Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Classic Vegan Pumpkin Muffins! Soft, fluffy, full of fall flavors like pumpkin and pumpkin spice and made even better with nubbly delicious, nutty streusel and a generous drizzle of maple glaze. The perfect fall treat!

Back-to-back pumpkin recipes? Yep. And you know what? I'm not sorry. Fall is my favourite season and if like me you feel like celebrating the beauty of the changing seasons and all things pumpkin spice, then these amazingly delicious vegan pumpkin muffins are here for you. 

Jump to:

• Ingredient & equipment notes
• How to make Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
• Success tips
• Variations
• To make oil-free
• Storing muffins
• Freezing muffins
• FAQS
• 📖 Recipe

They make a lovely, more decadent alternative to my vegan pumpkin bread with their irresistible vegan streusel topping and drizzly maple glaze! Inspired by my vegan lemon muffins and just as delicious, my vegan pumpkin muffins will be just perfect with your cozy cup of morning coffee or if you're really feeling it, a pumpkin spice latte.

Ingredient & equipment notes

Here's what we'll be needing to make this vegan pumpkin muffin recipe, and in my usual style, a little bit about why too:

For the muffins:

• Pumpkin - More specifically a can of pumpkin purée. For its delicious pumpkin flavor, colour and moistness. You won't need the entire can. Use the remainder to make one of my other delicious vegan pumpkin recipes. 
• Flour - You can use all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK), spelt flour or white whole wheat flour in this recipe. For the best texture and flavor though I recommend all-purpose flour if you can. 
• Baking soda, baking powder & vinegar - To make these eggless pumpkin muffins rise high - We want big muffin tops! Baking soda is used in addition to baking powder, because it creates a chemical reaction between the alkaline baking soda and the vinegar. This is important in an eggless muffin recipe because it creates lots of bubbles and lift and replaces the leavening you would otherwise get from eggs.
• Salt - So important for enhancing flavor in sweet as well as savoury recipes.
• Oil - Provides fat that produces a good crumb. It also acts as a preservative. It doesn't compete with the pumpkin flavor like vegan butter does. For those of you who bake oil and butter-free, I have included an oil-free option, but it does involve omitting the streusel.
• Sugar - Adds structure and sweetness. You can use any sugar you like in this recipe. White, cane, light brown, dark brown or coconut. Don’t replace the sugar with a liquid sweetener as that will make the liquid to dry ratio off and will affect the texture of the muffins.
• Non-dairy milk - To bring everything together. Any is fine to use although I recommend an unsweetened one to avoid making the muffins too sweet. Don’t be tempted to use water instead of milk. The muffins will end up flat and heavy without it.
• Ground flaxseed - When using a lot of pumpkin puree in baking, especially when eggs aren't being used, the texture can suffer, ending up damp or a little gummy. The high water absorption of flax remedies this, improving the texture and rise of these muffins. Don't use anything else instead. It's a really important ingredient in this recipe. 
• Vanilla extract & pumpkin spice - For flavor. Pumpkin spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice in your pantry see the recipe notes where I give an alternative. 

I haven't added any mix-ins to these muffins because they are incredibly delicious without any. Feel free to add some in if you want to though. Chocolate chips or chopped nuts would be great!

For the streusel:

A simple blend of flour, melted vegan butter, brown and white/cane sugar and some optional chopped pecans if you want. See my stand alone vegan streusel recipe post for more detailed information and some other ways you can use it in your recipes.

For the super easy maple glaze (which is totally optional but recommended):

• Powdered sugar and maple syrup and a tiny drop of plant milk - Super simple and ready in a minute or two. If you don't have maple syrup you can just use a little extra milk or use orange juice instead of the maple syrup and milk. The subtle orange flavor works really well with the pumpkin.

How to make Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

These vegan pumpkin spice muffins are really easy to make. Here's how:

Step 1 - Mix the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl using a fork then refrigerate.
Step 2 - Mix the dry muffin ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Step 3 - Mix the wet muffin ingredients together in another bowl.
Step 4 - Mix the wet mixture with the dry mixture to make a thick batter.

