Pumpkin Spice Muffins (2024)

Pumpkin Spice Muffins are a delightful treat with a rich, moist, and warmly spiced flavor, perfect for capturing the flavors of Fall. Enjoy them warm, spread a little butter on them, and enjoy it with a hot cup of coffee or tea for a cozy treat. If you love everything pumpkin, be sure to also try my Pumpkin Spice Cruffins and Best Ever Pumpkin Bread, too!

Ingredients & Substitutions

Pumpkin: Be sure to use pure pumpkin (also known as pumpkin puree), not pumpkin pie filling. Pure pumpkin is cooked pumpkin that is blended or mashed into a smooth texture. There should be no seasoning, spice, flavoring, or sugar added.

Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil is added to the muffin batter to ensure moisture and tenderness in the muffins. Canola oil would also work well. Applesauce is a popular substitute for oil in baking, but we have not tested it in this recipe, so I can’t speak to its effectiveness.

Milk: For the best results, use whole milk. If preferred, you could substitute a lower-fat option.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: For the classic pumpkin flavor, pumpkin pie spice is added to the batter. For the most flavor, make your own spice!

Turbinado Sugar: Turbinado Sugar (optional for these muffins) is a sugar that falls between granulated sugar and light brown sugar in both color and flavor. It has a yellowish-brown color and with some molasses content left in the turbinado sugar (which gives it the color), it will provide a slight butterscotch flavor and has larger and coarser grains. You could also top the muffins with granulated sugar if that is what you have on hand. Or, leave off the sugar; the muffins are still delicious!

Can I Make Pumpkin Spice Muffins Ahead Of Time?

Sure! You can certainly get the muffin batter mixed ahead of time. After you have mixed the wet and dry ingredients, making sure not to overmix, cover the batter. Store it in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to bake, simply fill each muffin cup and bake! You will notice that the muffin cups are filled to the top. This gives the muffins a beautiful muffin top!

How to Store Pumpkin Spice Muffins

There are a few ways to properly store muffins.

• Room Temperature: Because they are best enjoyed at room temperature, this is usually the recommended way to store them. Use a larger sealable plastic bag or an airtight container to store the muffins in a single layer. Some folks recommend adding a piece of paper towel to the bottom so that it will soak up any condensation. If your muffins are properly cooled before storing, this may not be necessary. However, if I am using an airtight container, I will often add a piece of bread to the container, torn in half, and fit in between the muffins. The bread will soak up moisture as well. Best enjoyed within 2-3 days.
• Refrigerator: (Refrigeration, in general, dries out baked goods faster so a typical muffin recipe shouldn’t be refrigerated.) Place in a sealable plastic bag or airtight container and then place into the refrigerator. They should keep for up to 5 days. To reheat, remove from refrigerator and pop into the microwave for 10 seconds. Or, just allow the muffin to come to room temperature naturally, about 15 minutes.
• Freezer: Place cooled muffins into a freezer-safe sealable plastic bag or a freezer-safe airtight container and pack as closely as possible without crushing. Remove as much air as possible. Label with date and recipe name. To reheat, remove the muffin from the freezer and allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours.

This recipe has been updated as of October 2023.