One-Bowl Perfectly Moist Pumpkin Muffins
By Alexandra Stafford
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10/17/2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Perfectly moist, made in one bowl, spiced with all the cozy flavors of the season, these pumpkin muffins are heaven, an ideal fall morning breakfast or snack to pack on the go.
Inspired by this recipe for perfectly moist pumpkin bread, these muffins are equally delicious, exceptionally moist, and perfectly portable, making them ideal for packing on the go or quick fall morning breakfasts.
After many experiments, I found a formula that made my ideal muffin. As with the pumpkin bread, I use oil (as opposed to butter), which allows the batter to be mixed in one bowl with a whisk and spatula — no stand mixer required. To make the muffins more — wait for it — muffin-like as opposed to quick-bread like, I replaced the water with buttermilk, which makes for an especially moist texture. (If you don’t have buttermilk you can use regular milk or you can DIY… see recipe box for details).
Finally, in an effort to achieve a muffin with a domed top and nicely burnished hue, I played around using all sorts of combinations of baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda alone left a metallic taste. Baking powder alone yielded a pale, cone-shaped muffin top. A combination of both baking soda and baking powder created the perfect muffin top, nicely domed and beautifully caramelized with no metallic taste.
Finally finally: The key for making a truly irresistible muffin top? Turbinado sugar. I do this with these apple muffins, too.
How to Make One-Bowl Pumpkin Muffins, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients: Canned pumpkin, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, oil, eggs, and buttermilk (or regular milk).
Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl: eggs, oil, buttermilk, and pumpkin puree:
Whisk until smooth.
Add the sugar, salt, spices, and leavenings.
And whisk until smooth.
Finally, add the flour…
… and whisk until smooth.
Divide the batter among 12 wells of a standard muffin tin:
Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if you have it. Granulated sugar works if you don’t.
Transfer to a 375ºF oven and bake for 18 to 21 minutes:
Let them cool for 5 minutes in their pan before transfering them to a cooling rack:
Let them cool again, briefly before…
… tucking in:
One-Bowl Perfectly Moist Pumpkin Muffins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Perfectly moist, made in one bowl, spiced with all the cozy flavors of the season, these pumpkin muffins are heaven, a perfect treat for a fall morning or to pack as a snack on the go.
Notes:
- As always, for best results use a digital scale to measure.
- This is my favorite muffin tin.
- An ice cream scoop is helpful for portioning the batter.
- I love these muffin liners, too.
- Turbinado sugar makes for an especially delicious and appetizing muffin top.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can either simply use milk or you can DIY: Place 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk (2% or whole) until it reaches the 1/3-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Use as directed.
- What to do with the leftover canned pumpkin? Make bread.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 grams) canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
- 2 eggs (about 120 grams)
- 1/3 cup (85 grams) buttermilk, see notes above
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) grapeseed oil, avocado oil or other neutral oil or olive oil
- 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon (3.5 grams) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half as much by volume fine sea salt or Morton kosher salt)
- 1.5 teaspoon (3.5 grams) cinnamon
- a few dashes of freshly grated nutmeg or 1/8 teaspoon
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 grams) ginger
- 1.5 cups (192 grams) all-purpose flour
- turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a 12-well muffin tin with muffin liners or grease with butter or non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, oil, and buttermilk until smooth. Whisk in the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger until smooth. Finally whisk in the flour, switching to a spatula at the very end, stirring just until the flour is incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this (see notes above). Sprinkle the batter with turbinado sugar, about 1/2 teaspoon per muffin. Alternatively, use granulated sugar.
- Bake for 18 to 21 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins feel springy to the touch, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean, or an instant-read thermometer registers 210ºF or above.
- Let the muffins cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Let cool again briefly before serving.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: Amerian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
58 Comments on “One-Bowl Perfectly Moist Pumpkin Muffins”
Hi Ali, this looks amazing, as all your baked goods do. I always look forward to new posts! A question though…just this week I made the low-fat pumpkin chocolate chip bread from the 5 boys baker blog. It was really delicious and very moist. That recipe, while a quick bread, is fairly similar to these muffins (minus chips and it uses same amount of sugar, but brown sugar). But that recipe uses only 1 T. of oil, while this has 1/2 cup. That one also uses buttermilk like yours. I realize you’re not out to make a low-fat muffin, but I have to ask…because you’re so good at explaining…why is it that pumpkin muffins and breads always have so much oil? Between the moist pumpkin puree, and buttermilk in some cases, there is so much moisture. I’d like to try yours, but am wondering now, of course, if I could cut back on the oil a decent amount (and not replace it with the typical applesauce)? I know yours is so perfected, but it feels like a lot of oil for 12 pumpkin muffins. What do you think?
