These soft oat flour pumpkin muffins are everything you could ask for in a breakfast treat - relatively healthy, perfectly filling, and packed with cozy pumpkin spice flavor. Oat flour gives them an extra boost of fiber while keeping them naturally gluten free, and mini chocolate chips sweeten the deal. This is a great recipe for kids and adults alike!
Sneaking oat flour into baked goods is one of my favorite ways to make them a little more wholesome, and after seeing how amazing it is in banana oat muffins, I knew pumpkin muffins needed to be next! These healthy oat flour pumpkin muffins bake up with a soft, tender crumb, perfectly domed muffin tops, and a lightly-sweet, spiced pumpkin flavor. You can pair one with an iced coffee for those unseasonably warm fall days days, or a chai latte as the weather cools down.
I love them because they're really easy to make (no blender or food processor required!) and only use a few simple ingredients - especially if you already have oats on hand. Since you can make them ahead, they're great to have around for a quick breakfast on busy mornings, or as an afternoon snack when you're on the move. And as far as muffins go, they're fairly nutritious too!
Easy Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
So what makes these muffins healthy? Let's take a look…
- Made with Oat Flour - These are essentially "flourless" muffins in that they're not made with traditional wheat flour. Instead we'll use oat flour (finely-ground oats), which has more than triple the amount of fiber as all-purpose flour.
- Naturally Sweetened - We'll make these pumpkin muffins with maple syrup, which has a lower glycemic index than granulated sugar. Pairing maple syrup with whole grains (like oats!) also helps avoid crazy blood sugar swings.
- Less Oil - Pumpkin purée can act as a great fat substitute in baked goods, so you'll only need to add an additional ⅜ cup of coconut oil (or your go-to alternative).
- Dairy Free and Gluten Free - To make sure this recipe is suitable for anyone who must avoid gluten, just use certified gluten-free oats or oat flour. For dairy free pumpkin muffins, check your chocolate chip ingredients; Enjoy Life mini chips are a good option!
Ingredients
The photo below includes all of the ingredients you'll need to make these pumpkin oat flour muffins. It's a simple list, so if you bake often, there's a good chance you might have everything you need in your pantry!
A few notes and substitution guidelines:
- Oat Flour - You can use homemade oat flour (which is what I use for all of my oat flour recipes!) or buy it pre-made. If you make it, aim to get it as finely-ground as possible.
- Eggs - Use eggs at room temperature to avoid solidifying the melted coconut oil. A good trick is to place them in a bowl filled with warm water for about 5 minutes prior to using them.
- Maple Syrup - If you want to substitute this, I would suggest trying honey or agave syrup.
- Coconut Oil - Make sure it's melted for this recipe. You can also substitute with any other neutral-flavored liquid cooking oil - avocado oil is another go-to of mine for muffin recipes!
- Pumpkin purée - I've only tested this recipe with canned pumpkin, and can't speak to how well it will work with homemade pumpkin purée. However, if your purée is smooth and not watery, I think it should be fine! DO NOT use pumpkin pie filling.
- Chocolate chips - If you, like me, LOVE a pumpkin chocolate chip situation, I highly recommend adding these to your muffins. I like using mini chips so they disperse better in the batter and give you little bits of chocolate in every bite. They're also better for garnishing your muffin tops! To help keep these pumpkin muffins healthy, you can also use chocolate chips sweetened with stevia.
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins with Oat Flour
For the prep: Preheat your oven to 375ºF and grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oat flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and ground cinnamon.
In a separate, medium bowl, whisk the eggs together rapidly for about 30 seconds, or until they look a bit foamy on top. Add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract, whisking everything together until smooth.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula until you can only see a few streaks of flour remaining. Then, add the chocolate chips (unless you're skipping them!) and continue to fold just until the chips are dispersed and the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
Scoop the muffin batter into your prepared pan, dividing it evenly between the 12 muffin cups. This is a very thick batter, so you'll need to press it into the muffin cups a bit to make sure they're properly filled. Before baking, you can also sprinkle the muffin tops with a few extra chocolate chips for a prettier finish!
Bake these muffins at 375ºF for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let them cool in the muffin tin for about 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling before serving.
Flavor Variations
Here are a few fun ways you can modify this healthy pumpkin muffin recipe!
Use a different mix-in, such as pecans, walnuts, or even raisins.
Skip the mix-ins entirely and sprinkle the muffin tops with sparkling sugar for a sweet, crunchy finish.
Add a glaze! The maple glaze on my pumpkin scones would be an amazing choice.
FAQs
If you follow this recipe and measure your ingredients correctly (use a kitchen scale for best results!) you should have no problem making moist muffins. A hefty dose of pumpkin purée - along with the maple syrup and coconut oil - make sure of this!
Since these muffins are rather moist and contain pumpkin (which is technically a fruit!) they're best kept in the refrigerator. Once they've cooled, place them in an airtight container or zip-top plastic bag and refrigerate them for up to 5 days.
