You guys, it’s November! (What!?)
Can we still pumpkin?
Please say yes. I have a lot more pumpkin enthusiasm to exert before this year is over.
This recipe is inspired by my favorite 1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread! It’s so tender, crumbly, and bursting with pumpkin flavor I couldn’t resist turning it into muffins.
And the crumb topping is a take on my Vegan Banana Crumb Muffins, which is one of my favorite muffin recipes on the blog.
I took the best of both recipes to make these muffins, which are:
Vegan + gluten-free
Naturally sweetened
(Vegan) butter-free
& 1 bowl-required
I worked hard to perfect the tender yet crumbly texture of the interior of these muffins, and to infuse the perfect amount of sweetness and fall spice. Mission accomplished.
The crumb topping makes these muffins, in my opinion. A mix of coconut oil, muscovado or coconut sugar, pecans, and gluten-free flour creates the perfect crispy, sweet finish. Serious yum.
I hope you all love these muffins! They’re:
Crumbly
Tender
Pumpkin-y
Sweet
Slightly crisp from the topping
Kind of perfect
& Simple
These would make the perfect take-along snack for work or school. They would also make a lovely holiday gift or dessert for fall parties. And since they’re refined sugar-free, gluten free, and vegan, everyone can enjoy.
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and take a picture and tag it #minimalistbaker on Instagram! We’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!
1-Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
MUFFINS
- 1 ½ Tbsp flaxseed meal (to make flax eggs)
- 4 Tbsp water (to make flax eggs)
- 2 Tbsp mashed ripe banana
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 2/3 cup muscovado sugar* (packed // or sub organic brown sugar or coconut sugar)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup almond meal (ground from raw almonds)
- 3/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 cup gluten-free flour blend*
CRUMBLE TOP optional
- 3 Tbsp muscovado sugar (or sub organic brown sugar, organic cane sugar, or coconut sugar)
- 3 1/2 Tbsp gluten-free flour blend
- 2 Tbsp roughly chopped pecans, pepitas, or walnuts
- 1 1/4 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 pinch each cinnamon + pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (174 C) and lightly grease a standard size muffin tin (will make 9-10 muffins as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Dust with gluten free flour and shake out excess.
- Prepare flax eggs by mixing flaxseed meal and water in a large mixing bowl. Let set for 5 minutes.
- Add banana and mash, leaving just a bit of texture.
- Add pumpkin purée, muscovado sugar, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla extract and whisk for one minute.
- Stir in baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice, and mix. Add water and whisk once more.
- Add almond meal, gluten-free oats, and gluten-free flour blend and stir until just combined. The batter should be thick and scoopable.
- Divide batter evenly among 9-10 muffin tins (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size), filling all the way full (I like big muffins!).
- Quickly rinse your mixing bowl and then add crumble ingredients. Mash ingredients together with a fork or your hands until crumbly like wet sand. Generously top muffins with streusel.
- Bake for 27-32 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick or knife comes out completely clean. It’s better to slightly over-bake these than under-bake because the gluten-free flour blend takes longer to cook all the way through.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin, then gently remove and cool completely on a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
- Once completely cooled, store in a covered container at room temp for 3-4 days, though best when fresh. Freeze for longer term storage.
Notes
*If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use this DIY blend: 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves.
*You can substitute an equal amount of our NEW Minimalist Baker Gluten-Free Flour Blend for the gluten-free flour blend in this recipe.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with crumb topping.
*Recipe adapted from my 1-Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Bread and my Vegan Banana Crumb Muffins.
Teresa says
My kids love this! They think it’s the kind of food Harry Potter would eat at Hogwarts. I usually use half the amount of sweetener and it works just fine. I also leave out the oats (because my kids don’t want weird lumps) and replace it with more almond flour. They’re still fluffy and totally delicious. Thank you Minimalist Baker for this wonderful recipe! I think I’ve made it 5 times in the past 3 months :)
Ha, we love that! Thanks so much for the great review and for sharing your modifications, Teresa!
T says
Can I use chia instead of flax? Dietary reasons. Thanks a lot.
Ground chia should work, let us know if you try it!
Elaine says
I made a bunch of mistakes and they turned out amazing. Moist inside crispy on the top. I accidentally misread the amount of GF flour, so mine had very little. I overground the oat flour and used the extra. I mistook mesquite flour for cinnamon for the crunchy crumble part of the recipe. I also mixed some vegan yogurt into the crumble to soak up the mesquite and GF flour. These are soooo good. Thanks for teaching me how to cook, Dana!
We’re so glad they turned out well! Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your experience, Elaine! xoxo
Eleni says
These were delicious, easy to make and a hit at a community gathering. Minimalist Baker is my go to for all things baking related! Thank you!!
Woohoo! Thanks, Eleni!
Bette says
Am I missing something or did you forget to say when to put in the pumpkin and flaxseed egg?
Hi Bette, instructions 1-3 describe making the flax “eggs” and then adding the pumpkin.
Joan says
I’m really disappointed that my muffins are gooey in the center. I followed the directions and measurements exactly. I substituted with oat flour (made in the vita mixer), and I made my own almond meal (in the vita mixer too). I substituted the sugar with organic cane sugar. I baked the muffins at 350 degrees (pre-heated oven) for 30 minutes, and for an additional 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, and then I realized that my muffins aren’t going to change in consistency and texture. Not sure what to do next time??
