Healthy Pumpkin Muffins are made without butter, oil or flour! These naturally gluten-free pumpkin muffins are moist, flavorful and perfectly pumpkin spiced.
author’s note
You’d Never Believe These Are Healthier!
Pumpkin season hits and I always have half a can of pumpkin lurking in the fridge. I wanted a muffin that used a lot of pumpkin, not just a spoonful, and still baked up light and fluffy.
After a few test runs with oats, honey, and warm spice, this is the Healthy Pumpkin Muffins recipe I reach for.
No butter, no oil, no refined flour, just simple pantry staples that bake into soft, pumpkin-packed muffins. I usually toss in dark chocolate because melty pockets of chocolate make these feel extra special.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Swaps or tips |
|---|---|
| Canned pumpkin puree | Use solid-pack pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. If it seems watery, blot with paper towels. |
| Old-fashioned oats (blended to oat flour) | Use certified gluten-free oats if needed. Store-bought oat flour works. Weigh for best results. |
| Honey + light brown sugar | Use all honey or a honey–maple mix. Adjust sweetness to taste. |
| Eggs | Room-temperature eggs mix in more evenly. |
| Pumpkin Pie Spice + cinnamon + nutmeg | A ready blend works great. Add a pinch of ginger for extra warmth if you like. |
| Dark chocolate chips | Mini chips spread more evenly. Swap for chopped pecans, walnuts, or raisins. |
Featured Comment
“Just made these muffins last night for the first time and they are absolutely amazing!! So so delicious! The perfect pumpkin muffin recipe – flavourful and great texture! What a perfect recipe. I’ll be making another batch today to bring to my sister. Thank you so much for sharing”
– Monica
How To Make Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Prepare: Preheat oven and grease a muffin pan.
- Mix: Combine wet ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together dry.
- Combine & Bake: Mix together wet and dry ingredients, stir in dark chocolate chips, fill muffin cavities, and bake until tops are set.
- Cool & Store: Let cool before removing from the pan and store in an airtight container. Best enjoyed within a few days.
Storage
Leftovers?
Room Temperature: Store muffins in an airtight container. Best within 1-2 days.
Refrigeration: Keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Bring to room temp before eating.
Freezing: Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to a bag or container. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temp or microwave before serving.
More Healthy Pumpkin Recipes:
Shakes And Smoothies
Pumpkin Protein Shake
Desserts
Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
Desserts
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin see note 1
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons light brown sugar see note 2
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon oat flour regular oats that have been blended, see note 3
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9 cavities in a muffin pan with nonstick spray; do not use muffin liners with these; they stick to the liners. Press excess liquid out of the pumpkin with paper towels.
- Combine the pumpkin, honey, brown sugar (see note 2), vanilla, and egg in a bowl. Beat until combined.
- In another bowl, stir together the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and oat flour.
- Add the dry to the wet, mixing until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the mixture evenly among 9 muffin cavities and place a few (3–4) extra chocolate chips on top if desired. Bake for 19–24 minutes or until the tops of the muffins look dry (not gooey) (My oven takes 23 minutes). Remove and allow to cool for 3–4 minutes, then remove them from the muffin pan onto a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tips For Success
- Do not overmix: Mix until the dry bits just disappear.
- Let the batter rest: Two to three minutes helps the oats hydrate for a softer crumb.
- Fill cups almost full: Oat-based batters do not spread much.
- Check doneness early: Every oven runs a little different, so start checking at 18 minutes.
- Non-stick Muffin Pan: Use a high-quality non-stick pan for easy removal. Here’s my favorite muffin tin.
Hi chelsea! We just made these. I subbed almond extract for vanilla. These are so easy my 3 year old helped me make them! He said, “delicious!” These, are a keeper!!!
These are absolutely wonderful. They freeze well too. I just pop a frozen one in the microwave for 30 seconds and they are perfect for an afternoon goodie with coffee. Thank you for posting this fabulous recipe with such wholesome ingredients and no-guilt sugar. 🙂
I was recently diagnosed with a wheat allergy, so I was super excited to make these. Pumpkin and chocolate are two of my favorites, especially together!
I used maple syrup instead of the honey, and used half cinnamon chips and half chocolate chips. (The cinnamon chips are a bit overwhelming, flavor-wise, so I wouldn’t do that again.)