I highly recommend reheating these muffins before you serve them, since muffins straight from the refrigerator always tend to be a little lackluster. To do this, I like to put one in the microwave for about 45 seconds, or just until its warm!
More Pumpkin Recipes
Don't let the rest of that canned pumpkin go to waste! Use it in one of these delicious recipes instead:
Oat Flour Pumpkin Muffins
Make your fall breakfasts a little sweeter with a batch of these gluten free pumpkin muffins, made with oat flour for a healthy twist. Add chocolate chips for an extra treat!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: muffins
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 4 ⅛ cups (388 grams) oat flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¾ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ⅝ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅞ cup (137 grams) maple syrup
- ⅜ cup (85 grams) coconut oil, melted
- 1 ¼ cups (284 grams) pumpkin purée, room temperature
- 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips, preferably mini
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oat flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and ground cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together rapidly for about 30 seconds, or until they look a bit foamy on top. Add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract, whisking everything together until smooth.
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and fold in with a rubber spatula until you can only see a few streaks of flour remaining. Then, add the chocolate chips (if using) and continue to fold just until the chips are dispersed and the dry ingredients are fully incorporated; the batter will be thick.
- Scoop the muffin batter into your prepared pan, dividing it evenly between the 12 muffin cups and pressing it in to make sure they're properly filled. Before baking, sprinkle the muffin tops with a few extra chocolate chips.
- Bake the muffins at 375ºF for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let them rest in the pan for about 10 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before storing.
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
- If you have whole oats on hand, you can easily make your own oat flour for this recipe. Use gluten-free oats for gluten-free pumpkin muffins.
- Maple syrup can be substituted with honey or agave syrup.
- Coconut oil can be substituted with any other neutral-flavored cooking oil.
- Some chocolate chips contain dairy! Keep this in mind if you want your muffins to be dairy-free. You can also mix in nuts or raisins instead.
Storing and Reheating
- Muffins are best stored in an airtight container or zip top bag in the refrigerator, and are best eaten within 3-5 days. To reheat, warm in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.
Have you made this recipe?
If so, I'd love to hear your feedback; you can leave a rating and review in the comments section below! It's also so helpful if you help spread the word by sharing this post on your favorite social media channel. If you happen to snap a photo of what you've baked, be sure to share it on Instagram and tag me (@brighteyedbaker) so I can give you a shoutout!
Sandra
Beautiful. They do look so tender and tasty!
Riley
I loved this recipe! Simple but amazing!! I have tried many of your recipes now and have never been disapointed. I just wanted to thank you for doing this and it is very much appreciated :)
alexandra
Aww thank you so much! You really have no idea how much I appreciate you telling me that. And I'm so glad you like the muffins... they're one of my favorites!
Rach (DonutsMama)
Just made these today! I also used coconut oil and they were great. I made regular size muffins as well as mini muffins for my toddler. I really like that they had some whole wheat flour in them.
alexandra
Aww, I love that you made mini muffins for your toddler! That's perfect :)
And thanks for letting me know that you liked them; it's always great to here that!
Heather
I'm also new to your blog, found it through a post on Tumblr, and I decided to try this recipe. They're absolutely delicious! I think it's inspired me to start baking more, and to try more recipes online! :)
alexandra
That's so great to here! You have no idea how happy it makes me when someone tries one of my recipes and enjoys it. Plus, the fact that it encouraged you to bake more is amazing! I (obviously) love baking myself so it's fun when I meet other people who love it too.
suzanne
These are so delicious! I am new to your blog and this is the first recipe I've tried. What a treat! My husband said they are the best muffins I've ever made....and I love to bake muffins! I substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil and the came out wonderful! Thanks!
alexandra
Thank you so much! Your comment made my day. I hope you get inspired to try out some more recipes from the blog. :)
Diana
Just baked these muffins!
They are still in the oven as I type.
Can't wait to try one.
alexandra
Yay! Hope you liked them. :)
TastefullyJulie
I haven't started my pumpkin-baking spree yet. I'm late! These look delicious.
brighteyedbaker
Get going!! haha Thanks :)
Jessica @ Portuguese Girl Cooks
These muffins look awesome! I absolutely love anything pumpkin. We have cool weather in Canada, so fall baking is in full swing!
brighteyedbaker
Thanks! I love pumpkin too. I'm sort of pretending I have cool weather, otherwise my pumpkin baking would be seriously delayed!
Ashley
Cool fall weather here in Canada - and the pumpkin baking as begun! :)
brighteyedbaker
So I guess you get the weather to match the baking... Lucky you!:)
Riley
I refuse to let the hot weather deny me of my pumpkin fix! These look delicious!
brighteyedbaker
Exactly! That's the spirit :) Thanks!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Beautiful muffins, I love pumpkin baked goods! It feels like summer here too, especially since temperatures are supposed to reach 100 again this weekend!
brighteyedbaker
Yup, it's like that here too! Oh well :-/