 6 mini loaf pans.  The bake time will be about 35-40 minutes.
Storing instructions: store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. 
Make-ahead tips: you can make the batter up to 1 day in advance and store covered in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 492kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 625mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 51g | Vitamin A: 576IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 2mg
Disclaimer: Nutritional values were calculated using a third-party tool and are provided as an estimation only.
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American
Sharing this recipe with a link is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying/pasting and/or screenshots of full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Content and photographs are copyright protected.

Did you make this?

Don’t forget to leave a rating below and make sure to follow on Pinterest, Instagram and Tiktok for more!

More Of Our Favorite Muffin Recipes

This recipe for Pumpkin Muffins from scratch is so simple you don’t even need a mixer. These delicious muffins are super moist and full of pumpkin flavor and fall spices.

Categories:

, , , , , , , ,
5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




More You'll Love