Hi Teresa! This is a great question and one I’m not sure how to answer except that I do think the oil makes for an especially moist texture and helps keep the muffins stay moist for days. When I was first making these with my kids, I did think it might be nice to make a “healthier” version, so I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup, and I replaced the oil with applesauce, which I have read about over the years but never tried. Now, I know I changed two variables, so it’s hard to know what was to blame, but the muffins were terrible — they were moist, but terrible, kind of gummy and dense. I’m sure you could reduce the oil in this recipe slightly (if you don’t make any other changes) but I can’t say by how much before the texture starts being affected. Also, to me, 8 tablespoons of oil (which is 1/2 cup) for 12 muffins comes out to being only 2 teaspoon of oil per muffin, which to me is really not that bad. Anyway, I hope that helps! Please report back if you give them a go with less oil 🙂
Well Ali, I am reporting back…after my question and your answer…I followed your exact recipe. I figured I should make the original recipe before experimenting. They were delicious for sure. I definitely want to experiment with using a bit less oil and think I will reduce the sugar to 3/4 c. as a couple of commenters suggested. Hopefully it won’t affect the texture too much but willing to try because they were super moist. Very light and fluffy! And I used the freshly grated nutmeg! Thank you again for your help!
Great to hear Teresa! I was happy to hear, too, from others that reducing the sugar worked well. And I think you could reduce the oil successfully, too 🙂
SOOOOO yummy! I used olive oil since my avocado oil expired before Covid. I also added some chocolate chips. THANK YOU!
Yum! So nice to hear this, Stacy. Thanks for writing 🙂
I made these as soon as I saw the recipe and they were truly perfect! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear this, Becca!
Can I use pumpkin purée……in place of pumpkin
Hi Kathy! Do you mean homemade pumpkin purée? I am calling for canned pumpkin purée here… I am sure homemade pumpkin purée would work beautifully 🙂
Hi Ali! My neighbor gave me a pumpkin she grew in her garden. I used it to make homemade pumpkin puree. I then used it in place of canned pumpkin for both this recipe and your pumpkin bread recipe and it was delicious! So good. Will be making again and again! xx
Amazing!! Love this so much. I will have to try this soon 🙂
This looks fabulous and I already have literally every ingredient! Question: if I freeze some for later, do you think they will be ready to eat after thawing, or will they need to be toasted after thawing to eliminate any sogginess? I would like to store some in the freezer to be able to pull out and take to work for lunches. But I don’t have an oven at work.
No need to reheat after you thaw them! They are ready to eat 🙂 So glad you have all of the ingredients. Enjoy!
It took a nearly a month since posting my inquiry, but today I had time to finally make the muffins. They are indeed easy to make and taste great!
So nice to read this, Julie! Thanks so much for circling back 🙂
I prefer to make jumbo muffins. Will this recipe work when using a 6 muffin pan?
I love a jumbo muffin! Yes, absolutely 🙂
These turned out as promised! I even cut down the sugar to 3/4 cup. We all enjoyed these and they have a great texture.
Great to hear, Ericka! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this. People always ask about reducing the sugar, so I’m glad that worked 🙂
Hi Ali:
These muffins turned out perfectly. They were super easy since they were one bowl, no mixer. I ate a warm muffin while I was cleaning up and it was yummy. I couldn’t get the lid off my new nutmeg jar so I grated fresh nutmeg which I had never done. I bought it eons ago and it sat in the cupboard. It smelled so good as I grated it. Now I will use it again. Thanks for another great recipe. I love your website and look forward to seeing your recipes every time you post!
Kathy
So nice to read this, Kathleen! Freshly grated nutmeg is a revelation, right? So glad the lid of your ground nutmeg was being stubborn 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and thanks for your kind words 🙂
I made these as soon as the recipe hit my inbox and of course made the bread too bc what else to do with the leftover pumpkin, thank you. They were both delicious and love the orange hue to the bread.
We love all your recipes, they never fail!
