Spiced with warm and robust, autumnal flavors and sweetened with pumpkin and sugar! These gluten free pumpkin muffins are easy-to-make, easy-to-bake and even easier to enjoy. Check the recipe notes for ingredients substitutions and additions including tips on making them vegan friendly and/or refined sugar free.
Pumpkin season is here and it’s time to get baking!
🎃Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins🎃
A few recipe highlights:
- Easy to Make: This is a super simple recipe made with simple ingredients. No need for electric mixers or special equipment – just a couple of mixing bowls, a whisk and a muffin pan.
- Moist & Deliciously Spiced: Warm fall spices with pureed pumpkin work together to make for a robustly flavored muffing with an ultra-soft and tender crumb.
- Vegan Friendly: I tested these muffins with different ingredient combinations to ensure you can make them dairy free, egg free and/or vegan friendly!
Ingredients + Recipe Steps
These muffins really are quick and easy to make with basic ingredients and minimal equipment required.
Batter Prep
- Dry ingredients: gluten free all purpose flour, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, salt and xanthan gum (if needed).
- Whisk together in a large bowl until combined.
- Wet ingredients: Eggs (or egg substitute), melted butter or oil, yoghurt or milk, pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling), vanilla extract.
- Whisk together in a separate bowl until well combined.
- Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix into a smooth, thick batter.
Fill & Bake
- Prep: Line a muffin pan with liners and/or grease well.
- Fill: Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Optional: sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
- Bake: Bake for about 18-20 minutes or lightly browned on top and cooked through. Insert a toothpick or knife into a muffin the middle of the pan – if it comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs left behind it’s done. If you still have batter on the toothpick/knife, give it a few more minutes.
Substitutions
- Make it Egg Free:
- Flax Eggs: Prep two flax eggs (or chia eggs) to use in place of regular eggs. Make them first so they have time to gel up while you prep the other ingredients.
- Aquafaba: Whisk together 6 tablespoons aquafaba + 1/4 cream of tartar until frothy then use as your egg replacer just as you would the eggs.
- Make it Dairy Free:
- Butter: Swap the butter for a melted vegan butter, melted coconut oil, or a neutral flavored oil.
- Yogurt: Use plain vegan yoghurt or just use a dairy free milk substitute of your choice.
- Swap the Sugar:
- Maple Syrup: Add 2/3 cup maple syrup to the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Swap the light brown sugar for dark brown for a sweeter, more intense molasses flavor.
- Coconut Sugar: Use 1 cup coconut sugar in place of the white and brown sugar. I recommend you blend the coconut sugar on high into a soft and powdery texture first as coconut sugar doesn’t easily dissolve in baked goods. Without blending into a fine powder, your muffins will have a coarser texture.
Add Ins
- Chocolate Chips: Add 1 cup chocolate chips (170g) to the batter before baking.
- Nutella: Gently warm about 1/4 cup Nutella in the microwave or on the stove top. Add 1 tsp nutella to the top of the muffins before baking. Use a toothpick or knife to swirl the nutella across the top of each muffin.
- Nuts: Add about 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter.
- Cranberries: Add 1 cup dried cranberries or raisins.
Bake with Pumpkin
More gluten-free pumpkin recipes to make this season:
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Fritters
- Easy Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Recipe (Dairy Free)
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Pop Tarts
- Healthier Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Roll & Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Grain Free Pumpkin Recipes
- Paleo Pumpkin Pie
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Homemade Pumpkin Butter Recipe
- Homemade Pumpkin Puree
- Paleo Pumpkin Muffins With A Chocolate Swirl
- Paleo Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake
Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this gluten-free pumpkin muffin recipe! Leave a comment and review with your thoughts. I always appreciate the feedback and serving suggestions that you come up with!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
Warmly spiced, gently sweetened and easy to make with simple ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups gluten free flour blend (230g)
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark (150g)
- 1/4 cup white sugar (50g)
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (only add if your gf flour blend doesn't)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree (280g)
- 1/2 cup melted butter or oil (113g)
- 1/4 cup plain yoghurt or milk (60g)
- 2 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/4 cup coarse sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Grease well and line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners. You'll only need to grease/line 10-11 muffins cups.
- In a large bowl: whisk together the flour, sugars, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, baking soda, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum until combined.
- In another mixing bowl mix together the pumpkin, melted butter (or oil), yoghurt (or milk), eggs and vanilla.
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix into a thick, lump-free batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
- Optional: Sprinkle 1 tsp coarse sugar over the top of each muffin before baking.
- Place muffins in the oven and bake at 400°/200° for 18-20 minutes until cooked through. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Let cool and enjoy. After cooling, store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make it Refined Sugar Free: Replace the white and brown sugar with 2/3 cup maple syrup (160g) OR replace the white/brown sugar with coconut sugar. Coconut sugar doesn't easily dissolve so I recommend you add it to a blender and blend on high to turn it into a softer texture first.
- Make it Diary Free: Replace the butter with a neutral flavored oil, melted coconut oil or melted vegan butter. Use a vegan/dairy free yoghurt or a dairy free milk.
- Make it Vegan: Use oil or vegan butter, dairy free milk or yogurt and replace the eggs with 2 flax eggs.
- DIY Pumpkin Spice: Add 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- Freeze for Later: Cool the muffins completely then wrap up individually in freezer-safe bags. Freeze up to six months. Thaw a few hours in the fridge or warm up in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds.
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