Let the Fall baking begin! These vegan pumpkin muffins are so delicious and super easy to make in under 30 minutes! They are tender and moist, perfectly spiced, not too sweet, bakery-style pumpkin muffins. A family favorite - kid approved!
Is your family team pumpkin or team apple? Once the weather turns cool, requests for apple recipes like vegan apple crisp (apple crumble), vegan apple galette, and apple pie compete with pumpkin recipes like pumpkin bread and pumpkin spice lattes; but these BIG, bakery-style, vegan pumpkin spiced muffins take the cake.
Just like my banana nut muffins, these vegan pumpkin muffins bake up super moist and a little rustic using a specific baking method that makes them nice and tall with a perfect muffin top. They are absolutely incredible!
Ingredients for Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
This pumpkin spice muffin recipe is vegan so you won't need any eggs or dairy just a few basic pantry staples. I promise you won't miss them - these vegan pumpkin muffins hold their own in a side by side taste and texture test!
- Vegan buttermilk: Made with unsweetened plant milk (eg. soy, almond or oat milk) and apple cider vinegar (white vinegar or lemon juice). More info on vegan buttermilk.
- Non-dairy butter or margarine: Super soft or slightly melted.
- Brown sugar: I use dark brown sugar for moisture and flavor.
- Pumpkin puree: Be sure to use 100% pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin pie spice & vanilla: Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all spice, and pure vanilla are the perfect autumn flavor pairing with pumpkin.
- Dry ingredients: Baking powder and baking soda (make the muffins rise tall!), salt, cornstarch, and all purpose flour.
Ingredient Substitutions and Variations
Muffins make a tasty breakfast, mid morning snack, after school snack or dessert. Serve them plain or fancy - here's a few options:
- Sweetness: Sub in another type of sugar (not liquid) if preferred like light brown or coconut. Also, this pumpkin muffin recipe can be made less sweet (especially if adding chocolate chips) or more sweet depending on your preference.
- Play with spice: Sub in pumpkin spice which is a premixed blend of warming spices if you prefer. Feel free to add more or less of each spice to suit your taste. As well, you could sub in a chai spice blend and a pinch of black pepper for a delicious spicy flavor pairing.
- Customize with add ins: Add half a cup (or more) of chocolate chips for extra tasty vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Some people like raisins or chopped dates, walnuts or pecans in their pumpkins muffins - customize to your personal taste.
- Optional streusel topping: When you're feeling fancy add a quick streusel topping. Just mix everything together until crumbly then gently press into muffin tops before baking (see recipe card notes).
- Optional maple cinnamon drizzle: For a brunch, a birthday celebration or just because, swirl some cinnamon maple drizzle and a sprinkle over the tops! (Recipe below.)
How to Make Perfect Pumpkin Muffins Vegan!
These vegan pumpkin muffins are ridiculously simple to make. They rise tall and fluffy, have a slightly rustic muffin top, the perfect moist crumb, are just sweet enough, and are packed with pumpkin flavor and fall spices. Let's make a batch together:
- Make sure your non-dairy butter/margarine is super soft or slightly melted before beginning. Prepare the vegan buttermilk by stirring the apple cider vinegar into the soy milk so it curdles.
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy. Stir in the pumpkin puree, spices, and vanilla until incorporated.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) together in a small bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients and vegan buttermilk in batches (just like my vegan banana bread) - flour, milk, flour, milk. Stir, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl just until incorporated (don't over mix the batter which creates a super processed texture). Then set the batter aside to rest, turn the oven on to preheat, and prepare the muffin tins.
Pro Tip: I don't use paper liners on my muffins as I prefer a more rustic crust. I do smear vegan butter on the bottom and sides of each opening in the muffin tin to add some buttery flavor and to prevent sticking.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, gently press a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds or streusel (if using) on the tops, and pop into the oven. Pro Tip: To get those BIG bakery-style pumpkin muffins, I fill only 11 muffin cups!
