These vegan pumpkin muffins are a delicious fall treat. So delicious, in fact, that I think you'll want to bake them all year long! They're moist, tender, spiced, and covered with a sweet cinnamon streusel topping. Absolutely perfect for an indulgent breakfast or a sweet treat!
Fall is here, and I for one am going through cans of pumpkin puree like nobody's business! Fall baking is my jam and pumpkin is my absolute favorite way to do fall baking. I've been cranking out loaves of vegan pumpkin bread and stacks of vegan pumpkin pancakes. And if you come to dinner at my house, you better believe you'll be getting some vegan pumpkin cake or vegan pumpkin cupcakes for dessert. I can never manage to hang on until Thanksgiving for vegan pumpkin pie. I need my pumpkin fix now!
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These muffins are my new fall obsession. They're quick and super easy to make, and I happen to have all the ingredients on hand at most times. They make the house smell absolutely wonderful while they're baking. And did I mention that they're delicious? THEY ARE!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Flour. I've only tested this recipe with all-purpose wheat flour, but I suspect that whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, and all-purpose gluten-free would all work well.
- Oats. We're using rolled oats. Quick oats should work fine too!
- Brown sugar. Use organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan. Non-organic sugars are often processed using animal bone char.
- Vegan butter. You can find this near the regular butter at most supermarkets. Look for brands like Earth Balance and Miyoko's.
- Salt.
- Sugar. Again, make sure it's organic.
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Spices. The recipe calls for cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. You can substitute with pumpkin pie spice (also known as just pumpkin spice) if you'd like — you'll need about four teaspoons.
- Pumpkin puree. Make sure to use canned pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. I've made this recipe with a few varieties of pumpkin puree, and found that while the recipe worked with all of them, the batter was more runny and the muffins didn't rise as well with organic pumpkin puree. Good old Libby's pumpkin puree worked best!
- Non-dairy milk. Use any variety that's unsweetened and unflavored, such as almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, or soy milk. Read my guide to dairy-free milk if you have trouble choosing one!
- Vegetable oil. Any type of baking oil can be substituted here — coconut (melted), canola, or corn oil would all work!
- Vanilla extract.
- Stir-ins. These are totally optional! I used chopped pecans in the batch shown in the photos. Read on for some other options below!
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with papers.
Step 2: Make the streusel topping. Stir all of the ingredients together in a small bowl: flour, oats, brown sugar, vegan butter (softened), cinnamon, and salt. Stick the bowl in the fridge while you mix the batter.
Step 3: Whisk the dry ingredients for your batter together in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, spices, and salt.
Step 4: Combine the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, milk, oil, and vanilla. A large liquid measuring cup works great for this!
Step 5: Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir everything together just until the ingredients are combined.
Tip: Don't overmix your muffin batter. Stop stirring as soon as you stop seeing flour streaks. This is a great rule to live by whenever making muffins, and it's the secret to giving them the best possible texture and beautiful domed tops!
Step 6: If you're using any stir-ins, such as chopped nuts, add them now. Gently fold them into the batter, disrupting it as little as possible.
Step 7: Divide the batter among the cups of your muffin tin, then sprinkle the tops with the streusel topping. Gently press it into the tops of the muffins.
Step 8: Bake your muffins until they're set. You can test one for doneness by lightly pressing into the top with your finger — it should spring back.
Step 9: Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack and let the muffins cool for a bit before enjoying! They might be a little soft at first, but don't worry — they'll continue to set as they cool!
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan pumpkin muffins will keep in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for about three days, in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for about three months.
Variations
- Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. Replace the nuts with vegan chocolate chips. Enjoy Life brand chips are vegan, and available at lots of grocery stores.
- Pepita topping. Instead of streusel, top your vegan pumpkin muffins with some pepitas.
- Frosted vegan pumpkin muffins. Skip the streusel, and top your muffins with frosting, such as my vegan cream cheese frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven't tested any gluten-free variations of this recipe, but I suspect that an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend would work.
I wouldn't recommend it. Make my vegan pumpkin bread instead!
Yes, but you'll need to roast and puree your pumpkin first.
More Vegan Fall Muffin Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping
Ingredients
For the Streusel Topping
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
For the Muffins
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- â…“ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans, or raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers.
- To make the streusel topping, first stir the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl. Stir in the vegan butter, using a fork to mash and soften it until you're able to combine it with the dry ingredients. Place the bowl of streusel into the refrigerator to chill while you make the muffin batter.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- In a smaller, separate container, stir together the pumpkin, milk, oil, and vanilla.
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir just until the ingredients are combined.
- If using chocolate chips, nuts, or raisins, fold them into the batter now.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with streusel topping.
- Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until the tops are set and spring back lightly when touched with a finger.
- Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and allow them to cool before enjoying.
Notes
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Easy and delicious! I left out the cloves because I am not a fan, but otherwise followed your recipe exactly. Thank you!