These Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins are also oil-free, moist, fluffy and so soft! They are just 8 easy ingredients and simple to make!
VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS
These vegan pumpkin muffins are so moist and full of pumpkin spice flavor! They also happen to be perfect for impressing your guests over the holidays. You can even make them as cupcakes with the delicious coconut whipped frosting if you want!
Unlike traditional pumpkin muffins made with lots of sugar and oil, these are made with simple, healthy ingredients and are super fast to make. Nobody will ever know these are oil-free pumpkin muffins.
I love baking with pumpkin because it adds so much moisture. If you love it as much as I do, then you will have to try this Best Vegan Pumpkin Bread or Vegan Pumpkin Cake! They are of course, oil-free, too. Just like these vegan pumpkin cookies and this best vegan pumpkin pie. You can learn all my tips for success at oil-free baking in How to Cook and Bake Without Oil!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
(Only 8 main ingredients needed. Full details and measurements on the recipe card below.)
- Superfine Blanched almond flour: This is crucial to the moisture and texture of the muffins. It makes them very moist and rich. The recipe will not work without it. If you need these nut-free, then make these vegan pumpkin muffins instead, following the gluten-free option listed under the notes section.
- Superfine oat flour
- Cornstarch: This replaces eggs and makes the vegan pumpkin muffins so fluffy.
- Pumpkin spice: I use my homemade pumpkin spice for this recipe. It is so much better than store-bought!
- Baking powder
- Ground espresso: Adding espresso makes these taste like a pumpkin spice latte. This is optional, so you can totally leave it out.
- Pumpkin puree
- Lite coconut milk: This provides moisture and fluffiness to the muffins, but you can sub with another creamy milk if you like.
- Maple syrup
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS
Step 1: To a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Step 2: To the same bowl, add the wet ingredients and whisk until completely smooth.
Step 3: Divide the batter into 10 muff liners.
Step 4: Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. They should be well risen and golden. Cool at least 30 minutes before eating. Since these are both gluten-free and grain-free pumpkin muffins, they really need to cool down, as they will taste a bit underdone and dense if you eat them too early.
VARIATION
If you want to make these extra fancy, add the optional whipped coconut frosting on top. It is so delicious! Or add any add-ins you like, chocolate chips or nuts would be delicious!
HOW TO STORE THESE
Store these at room temperature sealed for up to 2 days, but these are best fresh the day they are made. If frosting them, keep them stored in the fridge.
MORE VEGAN MUFFIN RECIPES
- Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten-free Double Chocolate Muffins
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
- Bakery-Style Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Muffins
- Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins (Oil-free!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (112g) superfine blanched almond flour
- 1 cup (128g) superfine oat flour
- 1/4 cup (32g) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I use my homemade blend)
- 1 tablespoon ground espresso powder (optional for a pumpkin latte flavor)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup (120g) canned "lite" coconut milk shaken well first (You can also use another creamy milk, but they will be a little less fluffy)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) pure maple syrup
Optional Whipped Icing
- 1 can full fat coconut milk chilled overnight at least (highly recommend Thai Kitchen brand)
- 1 tablespoon (20g) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon (8g) melted liquid coconut butter
NOTE
- Of course, as always, I recommend highly to use a scale to prevent room for error. You don't need cups or to compare the weights to cups, just simply follow the weights listed, as this is exactly how the recipes are tested and made. Make sure to zero out before adding each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 12 liners. I use Reynold's Staybrite because they turn out perfect everytime and never stick!
- Add the almond flour, oat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, espresso (if using) and salt into a large bowl.
- Add the pumpkin, coconut milk and syrup and gently whisk until smooth and incorporated. It should be a nice, smooth batter, not runny but not too thick. Do not overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly into the prepared liners, about 3/4 full. I like to use an ice cream scoop for perfectly even muffins with domed tops. They turn out more fluffy this way. Otherwise, lightly smooth out the tops with the back of a spoon. Bake for about 20 minutes, until they are risen and golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes before eating, no exception, so they firm up and finish cooking. Gluten-free baked goods taste better after they've cooled.
