Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

These gluten free pumpkin muffins are the perfect Fall recipe. They’re filled with chocolate chips and topped with cinnamon streusel. They’re light, fluffy and so easy to make!

It’s officially pumpkin season and I for one am so excited. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie and these new gluten free pumpkin muffins!

I couldn’t decide between doing chocolate chips or a cinnamon streusel topping, so I opted for both! These muffins have a generous amount of pumpkin for a very soft and tender texture, plus plenty of spice for tons of flavor. They’re perfect for a quick snack or dessert and I promise you’d never tell they’re both gluten and dairy free.

These muffins are made with gluten free all purpose flour and good old sugar, but if you’re looking for a healthy muffin recipe with almond flour, try my sweet potato muffins instead! If you’re really in the Fall baking spirit, my gluten free pumpkin cinnamon rolls and gluten free pumpkin pie always hit the spot.

Tips before we get started!

• I love these with both the streusel and chocolate chips, but you can opt to do just one or keep the muffins plain! The base recipe has tons of flavor as is.
• Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
• For extra tall muffins, you can bake in two muffin tins and just bake 6 at a time, leaving space between each muffin. This allows the air to circulate better and creates taller muffins.

How to make gluten free pumpkin muffins

WHISK WET. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth.

WHISK DRY. Whisk in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into a muffin tray, filling each to the top to ensure nice round muffin tops.

MAKE STREUSEL. In a small dish, combine the sugar, flour and pumpkin pie spice. Cut in the butter or coconut oil with a fork until crumbly.

BAKE. Use your fingers to sprinkle the streusel on top of the muffins. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

SERVE. Let cool for about 15 minutes in the tray, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling and enjoy!

Can I make them vegan?

You can try subbing the eggs for an egg substitute like flax eggs or a store bought egg replacer, but they likely won’t rise as well. The eggs are important here for a fluffy texture and ensuring a nice rise, so I recommend sticking with the recipe as written for best results!

Vegan and gluten free baking is very tricky, so it’s usually best to opt for a recipe that is already developed to be that way.

Ingredient swaps

PUMPKIN. You need pure pumpkin puree for this recipe and it cannot be subbed with pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling already contains all the spices, sugar and other ingredients in pumpkin pie, so be sure you’re using just plain pumpkin puree for these muffins. You will need just shy of one 15 ounce can.

FLOUR. This recipe calls for gluten free all purpose baking flour, which you cannot sub for almond, coconut, oat or another type of flour. You can use regular all purpose flour (non gluten free), but please do not try using another gluten free flour such as almond, oat etc. I like the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour, just make sure whatever you use has xanthan gum!

SUGAR. You can sub the light brown sugar for coconut sugar, but I don’t recommend subbing the white sugar for coconut sugar. The muffins will be a very dark color and they may not rise as well. You can always try my healthy sweet potato muffins if you want a lower sugar option!

How to store and freeze

Once prepared, these gluten free muffins will keep for about 3 days at room temperature, or 5 days in the fridge. They can get a bit soggy if put in an air tight container because of the pumpkin, so I suggest leaving them in a container with the lid slightly ajar or covered loosely with foil.

You can freeze these gluten free pumpkin muffins after they bake. Be sure to let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to one month. Let them defrost in the fridge overnight, then warm up in the oven or microwave.

Try these snack recipes next!

• Matcha Muffins
• Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins
• Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
• Protein Muffins
• Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

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