Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins – Soft & Fluffy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins are soft and fluffy, made with pumpkin puree and classic pumpkin pie spices, and ready in under 45 minutes!

If you love these gluten free pumpkin muffins, check out my Gluten Free Banana Muffins, Gluten Free Cherry Muffins, and Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread!

Gluten free pumpkin muffins are the perfect grab-and-go breakfast in the morning. They’re also great cut in half and toasted, then topped with cream cheese or almond butter and paired with a cup of coffee. You can add raisins or dried cranberries to the batter for some sweetness.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour – I use the cup-for-cup gluten free all purpose flour. 

Light Brown Sugar – The brown sugar adds a deeper flavor, which goes great with pumpkin muffins. You can use white granulated sugar if that’s what you have. 

Baking Powder – Make sure your baking powder says ‘double-acting’ on the container. This is a key ingredient to make sure your muffins rise properly.

Pumpkin Spice Flavor – I add some extra cinnamon on top of the pumpkin pie spice I’m already using. You can use only pumpkin pie spice, or your favorite combination in general.

Pumpkin Puree – Canned pumpkin works fine (the same one you’d use for pumpkin pie filling). For an alternate recipe, you can replace the pumpkin with mashed bananas. You can also use homemade pumpkin puree if you have it.

Eggs – Eggs help add texture and flavor to baked goods. 

Butter – Butter adds flavor and also helps the muffins to rise while adding a soft fluffy texture. You can swap it for vegetable oil if that’s what you have, or applesauce for a lighter version.

I also recommend using unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe.

Half and Half – Half and half adds a little more fat and acidity to the muffin, helping it have a moist texture instead of drying out. You can also use heavy cream, or whole milk if that’s what you have.

How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

1. Grease a muffin pan (or add paper liners). Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a large bowl whisk all of your dry ingredients together. 
3. Add wet ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer. Be careful not to over-mix!
4. Evenly distribute among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Jacqui’s Tip! Pour this batter into a bread pan to make gluten free pumpkin bread! It’s ready when a toothpick comes out clean, a total time of around 60 minutes.

How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins in a Larger Muffin Pan

I made this recipe for a smaller muffin tin. You can make these in a larger muffin tin, but I have a few suggestions if you do:

• Lower the heat to 375°F and line a larger pan with muffin liners.
• Doubling the recipe to make sure you have enough batter for a full 6 muffins.
• Increase the cook time by about 5-10 minutes, or until they’re golden brown on the top and a toothpick comes out clean. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t over cook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jacqui’s Tip! Make sure the baking powder says “double acting” on the packaging or they won’t rise properly!

What can I add to gluten free pumpkin muffins?

• Add in chocolate chips or dried cranberries to the muffin batter, or a sprinkle of brown sugar to the top of the muffins for some different variations. I would start with 1 cup of chocolate chips with your dry ingredients for this muffin recipe.
• Add in nuts like almonds or pecans for extra crunch!
• Sprinkle a tsp cinnamon on top of the muffin batter decoratively before baking.
• Add a teaspoon salt mixed with a teaspoon ground cinnamon to the top of the muffins for a sweet and savory flavor. Make sure to use flakey salt, and use 1 teaspoon for the whole batch with just a small sprinkle on top of each one.
• In a large bowl, mix together a streusel topping to make my pumpkin streusel muffins!
• This recipe calls for 1 cup pumpkin puree, but you can substitute that for other pureed vegetables. Try zucchini, or butternut squash! Just make sure the veggies aren’t watery.
• Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract for a different flavor. If you don’t have vanilla extract, you can also try other flavors like almond or orange extract.
• I prefer to eat these with a bit of cream cheese, but you can also add butter or drizzle them with some maple syrup.

How to Make Pumpkin Pie Spice

You can buy pumpkin pie spice, but it’s also really easy to make at home! Here’s my favorite pumpkin pie spice recipe that I make a big batch of every year. It’s also worth mentioning that this pumpkin spice is way cheaper than buying it at the store! Just whisk everything together and store in an airtight container.

• 4 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp cloves

More Gluten Free Pumpkin Recipes

• Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes
• Homemade Pumpkin Pie & Streusel Topping
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
• Breakfast Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Tips and Tricks

• Don’t replace the half and half for gluten free pumpkin muffins. When you’re using gluten free flour, you want to use half and half or cream instead of milk, because cream has more naturally occurring acid in it. This affects the rise of the muffin, and creates the muffin top we all know and love.
• Remember that you want to keep the pumpkin pie spice a bit higher than in non-GF baking. It’s all about flavor!
• Make this a dairy free or vegan pumpkin muffin recipe by using almond milk instead of half and half, oil instead of butter, and try one of these egg substitutes.
• Cut the prep time down by making a large batch of dry ingredients at night and storing them in an airtight container. Then in the morning, all you have to do is measure out the pre-mixed dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and bake.
• Pro tip for any gluten-free muffin recipe is to make sure you use the right egg size. This recipe (and most recipes) call for large eggs. Make sure they are room temperature when you start! You also want your butter to be room temperature, to make it easier to mix the batter.
• I use cup-for-cup gluten free all-purpose flour for this pumpkin muffin recipe. Every gluten-free flour blend is a little bit different. Some have ingredients like (gluten free) oat flour, xanthan gum, or almond flour. Use your favorite blend for this recipe, but results may vary!
• Use paper muffin cups in your muffin tin to help make cleanup easier.

If you loved this recipe, be sure to leave a 5 Star review below, and tag me with a photo of your finished recipe on Instagram @Jacqui_DishingDelish!

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