From Scratch Spiced Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Making pumpkin muffins from scratch is a budget-friendly way to include homemade muffins in the family's lunchbox for the week ahead. Here we use canned pumpkin puree, and a homemade pumpkin pie spice made from spice drawer staples. These pumpkin pie muffins are simply delicious and also freeze well, which makes them perfect for making a big batch and using them for the busy week ahead, especially during this time of year.

Before jumping to the recipe please note that the below information contains HOT TIPS for this recipe. We try and answer all your questions to guarantee a perfect lunchbox recipe every time.

Jump to:

• 🧁 Pumpkin Pie Spice Muffins
• 🧂 Ingredients You Need
• 📋 How To Make Pumpkin Pie Muffins
• ♨️ How To Make These In The Air Fryer
• 💭 Important Teaching Tips
• 🥢 Useful Products
• 🍭 The Best Muffin Pan Liners
• My Favorite Muffin Pan Liners
• 🍽  Serving Suggestions
• 👪 Frequently Asked Questions
• From Scratch Pumpkin Pie Spice Muffins

Love these muffins but want a little extra added goodness (i.e. hidden veggies) then why not try adding some zucchini with these Sweet and Fluffy Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins Recipe next?

🧁 Pumpkin Pie Spice Muffins

Using pumpkin purée in these muffins makes them the perfect way to use up that leftover can of pumpkin purée you have hanging out in the back of the fridge from last week's baking project.

Also, the pumpkin purée means you don't have to use oil to keep the muffins nice and moist, which is always a plus in my books!

This pumpkin muffins recipe is also:

• Budget-friendly: no expensive spice cake mix or pre-made spice blends are needed here, just plain flour and a collection of spices you likely have in your spice drawer anyway.
• Freezer-friendly: These muffins freeze really well, so are just perfect for batch prepping and freezing for a busy week. Freeze the cooled muffins on a baking sheet and once frozen simply transfer them to a ziplock bag or freezer bag. This way it is easy to remove one muffin at a time without them sticking together. If you remove them from the freezer in the morning and pop them into lunchboxes when you are packing them they should be thawed by the afternoon.
• Made from simple ingredients you are likely to have in the pantry.
• Easy to double in volume which makes them perfect for batch prepping.

I always make a double batch of pumpkin spice muffins. I keep out half the batch for the week ahead and freeze the other half for when a busy week comes up and I don't have time to prep in advance.

Perfect for when you travel during school holidays and only get back the night before everyone is back to school and work.

🧂 Ingredients You Need

Luckily this easy recipe requires only a handful of simple ingredients most people are likely to already have on hand (and if you don't they are readily available at most grocery stores).

• flour: I use plain all-purpose flour for this recipe, if you prefer to use whole wheat flour that will work well also. Use a measuring cup to measure out the flour, with a knife edge sweeping across the top to level it off;
• granulated sugar: I used plain white granulated sugar for this recipe, however, if you are avoiding refined sugar then you can always use a sugar alternative like granulated stevia if preferred.;
• brown sugar: you can always substitute coconut sugar or another dark sugar alternative if preferred;
• baking soda;
• baking powder;
• ground cinnamon;
• ground nutmeg;
• ground ginger;
• ground cloves;
• pumpkin puree: this can usually be found in the canned goods section in the grocery store, especially in the Fall and winter months. If you have trouble finding it you can always make your own by roasting and then blending a sweet pumpkin like a sugar pie pumpkin or even butternut squash. Pumpkin pie filling also works well here if that is what you have;
• eggs: large eggs at room temperature will work fine for this recipe;
• butter: use unsalted butter here so that you have more control over the salt content of your muffins. This will need to be softened to room temperature, or if you forget to let it soften, simply melt it in the microwave before using;
• vanilla extract: look for vanilla extract and not vanilla essence which is a very different product;
• milk: any milk of choice will work. I tend to use dairy-free milk as that is what I regularly have on hand, but I have made these pumpkin muffins with regular milk as well and they have worked just fine.

You might also want to add some add-ins to change the muffins up a little bit.

I sometimes throw some raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, or goji berries into the pumpkin batter, especially if I am making a big batch.

This way there is a bit of variety throughout the week.

📋 How To Make Pumpkin Pie Muffins

These muffins are so easy to bring together!

Always be sure to preheat the oven. It should be nice and hot before you add the muffins, otherwise, you risk them not rising enough.

No one likes a muffin that sinks in the middle, we want these little bites to be nice and fluffy.

