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Make these Easy Pumpkin Muffins with Applesauce, pumpkin puree and a hint of spice with this delicious pumpkin muffin recipe. These muffins are moist with a tender crumb and perfect for fall breakfasts!
Table of Contents
When fall rolls around, my kids start begging me to make pumpkin muffins for breakfast. We love making 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins with cake mix and easy one bowl pumpkin spice muffins and pumpkin bread.
But our favorite pumpkin muffin recipe uses applesauce instead of oil or butter, so it’s pretty healthy. It’s also perfectly spiced, made with simple ingredients and super easy to make.
It actually took several tries to get this delicious recipe just right. The muffins were either too dense or had too much spice.
So finally, after supplying the kids and their friends and family members with enough delicious muffins to last until Christmas, we got it right. These pumpkin applesauce muffins are hands down the family favorite!
We used applesauce instead of oil, brown sugar instead of white, and we went easy on the pumpkin spice. I wanted the pumpkin flavor to be the star.
Oh, these babies are made in just one large bowl — no separate bowls for wet ingredients and dry ingredients, so cleanup is super easy. And that’s why I’m calling these the BEST easy pumpkin muffins ever!
Ingredients
You only need a few simple ingredients for this pumpkin applesauce muffin recipe. Find them in your grocery store or online.
- Eggs
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Baking soda
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Pumpkin puree — a whole can of pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- Applesauce — unsweetened applesauce for best results
- Milk — I use 2 percent, but whole milk works, too
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins with Applesauce in One Bowl
First, add the eggs to a large mixing bowl. Whenever I make one-bowl muffins or cake or anything with eggs, I add the eggs first. Then, I stir them up a little and add the remaining ingredients.
You can use a hand mixer for the muffins or make them with a stand mixer. If you want, you can mix the batter by hand.
Just be sure to mix until the batter is blended, about 1 minute. You don’t want to over mix the batter, or these delicious pumpkin muffins will turn out too dense and tough.
Next, add the batter to the muffin tin. You’ll want to use non stick spray or grease the cups with butter for easier removal.
You can also use paper liners or parchment paper liners if you want.
You want these pumpkin muffins to be as tall as possible. So, fill the muffin cups as high as you can. None of this two-thirds full stuff today!
Cook Time
Now, pop the muffin tin into the oven. The muffins take about 20 minutes to bake, and that’s it. When done, a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin should be clean.
Total baking time depends on your oven. Some people have to bake the muffins for 30 minutes.
Aren’t they gorgeous?!
Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Then, place the warm pumpkin muffins on a wire rack to cool completely.
Bake some of these homemade healthier pumpkin muffins on the weekend, and you have grab-and-go quick breakfasts or a healthy snack to pack in school lunches ready to eat during the week. This is such a great recipe for the fall season, and the warm spices make your home smell amazing!
How to Store
Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature — no need to refrigerate them. They’ll keep fresh for about 4 days, if they last that long!
Yes, these freeze very well. Just let them cool completely, then wrap individual muffins in foil or freezer paper, and place in a large zip top freezer bag. Freeze up to 3 months for best taste.
Substitutions
You can use canned pumpkin or make your own homemade pumpkin puree. Just be sure NOT to use pumpkin pie filling, as you want to control the sweetness and spice here.
If you’re using homemade pumpkin purée, you need 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup chocolate chips for the chocolate lovers in your life. You can also make a simple glaze or crumb topping for richer flavor.
You can add 1/2 cup oats for pumpkin applesauce oatmeal muffins.
Make mini muffins using a mini muffin tin. They take about 15 minutes to bake.
The Best Easy Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup applesauce
- ⅓ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 12-cup muffin tin
- In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, and beat slightly
- Add the remaining ingredients, and use a hand mixer to blend together until smooth. Batter may have some small lumps, but don’t overmix
- Fill muffin cups almost to the tops with batter, then bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean
- Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly, then remove from muffin tin, and serve
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you enjoy these delicious muffins as much as we do. If you do make these healthy pumpkin muffins, please leave a star rating or comment.
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This easy pumpkin muffin recipe was originally posted in 2018 and updated in 2022.
I used pumpkin puree from my fall pumpkins and added pecans. They were the best pumpkin muffins ever!!