Fall is truly in the air and to kick start the season you need these healthy pumpkin muffins! Made with no white flour, no refined sugar, no butter, and no dairy, these muffins are perfectly light, fluffy, and have less than 150 calories each!
The Best Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
When it comes to healthy pumpkin recipes, we’ve got a fair few up our sleeve. We love a lighter pumpkin pie and some flourless pumpkin cookies. However, nothing is more satisfying than a simple and delicious pumpkin muffin.
This is, hands down, the BEST healthy pumpkin muffin recipe you’ll ever make, that you kind of need to bust out the pumpkin right this second to make them.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Made with oat flour. Traditional muffins use white flour or bread flour, but by using oat flour, we add extra fiber, protein, and whole grains to the recipe!
- Low sugar and nothing refined. Swapping out white sugar or brown sugar for coconut sugar keeps these muffins refined sugar free. This sweetener also works well with the pumpkin flavor.
- Uses real pumpkin puree. No pumpkin pie filling is needed here. Instead, we use real pumpkin and add plenty of warm spices to it.
- Low calorie. Each giant muffins has around 150 calories each.
What I love about these muffins is just how easy they are to make. You technically need just one mixing bowl to make and they take less than 20 minutes. You actually have no excuses NOT to make them!
Ingredients needed
This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you probably already have in the pantry! Here is what you’ll need:
- Oat flour– Ground up rolled or quick oats. Skip the expensive packaged kind and make your own!
- Baking powder– The leavening agent used to give the muffins some rise and fluffiness.
- Pumpkin pie spice– A must for any recipe using pumpkin puree.
- Pumpkin puree– Homemade pumpkin puree or unsweetened canned pumpkin. If you use the latter, be sure that it is NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- Coconut oil– A fantastic alternative for butter. Use refined coconut oil as it has no coconut flavor whatsoever.
- Eggs– room temperature eggs.
- Milk of choice– I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk can be used (coconut, soy, non-fat, etc).
- Coconut sugar– A refined sugar free sweetener. You can find these at Asian grocers or health food stores. To cut the sugar, you can use a brown sugar substitute.
How do you make healthy pumpkin muffins
With just 5 minutes of prep to make the batter, this is a very hands-off recipe. The oven takes care of all the hard work!
Step 1- Make the batter
Start by whisking together your flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl, then set that aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until creamy.
Gently fold through the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated and no air pockets remain.
Step 2- Bake the muffins
Now, disperse the batter evenly amongst a greased 12-count muffin tin.
Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dietary swaps and flavor variations
The beauty of these muffins is just how easy they are to customize to a plethora of diets or eating styles. Here is what we have tested:
- Make them vegan. Switch out the eggs for an egg substitute.
- Make them gluten free. These muffins are naturally gluten free, thanks to using specific oat flour.
- Pumpkin muffins with applesauce. Replace half the pumpkin with unsweetened applesauce. This gives the muffins a slightly less intense pumpkin flavor, while keeping them perfectly moist and fluffy.
- Healthy pumpkin banana muffins. Swap out half the pumpkin for mashed banana.
- Pumpkin oatmeal muffins. Do as I did and make a simple oatmeal streusel on top. Combine rolled oats with coconut sugar and sprinkle on top of each muffin before baking them. Drizzle with a simple powdered sugar glaze.
Storage instructions
- To store: Muffins can be stored at room temperature, covered, for up to 3 days. If you’d like them to keep longer, store them in the refrigerator and they will keep for up to 1 week.
- To freeze: Place muffins in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months. Let them thaw completely from their frozen state.
- To serve: I love these muffins on their own, but they taste amazing heated with a smear of butter, almond butter, or even healthy Nutella.
More pumpkin recipes to try
Frequently Asked Questions
If your pumpkin muffins are more on the dense side, it comes down to how long you cook them! To ensure they are never dense, be sure to remove them from the oven when a skewer comes out mostly clean.
Remember, the muffins continue to cook as they are cooling down.
This recipe uses simple ingredients and one bowl to mix it all together. Your muffins will always be light and fluffy, provided you don’t over-bake them.
Compared to traditional pumpkin muffins, these low sugar ones contain less than 10 grams in them. For sugar free muffins, try keto pumpkin muffins.
Each pumpkin muffin contains less than 150 calories.
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Healthy Pumpkin Muffins With 150 Calories | Moist And Fluffy
Ingredients
- 3 cups oat flour gluten free, if needed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 cups pumpkin puree 15 oz can
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 2 large eggs room temperature * See notes
- 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk any milk works
- 1 cup coconut sugar ** See notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a 12-count muffin tin and fill each one with muffin liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice and set aside. In a mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients and cream together until smooth.
- Gently fold through the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Distribute the batter evenly amongst the muffin tin.
- Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.
I’d like to make these, but would like to substitute oat flour with almond flour, which I have plenty of on hand. Can you provide substitution ratio as well as any ingredient modifications? Thank you.
Not for this recipe- You can make my keto pumpkin bread that uses almond flour.
thank you, love swapping out refined sugar whenever possible and of course the pumpkin flavor!
These looks awesome, Arman. Keep up the good work! Thanks for all you do for others.
Take care,
AJ