Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Muffins
This is my go-to, easy pumpkin muffin recipe! It’s made with pumpkin puree and basic pantry ingredients and can be whipped up in about 15 minutes.
Growing up, my mom made muffins a lot, and my very favorite were the ones she made had a streusel topping. Having the crunchy crumble topping on top of a warm, pillowy muffin was the best breakfast ever! For this pumpkin muffin recipe, I actually adapted an old-fashioned recipe from one of my very favorite church cookbooks but added my beloved cinnamon streusel topping for old times’ sake!
I really love baking with pumpkin puree, because it makes baked goods super moist and reduces the need for oils. Using pumpkin is actually a bit of a cheat code for reduced fat content!
If I had to compare this pumpkin spice muffin recipe to anything, it would be the beloved Costco pumpkin muffin with its streusel topping. Although, I think this recipe has a a bit more moisture, a denser crumb and stronger pumpkin flavor to it.
Ingredient Substitutions and Additions
I think this is the best pumpkin muffin recipe just as it is, but I want to empower you to make changes if needed to best use the ingredients you already have on hand. Here are a few helpful notes about the ingredients:
- To make these muffins gluten-free, I recommend substituting Bob’s Red Mill 1:1Flour Substitute for the all-purpose flour. I have not tested this recipe with whole wheat flour.
- Any neutral cooking oil can be substituted for the vegetable oil. I do not recommend substituting butter, as it actually makes these muffins less moist.
- You will need to make these pumpkin muffins with pumpkin puree. Please do not substitute pumpkin pie filling as it will throw the recipe off.
- If you already have pumpkin pie spice, you can use a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the dry ingredients.
- In the streusel topping, you can interchange brown and white sugar. However, I do not recommend substituting brown sugar in the batter. Brown sugar adds amazing flavor, but it also adds a bit of moisture that can throw off this particular batter, which is already super moist from the pumpkin!
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve these homemade pumpkin muffins slightly warm with a gold glass of milk, or with coffee! They are a wonderful addition to any breakfast, or just a nice snack to have on hand.
If you have leftover pumpkin puree to use, I recommend making this Pumpkin Dump Cake, Pumpkin Fluff Dip, Oreo Pumpkin Bars, or my Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!
Storing Leftover Pumpkin Muffins
Once cooled, store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
To extend the storage life, keep in the fridge for up to a week, or the freezer for up to 3 months.
I hope that you love these awesome fall muffins! If you make them, I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below.
Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 and 1/8 cups sugar
- 1 and 1/8 cups pumpkin puree
Dry ingredients:
- 1 and 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves, ground
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
For the streusel topping:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, or white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add all of the wet ingredients (eggs, oil, sugar, pumpkin) into a mixing bowl. Beat well to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices).
- Slowly spoon the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring between each addition until combined.
- Make the streusel. In a small bowl, add flour, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Toss with a fork to wet the dry ingredients with the butter. It will make a sandy mixture with some clumps.
- Add batter to a greased muffin tin. Spoon the streusel topping over the top of each cavity with batter.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the muffins have risen with no wiggle to the middle of them. The streusel topping should be crunchy, but not burned.
