These Vegan Pumpkin Muffins are perfectly spiced, fluffy, and moist. Best of all, they’re easy to make in one bowl in just 30 minutes!
Looking for more vegan muffin recipes to try? I know you’ll also love my Vegan Apple Muffins, Vegan Banana Muffins, and Cranberry Orange Muffins.
“These seriously are the best vegan pumpkin muffins! I make them a few times every year, and without fail at least one person that tries them for the first time asks me for the recipe – both vegans and non-vegans!” -Nikki
I know that fall is the perfect time of year to bake a fresh batch of these Vegan Pumpkin Muffins, but I could truly eat them all year long. I don’t think I’ve ever had a muffin that was so soft, fluffy, and moist before!
Their irresistible texture and cozy fall flavors are all thanks to simple baking staples, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spices. Just mix them all together in one bowl and bake! In no time, you’ll be left with an ultra-cozy treat to enjoy right away or freeze for later.
Why these are the best vegan pumpkin muffins
- Moist and fluffy – Pumpkin puree not only makes these muffins orange and tasty, but also makes them incredibly moist! Every bite melts in your mouth.
- Warm fall spices – This wouldn’t be a pumpkin muffin recipe without plenty of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in the batter.
- Easy 1-bowl recipe – Just like my Vegan Apple Cake and Vegan Pumpkin Cake Bars, these vegan pumpkin muffins are always on my fall baking list because they come together so easily!
How to make vegan pumpkin muffins
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Whisk the pumpkin, melted vegan butter (or oil), non-dairy milk, and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices over the wet ingredients in the same bowl. Mix until just combined.
Recipe Tip
Do not overmix the batter! This will almost always give you dense and rubbery muffins. Instead, gently mix the wet and dry ingredients together until the flour is absorbed.
Finish the muffin batter by gently folding in the mix-ins of your choice with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, then bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Set them aside to cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!
Recipe Tip
Do not overbake the muffins. This is the second reason for dry, dense muffins! My muffins were light and fluffy after baking for 22 to 25 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center—if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached, the muffins are done.
Frequently asked questions
Customize these muffins with your favorite add-ins, like dairy-free chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, raisins, chopped pecans, dried cranberries, or pumpkin seeds. You could even top them with the pumpkin pie-spiced streusel from my Pumpkin Coffee Cake recipe for extra sweetness!
Absolutely! Bake your mini pumpkin muffins for 15 to 18 minutes instead.
I tried this when I was testing my Vegan Pumpkin Bread, and it didn’t work well. My advice? Go make that bread instead!
Sure. A quality gluten-free flour mix (like King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill) will work as a substitute for the all-purpose flour here.
For oil-free, replace the butter or oil with an equal amount of applesauce or non-dairy yogurt. The texture will be different, but the muffins will taste good.
Transfer the cooled muffins to an airtight container and store them at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Thaw the frozen muffins on the counter before serving. I love to warm them up in the microwave for 30 seconds or even pop them in the air fryer for a few minutes until warm. YUM!
1 Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup melted vegan butter OR vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup soy or almond milk, unsweetened
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Optional ad ins:
- 1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips, raisins, cranberries or chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a muffin pan. If you use paper liners, also make sure to spray the cups lightly with oil so the muffins don’t get stuck to the paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin, melted vegan butter (or oil), non-dairy milk and brown sugar. Whisk until well combined and smooth.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spices over the wet mixture (I use a fine mesh strainer for this or use a sifter).
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet gently using a large wooden spoon until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
- Fold in any optional ingredients, if using, and fill the muffin cups full. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- For oil free, replace the butter/oil with applesauce or non-dairy yogurt. They won’t be quite the same though.
- If you want less sweet muffins, you may lower the brown sugar amount to 3/4 cup. Or feel free to substitute coconut sugar if desired.
- For gluten free, use a quality gluten free flour mix.
- If you have pumpkin pie spice mix, you may use 3 teaspoons of it and omit the single spices. Either way works!
