Our delicious pumpkin oatmeal muffins make the perfect easy breakfast or grab-and-go snack! This is an easy recipe made using pantry staples, whole oats, and canned pumpkin. These pumpkin muffins freeze beautifully so this is a great recipe to make when you need to use all the extra pumpkin puree you bought on sale during the fall season.
I have shared Zucchini Muffins and Double Chocolate Banana Muffins but this is the first time I have shared oatmeal pumpkin muffins.
Weekends in the fall are spent baking. I love it when the oven is on and the house begins to smell of baked goods! I really do love pumpkin season and wanted to share these muffins with you.
For some reason I seem to think that if I put oats in something, anything, then it magically becomes better for you. That’s right, isn’t it? Makes perfect sense to me. Oatmeal is a superfood packed with whole grains.
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Ingredients
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Ingredient Notes
pumpkin – we use canned pumpkin because it’s easy and convenient. If using fresh pumpkin puree it will take 1 3/4 cup.
oats – we use old-fashioned oats, quick oats can be used. This particular recipe will probably not work using steel cut oats.
flour – this recipe has been made using all purpose flour. You can use whole wheat flour but it will result in a denser and tougher muffin so I would not use more than half. We have not tried this using gluten free options such as oat flour or almond flour and can’t say how they would turn out.
oil – we use canola oil, vegetable oil is fine.
sugar – light brown sugar helps make our muffins moist, white sugar can be used.
egg – one large room temperature egg.
milk – we use whole milk because that is what we have on hand. Low fat milk or non-dairy milk such as soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk can be used.
leavening agents – we use baking powder and baking soda to achieve tender and fluffy muffins.
spices – ground cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice are warm spices we use to give our muffins that fall flavor we love. We use salt to enhance the flavor.
How to make Pumpkin Oat Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray bottoms only of wells in a twelve cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or use paper liners.
- Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Beat the egg slightly in a medium bowl, add pumpkin, milk and oil and stir until well combined.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. DO NOT OVER-MIX.
- Divide the muffin batter between 12 muffin cups.
- Bake 22 – 25 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on wire rack about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of each muffin and remove from the pan.
Tips
- Baked goods rise better with room temperature ingredients. Take the egg and milk out of the refrigerator about an hour before you plan to make the muffins. It is okay to take the milk out up to, but not more than, 2 hours ahead of time.
- Take care not to over-mix the batter. Mixing it too much will result in a tougher muffin. I can sometimes see a little flour that isn’t mixed in and that is okay. I’d much rather have a moist muffin with a tender crumb than a dense and tough muffin.
- Letting the muffins rest in the pan for about 5 minutes is an important step. Three reasons to do this are:
- They continue to cook slightly in the hot pan after they are removed from the oven. Allowing them to sit helps them to firm up and finish setting, ensuring that they hold their shape when removed from the pan.
- While cooling the edges of the muffins will slightly pull away from the sides of the pan. Making them less likely to stick to the pan so they come out easier.
- The bit of steam generated while cooling in the pan can help retain moisture in the muffins. This contributes to a softer texture and can help prevent them from drying out too fast.
- Be sure to run a knife around the edge of the muffins before trying to remove them from the pan. This helps loosen them from the pan for easier removal.
How to freeze pumpkin muffins
We freeze most of these because we can’t eat the entire batch before they get stale. They freeze great and are a convenient way to make them ahead for those lazy Saturday mornings when you want something tasty to eat, but don’t feel like making it.
Wrap individual muffins in plastic wrap and then store in an airtight container, we use a large zip top freezer bag. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for a couple of hours.
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Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 can pumpkin puree 15 oz
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- nonstick cooking spray
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray bottoms only of wells in a twelve cup muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.nonstick cooking spray
- Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup old-fashioned oats, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt
- Beat the egg slightly in a medium bowl, add pumpkin, milk and oil and stir until well combined. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix just until combined. DO NOT OVER-MIX.1 egg, 1 can pumpkin puree, 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup canola oil
- Bake 22 – 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of each muffin and remove from pan.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
This post was updated in July 2024. I mistakenly made these muffins using 1 whole 15 ounce can of pumpkin and they came out even better than before. So, I updated the amount of pumpkin from 1 cup to 1 can, about 1 3/4 cup.
My new favorite pumpkin muffin! Perfect and not too sweet. I added dried cranberries to one batch. Yummy!
I love dried cranberries, what a great addition. Thanks for commenting and reviewing!
These look amazing!
Thank you so much!
These pumpkin muffins look wholesome! I could eat one more without guilt :-))
Exactly! Thanks, Angie