- For the icing, open up the chilled can of milk and scoop out just the thickened white cream, just a 1/2 cup. Don't add any of the water. I got out a solid 1/2 cup. Add it to a bowl and whip it for about 5 minutes until lift and fluffy and soft peaks form on your beaters. Add the syrup and vanilla and beat again for a minute. Lastly, add the liquid coconut butter and whip just a few seconds until it is mixed and fluffy. Add the icing to a ziplock bag, cut off the corner and pipe it on the muffins. This makes just enough to lightly ice them. If you like a lot of icing, then double the recipe. Store in the fridge if using the icing. Otherwise, store the plain muffins at room temperature.
Notes
- VARIATION: If you want to make these extra fancy, add the optional whipped coconut frosting on top. It is so delicious! Or add any add-ins you like, chocolate chips or nuts would be delicious!
- PUMPKIN LOAF: If you are interested in making a pumpkin loaf instead of muffins, make these instead.
- ALMOND FLOUR/OAT FLOUR: It is really important that you are using a superfine blanched almond flour and oat flour for fluffy results. Otherwise, you will end up with dense muffins. I like the Bob's Red Mill "superfine" brand, King Arthur, Wellbees and Nuts.com brands. I use Bob's Red Mill oat flour.
- COCONUT MILK: Gluten-free baked goods are VERY different than ones made with standard flour like all-purpose, spelt, etc. They need fat in order to have a pleasant and moist texture. Using lite coconut milk here yields perfectly moist and fluffy, light muffins. I always use the Thai Kitchen or Sprouts "lite" coconut milk for my recipes. They yield the best results. Do NOT use the Polar brand, it is mostly fillers and will ruin the results. If you can't or don't want to use coconut, I would suggest to use another creamy milk, not anything too light or low-fat or you may end up with rather dense muffins.
- NUT-FREE: If you need nut-free or prefer a lower fat muffin, then make these vegan pumpkin muffins instead, following the gluten-free option listed under the notes section. They are not as moist/rich as these, but still delicious.
- STORAGE: Store these at room temperature or the fridge if you prefer, sealed for up to 2 days, but these are best fresh the day they are made. If frosting them, keep them stored in the fridge.
- Nutrition per tablespoon of icing: 30 calories, 2.45 g fat, 1.9 carbs, .275 g protein, 1.4 g sugar
Nutrition
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do you think you can reduce or even omit the maple syrup in this recipe and sub with stevia without affecting the texture too much?
thanks so much!!
Hi Kay! You can try. You definitely can’t omit it, as you need the liquid. It will change the flavor as well since maple syrup of course is the sweetener. I don’t use stevia, so I don’t know what kind of taste it will leave, but you can omit the syrup and increase the coconut milk to one cup and try that. Definitely use the “lite” coconut milk, because you will need that creaminess for the texture and taste, especially if omitting the syrup. Please let me know how it turns out!
Hey lady, do you think that tapioca starch would work in these instead of the potato? I ran out of the potato starch and have a ton of tapioca, so I figured I’d ask 🙂 I’m getting married in a few weeks and wanted to make these for my incredibly small reception afterwards!
Hi Courtney! Tapioca will make them too moist and a bit gluey, as tapioca is a strong binding agent and enhances moisture and browning as well. It performs completely different in baking than potato starch, so I wouldn’t use it!
I made these for our brunch. Easy to make, ton of fall flavors, sooo good! I wasn’t able to get the whipped icing out of coconut milk (was chilled for three days). Oh well, they were delicious without the frosting too. Thank you so much!
So glad you loved these Lana! Thank you for making them! Which brand did you use? Did you scoop out just the cream at the top of the can? Some brands vary greatly in the quality of the coconut milk and it has to be the full-fat kind, or it won’t work. If after chilling, the cream isn’t separated/hardened at the top, then it won’t work. I have found only Thai Kitchen brand to work best. Or also, you could buy cans that are strictly JUST coconut cream, but I’ve only seen those at Whole Foods.
Thanks, Brandi. I used some generic store bought brand. Didn’t seem to separate. Will try with the coconut cream. Thank you!
Yes, I’ve found some brands do not perform well at all! Definitely worth the investment to get a high quality cream for this 🙂
Best cupcakes ever! I sent the recipe to my family and friends and will bring two dozens to work for Halloween! I just discovered your site, i will try more of your recipies very soon!!! Love everything that has pumpkin in it!! Yummy!! 😋
Love this feedback Elise, thank you so much for letting me know! So happy you loved these so much!
Can I substitute the almond flour for coconut flower instead?
No, unfortunately coconut flour will not work here. Coconut flour is VERY absorbent and would make these extremely dry and crumbly, as it sucks out all the moisture. The almond flour is crucial.