Hi Joan, so sorry this one didn’t work out for you! This recipe does rely on the gluten-free flour blend to absorb the liquid and keep things light. An oat flour substitution would keep the center quite gummy. Next time we suggest using a gluten-free flour blend for this specific recipe! Hope this helps!
Joan says
I tried making the pumpkin muffins again using the gluten free flour (instead of oat flour) and I omitted the the 1/2 cup of water, they turned out perfect!
Hi Joan, we’re so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Ak says
What can I sub for almond flour?
Hi Ak, this recipe calls for almond meal and we think oat flour or more gluten-free blend would work as subs, though we haven’t tried it and cannot guarantee results! Let us know how it goes!
Jennifer says
Incredible!! I made these for my work colleagues and they all raved. I didn’t even mention that they were GF/vegan! These are a marvel.
Woohoo! We love to hear this. Thanks so much for the review, Jennifer!
Mandi says
Love these!
Modified with organic light brown sugar in place of muscovado sugar and turned out great.
Also used dairy free butter (earth balance) in place of coconut oil in the crumble. Worked very well.
Didn’t bother with the mashed banana. Used two tablespoons of pumpkin instead.
Instead of listed GF flour blend I used 1:1 King Arthur GF all-purpose flour I had in the kitchen. Again, another substitution that worked.
Served these to my parents warmed up with butter while we watched great British baking show.
Both said how good they were … and my dad usually says things I make are just “OK.” Mom said to save the recipe because they were delicious. :)
Amazing! Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Mandi! Sounds like the perfect day!
Ashley Johnson says
Let me start off by saying these are absolutely amazing. They are moist and fluffy. I did not have any banana so I used extra pumpkin instead. my boyfriend loved them and we are trying not to eat them all. They pair well with a hot beverage. YUM!!!!!!
Woohoo! So glad you both enjoyed, Ashley!
Alyssa says
I have been trying to make vegan pumpkin muffins every year in fall for the last few years after I needed to cut out dairy and egg due to food allergies. My previous attempts have always resulted in wet doughy muffins that don’t seem cooked enough, even after leaving them in the over for two times the cooking times called in the recipe.
I am happy to say these muffins turned out quite fluffy for vegan baking, and they are cooked all the way through and have a pleasant cake texture when you bit into it!
I made the recipe mostly as written but we are ok with gluten in this house so I used sprouted whole wheat flour and not the GF flour. I used golden brown sugar not the muskavado sugar. Also I can’t eat banana anymore so I added a few extra table spoons of pumpkin.
I will make these again, and probably mixed in chopped walnuts with the batter.
Amazing! Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Alyssa!
Calli says
these are super dope. would 100% recommend.
followed as is and they turned out great. brought them to brunch and they were gone in a flash
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Calli. Thanks for the lovely review!
Josie says
These are excellent. I use spelt flour instead of GF. And I have to reduce the water by a couple of tablespoons to get the right consistency, probably because my homemade pumpkin puree is a little runnier than store-bought. Fantastic recipe, thank you!
Yay! Thanks so much for sharing, Josie. So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Diana says
These are incredibly tasty muffins. My son is a vegan. His girlfriend is GF. My partner is a very, very picky eater (think of a 5 year old). This is one of those rare recipes that pleased everyone. I made the recipe exactly as written and I wouldn’t change a thing! Your V, GF recipes have consistently been a hit with my family. Thanks so much!
Wonderful! So glad everyone enjoyed this, Diana. Thanks so much for the review!
Dixie says
Fabulous! I used real eggs because the folks that I bake for are fine with dairy. It’s a popular recipe and you cannot tell that it is GF! I’ve made these often and they are always a hit.
We’re so glad to hear it, Dixie! Thank you for sharing! xo
Tia says
These were very good breakfast and snack muffins enjoyed by the whole family over the Thanksgiving holiday. I could not find almond meal in the store so I made my own out of raw almonds. YUM! I used a coffee grinder that I usually use for flax meal and ground spices. Worked perfect. I used coconut sugar because that is what I had in the cupboard and that worked perfect as well. I did sub out 1/3 of the coconut sugar with 1/3 cup pumpkin seed protein powder. I like my baked goods to be a little less sweet and a little higher protein. This was an excellent substitution that did not compromise the texture or taste. This recipe created a high quality home baked good – thank you!
Wonderful! We’re so glad everyone enjoyed them! Thank you for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Tia! xo
april says
mine turned out gummy in the center.
Oh no! So sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you, April! They are quite a moist muffin by nature, but did you happen to make any modifications to the recipe when you were making it? We’re here to help troubleshoot, if you would like!
Kim says
Another great recipe from Minimalist Baker. I used applesauce in place of banana since I didn’t have any on hand, homemade pumpkin puree, and pepitas in the crumb topping. The batter made a full dozen for me. Overall, muffins were easy to make and tasted great. Will definitely make again and will freeze the leftovers so I don’t eat an entire pan by myself. :)
Yay! We love to hear this. Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Kim!