Step 5 - Fill the muffin wells right to the top with batter.
Step 6 - Sprinkle over the streusel.

Step 7 - Bake
Step 8 - Drizzle with maple glaze once cool

Success tips

Take note of these tips for perfectly domed and fluffy vegan pumpkin muffins every time:

• For the best results weigh the ingredients with a digital scale. Cups are not an accurate way to measure, especially when baking and you won't get the best possible results if you use them.
• When making cakes and muffins, although you'll see a lot of 1 bowl recipes out there, it's always best to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately, before mixing them both together, so don't skip that part. It helps avoid overmixing which greatly affects the texture and rise of your baked goods.
• Once you mix the wet ingredients with the dry you need to move as fast as you can to get the streusel top sprinkled over and and the muffins in the oven. This is so that you can take full advantage of the chemical reaction between the baking soda,, vinegar and pumpkin. The quicker you are, the bigger your muffin tops will be ;O)
• If you don't have a really, really great muffin pan that you can totally trust, use good quality muffin liners. I highly recommend USA Pan muffin pans. They make incredible muffin pans that never stick. No liners required.
• My tip for perfect muffin tops? They need an initial, very hot blast in the oven. This creates steam that will raise those muffin tops right up from the inside out. Then you need to turn them down after 5 minutes so that the insides cook through more gently. That’s my temperature trick and it really works so don’t skip it!
• Do you know how most recipes and “muffin experts,” say to only fill the wells two-thirds or three-quarters full? Well, we are breaking all the rules and are going to fill them all the way to the top. This helps with the aforementioned muffin tops. And don't worry, the batter won't overflow because of the initial high temperature.
• Do not over-mix the batter. Just mix until you can’t see any dry flour. Resist the urge to stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump-free. Some small lumps are fine.
• Go easy on the milk when making the glaze. You barely need any to create a thick, drippy glaze, and this glaze should be thick and just drizzle-able.
• How can you tell when vegan pumpkin muffins are cooked properly? Use the toothpick (or skewer or sharp knife) test. Stick one in the centre of a muffin and if it comes out clean then they are done.

Variations

This vegan pumpkin muffin recipe is perfect as it is but to make it your own you could:

• Omit the streusel.
• Omit the maple drizzle.
• Omit the streusel and top each muffin with some piped vegan cream cheese frosting.
• Add a couple tablespoons of orange zest to the wet ingredients when mixing the batter. Orange works really well with pumpkin. 
• Add some mix-ins to the muffin batter like chooclate chips, nuts, dried fruit or seeds.

To make oil-free

To make my pumpkin spice muffins oil-free you will need to omit the streusel and use cashew butter instead of oil in the muffin batter. Use the same quantity and blend it up into the milk before proceeding with the recipe. You will need to add an extra 2 tablespoons of milk. Cashew butter has a neutral buttery flavor and will provide the necessary fat to create a nice spongy, good textured muffin. Note that they will not be quite as light and fluffy as they would if you use oil though. If you really want a crumbly topping on them you could use some oil-free vegan granola instead of the streusel. Just use the clusters and pick out any dried fruit though as it could burn when the muffins bake.

Storing muffins

if you have leftover pumpkin muffins it’s important you know how to store them for optimum freshness.

The most important thing is to let them cool completely on a wire rack before storing them. If there is any warmth in them at all, as soon as they go into a sealed container condensation will happen, and that means damp muffins.

Once they are completely cool, you will need an airtight container and some paper towels. As muffins age, the moisture inside them rises to the surface and can make them wet. By packing them up with some paper towels laid out underneath and another layer on top, you can avoid this. Just keep an eye on them and if the paper towels get a little moist, replace them with fresh sheets.

Freezing muffins

Need to store leftover vegan pumpkin muffins for more than a couple of days? Then the freezer is your best option. Vegan Pumpkin Muffins freeze extremely well for up to 3 months. Pop them into a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container and place them carefully in the freezer. When you want them, remove them from the freezer and let them defrost for a couple of hours at room temperature.

FAQS

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📖 Recipe