Can coconut oil be substituted for the coconut butter? I always have oil but never have butter.
Thanks!
Hi Lori! The coconut butter is needed to help firm up the frosting. Coconut butter hardens much more than coconut oil does. If you were to use oil, then your icing would be more light and melt much faster, so I guess as long as you keep them in the fridge, it might work.
Brandi, Have you used Trader Joe’s brand of almond flour? Just wondering if it’s comparable to the brands you prefer…we don’t have H-E-B or Kroger where I live.
Thanks!
Even though I did not have espresso power, these muffins were very delicious. Very easy to make. I also added some vegan chocolate chips to some and topped with walnut. Highly recommend this recipe.
These are THE BEST cupcake/muffins ever! I’ve made them full size and mini- and both come out perfect. For a week-long camping trip with a friend, I baked these for road trip food… all my friend could talk about were the cupcakes. No matter what gorgeous landscape we saw that day, she ended the day and began the day with, “do you have any more of those muffins?” She’s not a vegan! We camped in Feb 2017 and she still talks about the pumpkin muffins! ha ha! They’re perfect!
We were already fans of these muffins but the makeover took them over the top! I’m allergic to coconut so I used almond milk and they were still super light, majorly moist and THE most flavorful pumpkin muffin I’ve ever eaten! Thank you for your tireless efforts to bring us the best GFV recipes, Brandi!!
So very thrilled to hear this Colleen!! Yay!
These were perfect the first time I made them using the recipe measurements. Everyone loved them. They easily came out of the wrappers. When I made them again using a scale they didn’t come out well at all. The batter was thin, the muffins were sunk in, they were heavy and were difficult to remove from the wrapper. I followed the directions on the scale exactly do not sure what happened.
Hi Carol! Hmm, not sure! Hard to say why without being there. I make every single recipe using exactly my weights listed so not sure. Are you hitting zero before adding each ingredient and making sure it’s on the gram setting? I never ever bake using measuring cups anymore, only my weights, so something had to be off. Sounds like too much liquid was accidentally added if your batter was thin and they sunk because the batter isn’t a thin batter. But if they worked perfectly for you the first time using cups, then just follow that method.
Delicious! Are used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch and I made 36 mini muffins instead of the regular size muffins, baked at 350 for 15 minutes.
Wonderful to hear Julie, thank you!
So delicious, per usual for her recipes! I didn’t use frosting, instead I just added a few dark chocolate chips on top. I also couldn’t find it flour so I just blended up some oats and it worked great!
I did half the mixture with spice, for my husband, and a half without for me – I am not a fan of sweet spices. But they were still great!
These muffins are THE BEST!
I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin.
So moist and tasty. Thank you for your efforts to bring us those delicious recipes.
LiLo
Woohoo! This is so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for making them! Your pic on IG was beautiful!
Thank you for this delicious recipe, I used potato starch instead of the corn starch and it turned great. I made your maple cashew frosting to go with your gluten free vanilla cake and used the left over frosting for these muffins. Very yummy, just the right amount of sweetness 🙂
That sounds amazing! So glad you love them!
Hands down the BEST pumpkin muffin recipe I’ve ever tried! Warm flavors, perfect texture. These freeze wonderfully, too, so I like to double or triple the batch. Another vegan8 family favorite for us. 🙂
Woohoo, that is so awesome to hear Mary!!
My daughter and husband made these for me today. They are amazing! I cut out gluten for health reasons more recently and this is the first place I come to to look for recipes. Brandi’s recipes never disappoint! Absolutely loved these. Unbelievably fluffy!
Yay, really happy to hear that Shruthi, I’m flattered!
Tasty recipe but did not yield 12. Used a small scoop and only got 11. Baked at a lower temp for a shorter time and they were nice and moist. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
These were so good! I added chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips. Omitted the icing. Going to try some of the leftover pumpkin spice mix in my coffee in the morning. Another winner!
Hey Brandi ! Can I use a can of full fat coconut milk ? Trying to make these for my toddler she needs all the fat. Also it only stays fresh for 2 days in fridge ? Thank u!!!
Hi, the full fat is too thick and 3 times the amount of fat, which will affect the texture of the muffins. It will make them too dense, so it’d be best to give her the fat maybe in extra icing or just in something else! 2 days if at room temperature. You can leave them much longer in the fridge, which I highly recommend.