- These muffins freeze well, simply let them cool completely and place in a freezer bag.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in August 2018 and has since been republished with improved photos and writing.
I subbed regular flour for Anita’s GF flour and subbed almond milk for half and half cream and they are HEAVENLY. Great rise (that was the cream I think) and they cooked a little faster.
So glad you enjoyed the muffins, thanks!
BEST. MUFFINS. EVER.
It’s not even a question – perfectly moist, fluffy texture, and incredibly delicious!! These muffins taste like pumpkin pie with the perfect combination of nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Seriously, make these muffins!!
Thank you for sharing your terrific review, Emily! Glad you love the muffins!
Super easy and super delicious muffins. I added in dried tart cherries and pepitas but mini chocolate would have been great instead. I’ll do that next time. I tend to like muffins a little less sweet. Next time I’ll add a little less brown sugar. Thank you for a great recipe.
Hi Kim. Thank you for sharing your review! It’s always fun to hear the different variations people try! Happy cooking!
Substituted the oil with applesauce and added mini chocolate chips. Kids say they are the best muffins ever! They are very good ?
Thank you for sharing your review! I’m glad the muffins were a hit!
Extremely versatile and delicious!
Thanks Colin!
I’ve made this a couple of times! Absolutely delicious and my vegetarian wife and vegan sister-in-law love them too! I encountered a cold weather problem though! My coconut oil hardens like wax the instant it touched my room-temperature almond milk! So… I warmed it up – problem solved! I would zap my almond milk in the Microwave for about 30 seconds before adding coconut oil in. I am open to other solutions though!
Yes, all I would do in that situation is warm your milk as well, so it doesn’t harden immediately when mixing. Hope that helps, and glad you all love the muffins!
I adapted this to make an apple version –
Bobs’ redmill GF flour
sub pumpklin for applesauce
only 1c sugar
For some reason they were amazing the next day but not as amazing right out of the oven.
Oh I also baked for an extra 10-15 min
Thank you, Rayann!
These were so dang good and moist! I’m not vegan but was out of eggs and looking for a muffin recipe without them. Would make again! 5 stars.
Hi Nora! Any advice on if I wanted to incorporate whole wheat flour in to the recipe? (I don’t have white whole wheat and haven’t been able to find any info online about using a combination of AP and whole wheat flour in lieu of white whole wheat.) I’d like to incorporate some less-refined grains to this recipe if possible!
Sure, you could use half whole wheat and half white flour. They will of course be more dense, but I think it would still be good. You could even use all whole wheat for a different experience.
Simply fantastic. I mixed in chocolate chips and topped with pumpkin seeds. I love your recipes. Thank you for sharing them with us!
You’re welcome!
I made with Bob’s redmill GF 1:1 flour and even after 30 min they were totally gooey and raw in the middle but brown on top. Good taste – not sure what happened in the bake
I’ve never tried them with gluten free flour, but others have reported success so I’m not sure. They also may need longer to bake when gluten free, so make sure to bake them until the middle comes out clean. Also, if you used a larger muffin pan they would take longer as well. Hope that helps!
Hi! I did the same thing with Bob’s 1:1 GF Baking Flour, read this comment, checked them at 24 mins and continued to bake for almost an hour with checks every 10 minutes or so. Even after an hour they were still very gooey inside (but yes we still gobbled them up because they were delicious!) There may be an issue with GF, or specifically Bob’s GF flour with this recipe. The muffins were crispy and nicely browned on the outside, but like custard on the inside. My advice: may want to stick to the original recipe!
My baked goods always comes out gummy w/ Bob’s GF 1:1 flour. You probably did everything right, and it’s the GF flour.
Absolutely delicious!
I always come here to discover new vegan flavors.
This recipe is very good like many others in this blog.
Congratulations Nora!
Thank you for share.
Greetings from Spain!
You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment!
So easy and delicious Nora! I substituted Riviera vanilla vegan yogurt for the oil and added Enjoy Life chocolate chips. The recipe yielded 15 muffins (I filled a bit more than 3/4). I always seek out your blog when searching recipes now. Thank you!