My 2 oz. disher gave me 9 muffins, with a little bit of batter left for sampling. 🙂
I recently purchased these: Standard-Paper-Cupcake-Liners-Baking/dp/B00J4U8QX0/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1415376208&sr=1-1&keywords=paper+chef+parchment+cups at my local grocery store, so figured this would be a good test for them. I’m happy to report that as soon as I removed the muffins from the pan, the paper began coming loose from all the sides. Yay for not having to wash the pan!
The muffins are delicious! In order to not eat them all at once, I froze them, individually wrapped. This morning, I popped one in the microwave for 35 seconds, and it tasted like I had just pulled it from the oven.
Thanks so much, Chelsea, I can’t wait to make the cookies!
SO glad to hear about those cupcake liners!! Usually healthy muffins stick so bad that I never use liners, I need to try these! 🙂 Thanks!
I made these the other day for my boyfriend and my oh my did he LOVE them!!! He finished all 9 in just 4 days! Definitely making these for my family’s thanksgiving party!!
Hello Chelsea,this morning i found your awesome blog and I have to say you are a beautiful lady!I just made these delicious muffins and oh my god!!We have a lot of pumpkins here in Kos and I always wonder what to do..So,I picked one from my yard this afternoon and I made a homemade pumpkin puree and then a double dose of your muffins and my man loved it so much(me too!!)….I think this is the third time ,while my pregnancy,I have a sweet and honestly I feel so good after three muffins.Tomorrom I will made two or three dozens of these and I will give it to my friends..Thanks for the recipe and this is the first time I leave a comment in any blog!!Good night from Greece
Hi Polina! Thank you so much for your kind message! I really appreciate it 🙂 I am so glad you liked these and left a comment – it made my day!! Have a great night!
I have made these FOUR times now and they just get better every time! I could literally say that I’m addicted! Love the taste and moist texture plus they are healthy! Nothing gets better than this!
Thank you so much Taylor!! I really appreciate your comments 🙂
Just made these. Oh my goodness so delicious. My apartment smells like heaven, and this recipe is definitely a keeper. I keep staring at them and I need to put them far away from myself.
One question – does this recipe freeze well? It’s Monday and I only see my boyfriend on weekends. I really want him to try one (and he will not stop with just one!).
So glad to hear!!! Thanks for such a kind comment 🙂 and so sorry to not be of much help, but these have never lasted long enough for me to try freezing them!! I have frozen other muffins similar though and then warmed them up wrapped in foil in the oven and they were fantastic!
Wrap each muffin in Saran wrap and then put all the muffins in a Ziploc freezer bag.
Hi Chelsea,
I love pumpkin, always on the prowl looking for great pumpkin recipes online. Also love the fact that pumpkin is so low in calories yet sweet and so filling.
Speaking of calories, I plugged in your recipe into livestrong/myplate site and I did not even put in the sweeteners namely the honey & sugar that you have included in your recipe, so basically, pumpkin puree, oat flour, eggs and vanilla (the spices and leaveners do not really count much in terms of calories). Total calorie count was 1102kcal for the whole recipe. Let’s say we make them into smaller muffins (9 pieces) that would translate to 122kcal per small muffin. Not 114 calories per 7 muffins. ….
my god, miss chelsea thank you much for this!
i followed it almost exact, except i used 1tsp of honey, added some stevia, didn’t use the pumpkin pie spice but did use ground ginger/clove/allspice and some extra freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg, and finally used slightly less than 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips.
ANYWAYS, i got 10 muffins out of it.
i calculated the numbers, and went ahead and divided it by 9 rather than the 10, but it comes out to:
97 calories 3g fat 13g carbs (slightly less than 13g of sugar from the fibers, lets say 11g sugar per to highball it)
ill be honest, they look pitiful, far far worse than the ones in your pics, but they taste AH-MAZING.
they taste like they should have 3 or 4 times the calories/fat/carbs that they do.
EXCELLENT recipe in all aspects, THANK YOU and HAPPY HALLOWEEN : ) : ) : )
Haha thank you so much for such a sweet comment 🙂 So glad to hear you liked these!! And thanks so much for doing the calorie calculations; this will definitely be very helpful for other readers! Thanks again SO much and happy holidays to you 🙂
Just made these this morning and they were delicious 🙂 Got to love pumpkin in the fall!
Pumpkin in the Fall – not too many things better 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment; glad to hear you liked these!