Awwww, so nice to read this, Lily!! Thanks so much for writing. I’m so glad you made both the muffins and the bread. I love the hue of the bread, too! I am going to try this week making a loaf of bread with a whole can of pumpkin puree and no water. Fingers crossed 🙂
Fantastic recipe! I make several things with canned pumpkin and this recipe is one of the tastiest!
Thank you!
Great to hear, Ellen! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Hi Ali: Thank you so much for all your wonderfully delicious recipes and all the work you put into them to give we readers a no-fail recipe. I am trying to make healthy snacks for our 14 month old grandson and was wondering if almond flour would work in this recipe? I also purchased a silicone baking tray that is shaped like bars as I think he can hold that a little better than a muffin shape. Mostly wondering about the almond flour, do you think it would work? Thank you again! Kathie
It’s my pleasure, Kathie 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and for your kind words. Almond flour will not work here because there is no gluten in it, and using it in place of the flour will make for a very dense muffin. You could definitely use a gluten-free flour mix here in place of the all-purpose flour. Love the sound of that pan — smart idea for a little tot!
Thank you Ali!!
Hello Ali. I just ran across your blog for this recipe and it sounds delicious! I have all the ingredients to make these muffins. My question to you is can I use almond milk? I am lactose intolerant and I want to make sure I can substitute it for milk. Thank you 🙂
I think that should work fine! I haven’t tried that and other commenters have yet to mention doing that, but that substitution has worked well for other commenters on similar recipes. Go for it 🙂
Thank you Ali!
Easy and tasty! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Great to hear, Ash 🙂 Thanks for writing!
PS..I forgot to say that I cut sugar to 3/4 cup and they were definitely still sweet. I think that I may even try 1/2 cup next time. In Europe they always cut sugar in US recipes and it doesn’t compromise, imo.
Looking forward to exploring more of your recipes!
Great to hear! Thanks for writing and sharing your notes 🙂
Thank you again for another amazing recipe! Simple and so tasty, all 3 children loved them too!
Hooray! So nice to read this 🙂
These are delicious! This is so easy to make and they rise up beautifully. I added a pinch of salt and used some cute Halloween liners. They are a hit with everyone.
Fun! So nice to hear this, Kristi. Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Nailed it! As always 🙂 My son LOVES pumpkin bread, and this will be my new go-to recipe. They turned out perfect. I think my favorite thing about your recipes is the attention to detail to things like reducing the number of bowls, or the ordering the list of ingredients and steps in ways that make it easy to memorize.
So nice to read this, Tiffany! Thanks so much for writing and thank you for your kind words. So glad your son approves 🙂
Hello, can I use a half a cup of softened butter instead of the oil in the muffin batter?
I think it would make them taste richer….
Melodee:) 10/22/25
Sure!
So I went to the store to get a can of Pumpkin. It’s weight was 425 grams and I only needed 250 for this recipe. I had no idea as to what to do with the leftover, so I multiplied the weights by 1.7 and I was able to use the whole can and I made 21 muffins. And they are very good.
Smart! Love this so much Doug. Thanks so much for writing and sharing this.
Loved this recipe and so did my hard to please husband!
Great to hear, Lisa! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly. Turned out GREAT.
Great to hear, Jeanne!
Hi Ali…
I made your delicious Pumpkin Muffins. Oh my gosh they were delicious! First time I have ever used a scale to measure the ingredients.
I baked them in two 6 cup muffin tins. The reason I did that was because one 6 cup tin was your exact recipe, and when I filled the second tin I added chopped walnuts and a dash of cloves. (I love walnuts and my husband doesn’t).
I am making these for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thank you Ali for sharing all your yummy recipes. 💕
Great to hear, Terri! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes/experience. Walnuts sound lovely! Thank you for your kind words 🙂
My 6yo daughter said these muffins were the best thing she’d ever tasted. They are soooo yummy—-fluffy and not too sweet, even with 1 c. of sugar. I added a pinch of ground clove because we love that flavor in my house. And then I made your Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal with the rest of the can of pumpkin. Also delicious!
Katherine!! I love this idea so much… did you just stir the rest of the can into the oats without making any other changes? Will try. I’m so happy your daughter loved the muffins. Thanks so much for writing.
Storage please?
Airtight bag or container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days; otherwise freeze in an airtight container for as long as 3 months.
absolutely delicious. low effort, high reward!
Great to hear, Fiona! Thanks for writing 🙂