- Time to Bake!: To get the beautiful, high rise and golden crust, these pumpkin muffins are going to bake at 425º F for 7 minutes and then 350º F for the last 10-12 minutes to ensure the middle is cooked through and comes out moist and fluffy.
You're going to be SO excited to see how tall and gorgeous the muffins are plus the house will smell heavenly!
- Give the muffins 5 minutes to cool in the pan then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Pro Tip: If you leave the pumpkin muffins in the tin to cool completely, the sides and bottom become soft (like a cupcake) from the steam. I prefer a more rustic muffin so I never miss this step.
A Few Tips
Vegan baking gets a bad rap, but trust me, it's scrumptious! These baking tips will ensure a perfectly moist muffin interior (crumb) with the perfect muffin top.
- Million Dollar Tip: Don't make this rookie mistake - measuring ingredients over the mixing bowl! To avoid a spill or over pour into your mixing bowl, measure your ingredients over the counter not the bowl. (I've made this mistake many times - boo!)
- No fancy equipment needed: Don't bother with hand beaters or a stand mixer. With just a simple bowl and wooden spoon you will achieve the perfect muffin texture. Over mixing vegan muffins makes them gummy. I recommend folding the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined but no flour pockets remain.
- Paper liners: I skip the paper liners because I like the extra flavor and texture from using butter to grease the muffin cups. Your choice.
- Cooling time: Worth repeating - be sure to transfer your muffins out of the muffin pan after ~5 minutes to a cooling rack so they don't get too soft and soggy on the bottom.
How to Store and Freeze Muffins
Counter & Fridge: Leftover vegan pumpkin muffins can be stored (wrapped) for up to 4 days at room temperature. They last longer in the fridge ~7 days.
Reheating: I like to reheat my pumpkin muffins in the microwave then serve warm with dairy-free butter or peanut butter.
Freezer: Once completely cool, wrap and freeze the muffins for up to several months.
More Popular Vegan Baking Recipes
- Easy Vegan Banana Muffins
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies with Marshmallows (Vegan)
- Decadent Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Mocha Frosting
- Best Vegan Biscuits
Be sure to check out all our vegan baking recipes and vegan bread recipes!
If you tried this tasty Vegan Pumpkin Muffin recipe, please leave a rating and review below! Be sure to follow along on Instagram and Pinterest or sign up for my Sunday morning newsletter for tips on how to make vegan food taste incredible.
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
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INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup dairy free milk (soy, almond, oat)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (white vinegar or lemon juice)
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup vegan butter/margarine, melted slightly
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
- 3-4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves or allspice (optional)
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds for topping (or more)
Optional Add Ins
- ½ cup chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dates (more to taste)
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the Pumpkin Muffins
- Make the vegan buttermilk by stirring together dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium size mixing bowl.
- Mix the muffin batter in a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, beat the softened butter and the brown sugar together until creamy and incorporated.
- Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla - mix until smooth.
- Add ½ the dry ingredients and ½ the buttermilk to the pumpkin mixture: fold together. Add the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk - stir just until incorporated being careful not to over mix. Fold in any add ins at this time. Let the batter rest while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 425º F and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin by rubbing each cup with dairy-free butter/margarine over the sides and bottom. Alternatively use paper liners or spray with cooking spray. Make streusel if using.
- Once the oven is preheated, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling almost to the top. For slightly larger bakery-style pumpkin muffins, fill only 11 spots (as I did in the photos). Sprinkle pumpkin seeds or streusel over the top gently pressing into the batter. Then pop into the oven.
- Bake at 425° F for 7 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350° F for an additional 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer the muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once cool, drizzle with frosting if using.
NOTES
This recipe is from simplyceecee.co food blog. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images or republish this recipe without prior permission. Thank you.
Debbie
These vegan pumpkin muffins taste so good! I can't believe how quick they are to make. I love having them with my coffee in the morning!