Welcome to fall…with this delightful Healthy Pumpkin Muffins recipe! They’re light and moist, made with pumpkin puree and infused with pumpkin pie spice. The best part? There’s a streusel topping of oats and glittery turbinado sugar that makes a sweet crunch in every bite. Each one is less than 200 calories, so we consider them healthy pumpkin muffins too. We served them to guests and they could not stop talking about them!
Ingredients in this healthy pumpkin muffins recipe
These healthy pumpkin muffins are one of our favorites of this fall baking season. We can’t wait for the weather to get cool to pull out this trick! Here are a few notes on the main ingredients:
Pumpkin puree: Find canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin puree is unsweetened and you can add your own spices (which are much tastier). Pumpkin spice: Use our homemade pumpkin pie spice or a store-bought version. Flour and rolled oats: Oats help make the muffins more filling and nutrient dense. Applesauce: Cuts back on the oil and keeps the muffin moist. Turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is raw sugar. It has large, crunchy crystals and a caramel flavor. It’s available at mainstream grocery stores. If you can’t find it, substitute brown sugar. Maple syrup. The muffin batter features maple syrup, brings a nuanced sweetness. Butter or coconut oil: These muffins have less fat than most, and you can substitute coconut oil for vegan.
What makes them healthy pumpkin muffins?
Most muffins are just glorified cupcakes. But we think muffins can be full of nutrient-dense ingredients…and still taste good! Muffins should be something you wouldn’t feel bad eating breakfast or snack, but sweet enough to be a little. These healthy pumpkin muffins are a result of that balance. They’re light enough to be deemed nutritious, but not so virtuous that you only want one bite. Here’s what makes these healthy muffins:
Just sweet enough. These healthy pumpkin muffins have just enough sugar. The muffins are sweetened with maple syrup, which gives a gentler sweetness than refined sugar. Then the streusel topping adds that last bit of sweetness to satisfy. Under 200 calories. We don’t count calories, but it’s a good quick test on whether something is overly rich. These weigh in at under 200 calories. Nutrient-dense ingredients. These muffins are balance butter and sugar with with heart-healthy oats, applesauce and pumpkin puree.
How to store healthy pumpkin muffins
One last note on these pumpkin muffins before we get to the recipe. What’s the best way to store muffins so that the topping stays crunchy? It’s a great question, because the texture of the streusel can become soggy depending on the storage method. Here are some tips:
1 day: Leave the muffins on a cooling rack and cover with a clean, dry dish towel. This keeps the crunchy streusel topping intact. Up to 4 days: To store for up to 4 days, place a paper towel in the bottom of a sealed container, then place the muffins in and place a paper towel on top. The paper towels absorb the moisture that rises to the top of the muffins, helping to retain the crunchy topping. Longer than 4 days: For any longer than 4 days, freeze in a sealable container and store up to 3 months.
Variation: make them vegan!
This recipe is easily made into vegan pumpkin muffins! All you have to do is substitute coconut oil for butter. Here are a few notes:
In the muffin batter, use melted coconut oil. In the streusel topping, use room temperature coconut oil to make the crumbly crunch.
Another vegan muffin idea? Try these Vegan Apple Streusel Muffins, using the same concept but with apples!
More muffin recipes
Here are a few more muffin recipes we think you’ll enjoy:
Opt for 100% oats in these Healthy Blueberry Muffins Go for moist and sparkling Cinnamon Muffins Try Applesauce Muffins: whiz them up in a blender and they come out fluffy and cozy spiced Go for Healthy Banana Bread Muffins or Best Blender Muffins, also made in a blender Try Easy Zucchini Muffins or Healthy Zucchini Muffins
This healthy pumpkin muffins recipe is…
Vegetarian. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, use coconut oil (see below). 4 from 3 reviews
