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!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Packed with pumpkin flavor
- Nut free
- Dairy free friendly
- Perfect for a quick snack or dessert
- Simple, pantry staple ingredients
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 next!
- Matcha Muffins
- Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins
- Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
- Protein Muffins
Lastly, if you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. As always, tag me on instagram if you make this recipe so I can see your creation!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 ½ cups pure pumpkin puree
- ⅔ cup white sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Dry
- 1 ¾ cup gluten free all purpose baking flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 ¾ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Streusel
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil softened
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth.
- 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.
- In a small dish, combine the sugar, flour and pumpkin pie spice. Cut in the butter or coconut oil with a fork until crumbly.
- Use your fingers to sprinkle the streusel on top of the muffins. Bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for about 15 minutes in the tray, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Denise Kuchinski says
Wow!! These are incredible! My family is not gluten free but they LOVE them! I used plant based butter to make them dairy free as well and sooooo delicious!! Thank you!
Claire Cary says
Amazing, thank you Denise!
Molly says
Was craving a pumpkin treat and this recipe delivered. It was simple to make and satisfied my craving. I skipped the topping to cut down on the sugar. I did not miss it.
Claire Cary says
Perfect, thanks Molly!
Erin says
Have not tried yet, recommendations for an egg substitute? Making for my niece with an egg allergy amongst other things.
Claire Cary says
I’d try a store bought egg replacer like Bob’s Red Mill or an extra 6 tablespons of pumpkin.
Audrey says
These turned out amazing! Even with my tweaks, which I was nervous would not work. I replaced all of the sugar with a stevia/erythritol baking blend to make them low-sugar. I also ran out of my 1:1 GF flour and had to replace the last 1/2 cup with almond flour. They still turned out great! I’m sure they’d be even better with the original ingredients, but I was thrilled with my result. Thanks for the great recipe!
Rebecca says
Easy recipe! Didn’t taste GF. I love gingerbread spicy so I doubled the spices here too and was not disappointed. I also used mini chocolate chips!
Claire Cary says
Thank you, my favorite kind of review!
mya says
can i use oat flour instead of gf all purpose flour?
Claire Cary says
I don’t recommend that here! You can try my sweet potato muffins instead!
Laurie says
These muffins were very good! I like that they’re not too sweet!
Claire Cary says
Thank you, Laurie!
Adeline says
Picky eaters approved 👌.
Claire Cary says
The best kind of comment!
Pam says
We rate these a 5. My husband even loves them. Thanks so much for putting this and so many more of your recipes out there. Keep them coming.
Claire Cary says
Thank you, Pam!
Liah says
These came out so good. I left out chocolate chips, but still so good. If I made this into a loaf, how long would I cook it in the oven?
Claire Cary says
I haven’t tried it as a loaf, but my guess would be about 55-60 minutes.
Anita says
Needed a higher oven temperature.375F would have been more normal for muffins. After 32+4 minutes they still were not completely done. Tasted good.
Andrea says
These are incredible! I made 2 batches last week and gave some to neighbors and family, my kids devoured them, everyone loved them. I’m making more right now! Perfect texture, can’t even tell they are GF.
Claire Cary says
Thank you, Andrea!