Then we are simply going to add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and the wet ingredients to a separate medium bowl.

Combine the flour mixture with the pumpkin mixture and gently mix everything together until it is well combined and there are no lumps of flour in your muffin batter.

Using a large spoon, an ice cream scoop, or a cookie scoop divide the pumpkin batter into the prepared muffin pan so they are about ¾ of the way full.

Do not overfill the muffin cups.

The muffins rise as they bake, and we do not want the muffin tops overflowing the liners and sticking to the top of the muffin pan.

Put the filled muffin tray into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the muffins are a pale golden brown color.

Bake time can vary between ovens, so always test for doneness before removing the muffins from the oven and allowing them to cool.

To check for doneness, poke a skewer into the center of a muffin, if it comes out clean with no wet batter on it then the muffin is ready.

If there is still some wet batter on there, you may want to pop the muffins back into the oven for another couple of minutes until completely done.

Remove the pumpkin pie muffins from the oven and allow them to sit in the muffin pan for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.

Be careful, they will still be hot.

Allow the muffins to cool completely before storing them. If they are still hot they are likely to sweat inside the storage container, and this will make them become soggy, which no one wants.

♨️ How To Make These In The Air Fryer

To make pumpkin spice muffins in the air fryer simply follow the instructions as stated in the recipe card below, but bake them in the preheated air fryer instead.

They should be air fried at 320F (160C) for about 15 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.

I always recommend using silicone muffin liners (affiliate link) and placing them directly on the rack inside the air fryer unless you have an air fryer large enough to hold an entire muffin pan (in which case I am very jealous!).

💭 Important Teaching Tips

If you do not have muffin liners or nonstick cooking spray you could also use regular parchment paper to make your own muffin liners.

Simply cut the parchment into squares and then press them into the muffin tin and fill with the pancake batter muffin mixture.

Please note that some of the muffin batter will still stick to the parchment paper as it would if you bought a muffin from a cafe wrapped in this way.

Be careful not to overfill the muffin cups or you will risk them overflowing and the tops of the muffins sticking to the top of the muffin tray.

Mini Muffins

You can make mini muffins instead of regular muffins by simply filling the cups in a mini muffin pan about ¾ of the way full and reducing the cooking time to about 9 minutes.

Please note this will obviously make a lot more muffins, anywhere from 30-40.

You will still need to use a muffin pan liner or spray with a non-stick cooking spray.

Storing Tips

Allow the pumpkin muffins to cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.

If they are not completely cooled they will sweat when added to the container, which will cause them to become soggy.

Leftover muffins will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3-4 days.

They can also be kept in the fridge but they will become more cake-like in texture and lose a lot of their moistness.

Pumpkin muffins can also be frozen for about 3 months if they are stored correctly.

To store correctly, freeze the muffins in a single layer and once par-frozen transfer them to a freezer-friendly container or a Ziplock bag and keep them stored in the freezer until needed.

When needed, simply pull the frozen muffins from the freezer and allow them to thaw for a couple of hours. I tend to pull them out in the morning and let them thaw in the lunchbox until lunchtime when they are perfect (unless it is very cold out obviously).

Substitutions

I love to add chocolate chips to these muffins.

They also work really well with some added raisins, dried cranberries, or goji berries.

Another great way to change things up is to add a streusel topping or crumb topping and pop it on top of the muffins in the muffin pan before baking.

🥢 Useful Products

I always recommend using silicone muffin liners (affiliate link) to prevent homemade muffins from sticking to the muffin pan.

They are also great for making separate compartments in a lunchbox for various small snacks like dried fruit and nuts.

If you do not have silicone liners then use a good quality non-stick cooking spray and make sure the cups in the muffin pan are sprayed very well to prevent sticking.

🍭 The Best Muffin Pan Liners

I use these silicone muffin tray liners for everything from baking muffins to separating snacks inside a bento box lunchbox.

They are super handy to have on hand.

My Favorite Muffin Pan Liners

Silicone Muffin Liners

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🍽  Serving Suggestions

Pumpkin spice muffins are wonderful served all by themselves fresh from the oven. They make the perfect breakfast muffin when served with a cup of coffee.

They are also perfect in big and little lunchboxes throughout the week.

Yum.

Packing the Lunch box: I pack one of these muffins with a salad wrap, some fresh fruit, a handful of salted cashews, and a chia pudding like this chocolate chia seed pudding.

👪 Frequently Asked Questions

I hope you enjoyed these delicious muffins! Please leave a 5 star rating on the recipe card or comment underneath the recipe card.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.