That’s great to know it worked with vegan yogurt, thank you! So glad you are enjoying the recipes. ?
I love the simplicity of this recipe, and they taste great!
My problem (and I know it’s definitely something I did wrong), is that the muffins ended up deflating and never seemed to really cooked all the way through.
Any idea what I could have done wrong?
It sounds like you are just not baking them for long enough. Check with a toothpick or even sharp knife to make sure there is no wet batter, and that the tops spring back when lightly touched. Perhaps your oven runs less hot than most.
Delicious! I used freshly made pumpkin purée and added a sprinkle of raw sugar on top before baking
Very moist and fluffy!
Wonderful, thank you!
You haven’t disappointed me yet! I love how well you test your recipes they always turn out amazing. I was expecting a little more rise out of these at first- but they still tasted fluffy and delicious! I used homemade pumpkin puree that had been in the freezer your standard jack o lantern type pumpkin- and it still was amazing!
Thank you so much, it is a passion of mine for sure! 🙂
Wow, these are seriously good. Moist and flavorful. My husband asked for these to become “a regular.” Neither of us is even vegan.
That’s so great!
I made these again using truvia brown sugar blend (2x so used a little over 1/2 cup) and gluten free flour and they still turned out fantastic! What a great and versatile recipe, thank you for sharing it!!
You’re welcome!!
Easy and flexible recipe! Tested using date and coconut sugar, 1 cup total. Used walnut oil for fat and flax milk for milk. Added mini choc chips, coconut flakes, and sunflower seeds. Recipe made a lot so very full muffin liners – yes on the 24 minute bake. Had enough for 2 small ramekins in addition to the 12 muffins. Good recipe and notes, thanks!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins!
Very good. Made in a mini loaf tin tray and topped w pepitas
These turned out fabulous! I had way too much for 12 muffins so I filled a ramekin too and now I have a mini cake. 🙂 The only thing I added was some walnuts and pecans, probably a 1/2 cup total. My muffin tins were more than 3/4 full so I baked them just a tad longer and they’re perfect. I decided I wanted to try the maple frosting with them, which was also delicious, but if I’d thought about that when I was starting out, I would have made the muffins less sweet. The combination is a bit much for breakfast…way more suitable for dessert. Please note, that is not a complaint! I did find that using a large, silicone spoon to stir with worked better than the wooden spoon. I’ve become a huge fan of my silicone cookware. This was such an easy, quick recipe. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed the muffins! They are quite sweet, so feel free to cut back on the sugar as desired.
Yummy! I added walnuts on top
Yum, thanks!
Why are my muffins sticking to the paper liners?
The muffins are delicious!
If they stick, just spray them with oil next time. Especially if you didn’t add oil to the muffins. Glad you enjoyed them!
I am not a vegan, my granddaughter is and I made these today for her as a surprise. They are so easy, so moist and so delicious. Better than regular pumpkin muffins I have had in the past. I drizzled them with a glaze made for pumpkin do-nuts and they really look extra special.
That’s great!
Made this with the Bob’s Red Mill gf flour, oat milk, pumpkin pie spice, and chopped walnuts. Came out SO nice and popped right out of the pan. Great tip on not over-mixing to avoid the gummy texture, I’m sure I’ve done that many times. Thrilled whenever something gf and vegan comes out decent, because baking without eggs is so hard. These were great with some Miyoko’s vegan butter. Thank you!!
You’re welcome!
Is it really 1 TBSP of baking powder? I’ve never used that much in a recipe so the first time I made these I subconsciously used 1 tsp and they turned out great. The second time I noticed my error but then I forgot to adjust the time for mini muffins and over baked them. I also didn’t store the first batch in the fridge and they went moldy after a few days. Besides my errors, I’ll continue to make these and correct my ways. My 9yo devours them.
Yes, 1 tablespoon is correct here. It helps them become very fluffy. Sometimes in vegan baking extra baking powder helps since you aren’t using eggs which often help with rising in baked goods. Hope that helps!