These healthy pumpkin muffins are my new faves! They’re naturally gluten-free, sweetened with maple syrup, quick and easy to make, and perfecty pumpkin-y.

Meet your new favorite pumpkin muffins. ♡
Oh my goodness, we’ve been completely obsessed with these little guys these past few weeks. They are perfectly pumpkin-y, made with my favorite warming spices, and lightly sweetened with maple syrup (plus a pinch of turbinado sugar on top, if you’d like a little extra sweetness and sparkle). They’re also quick and easy to make with ingredients that I’m betting you probably already have on hand. And thanks to an oatmeal base, they’re also gluten-free and on the healthier end of the muffin spectrum in general.
Basically, a pumpkin muffin recipe that tastes great and you can feel great about enjoying too. That’s my kind of a muffin win-win.
Let’s make some!

Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients:
As I said, the ingredient list for these muffins is super simple. You will need:
- Pumpkin puree: ‘Tis the season!
- Old-fashioned oats: Which we will pulse in the blender or food processor until they are finely ground to make our “flour”
- Pumpkin pie spice: Either homemade or store-bought
- Almond milk: Or your favorite kind of nut milk or cow’s milk (2% or whole)
- Maple syrup: Or you could sub in honey, if you prefer
- Coconut oil: Just a few tablespoons (or feel free to sub in your favorite mild-flavored oil)
- Eggs, salt, vanilla and baking soda: Because…muffins.
- Turbinado sugar: Totally optional, but I love the extra hint of sweetness and crunch and sparkle on top
As always, if making this recipe gluten-free, be sure to double check that all of your ingredients are certified gluten-free. (Especially the oats.)
Also, I made my own little parchment baking liners. But feel free to use whatever baking liners you love best, or can just mist the baking pan with some cooking spray.

How To Make Pumpkin Muffins:
To make this pumpkin muffins recipe, simply:
- Make your oat “flour”: Add your oats to a blender or food processor and pulse until they reach a flour-like consistency.
- Combine your dry ingredients: Add the pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda, and pulse until evenly combined.
- Whisk together your wet ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla until evenly combined.
- Combine the two. Fold the dry ingredients in with the wet, and use a spatula to stir together until just combined. (Try not to over-stir.)
- Fill your muffin cups. Portion the batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. (I always like to do this with a large cookie scoop. You’ll need a heaping scoop of batter for this specific recipe — about 1/3 cup per muffin.) Then sprinkle with a pinch of turbinado sugar, if you’d like.
- Bake. Until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes.
- Enjoy! I love these muffins best fresh outta the oven. But once they have cooled to room temperature, feel free to store them in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or freeze (wrapped tightly in plastic wrap) for up to 3 months.

Optional Add-Ins:
Feel free to also add in:
- Chocolate chips: Because…chocolate.
- Nuts or seeds: Such as pepitas, pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, etc. You can either sprinkle them on top of the muffins, or fold them into the batter.
- Dried fruit: Dried cranberries, raisins, apricots…whatever you love.
- A maple glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar and maple syrup until they form a glaze-like consistency, and drizzle over your muffins for extra sweetness

Enjoy, everyone! ♡
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
These healthy pumpkin muffins are naturally gluten-free, sweetened with maple syrup, quick and easy to make, and so perfecty pumpkin-y.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (240g) old-fashioned oats (or 2 cups oat flour)
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, homemade or store-bought
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, plain or vanilla
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or any mild-flavored oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- optional: turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with parchment or cupcake liners, or lightly grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Puree oats in a blender or food processor until they reach a flour-like consistency. Add in the pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and sea salt, and pulse until the mixture is evenly combined. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla extract until evenly combined. Fold the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredient mixture, and stir until the mixture is just combined. (Try to avoid over-mixing.)
- Portion the ingredients into prepared baking cups. Then sprinkle a pinch of turbinado sugar on top of each muffin, if you would like.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm. Or let the muffins cool to room temperature, then store in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
*Or feel free to substitute in 240 grams (8.4 ounces) oat flour. And as always, be sure to use certified gluten-free ingredients if making this recipe gluten-free.
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.






Is 3 cups oats equivalent to 3 cups oat flour? Or will processing 3 cups oats result in less than 3 cups oat flour? Thanks!
Processing 3 cups of oats will result in less than 3 cups. I just went in and added the amount (by weight, for accuracy) to the recipe notes if you’d like to use oat flour. :)
These have to be good and they look so lovely. What is it that the muffins are set into.
Certainly not your conventional pan liners. What am I missing?
I just cut up parchment paper to make the muffin cups since we can’t purchase them here in Spain. :)
I think the hand-made paper cups are cute too. Kindly tell me how to make them, size and shape i.e. in square or circle?
I’m a very beginner! :) Thanks.
Would honey work instead of maple syrup?
Yep, it would!
These look SO delicious! What type of almond milk should be used – unsweetened, vanilla, etc.? (I use unsweetened vanilla in my cereal, would that work here too?) Thanks! xo
Ooh good question! I just went back and edited the recipe — unsweetened milk would be my recommendation, either plain or vanilla. :)
I’m not able to eat oats! Gluten free or regular!!! Ugh. I can’t eat gluten period, gluten free oats make me sick as well. I need a substitute please! These muffins look AMAZING!!!!
Thank you!
Very easy to make! Next time I’ll try the parchment paper instead of nonstick spray. They were a bit tricky to remove. I love the nutty texture.
How much oat flour does the 3 cups yield? I buy and keep oat flour and home and it would be quicker to use that but I’m not sure how much to use.
Oat flour will be great! You’ll need 240 grams (or 8.4 ounces).
8.4 ounces of wheat flour should be short of 3 cups, maybe 3 heaping tablespoons short..
Sorry, that’s whole OAT flour.
I know what I’m baking this weekend!
Do you think it would work to sub maple syrup for Sugar free Apple sauce for my little one?! These look so good!
Hi! This looks great- I’d like to use oat bran to save a step. Did you happen to measure your oat “flour” after you processed it?