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These moist and tender gluten free pumpkin muffins are made with simple pumpkin puree, plenty of pumpkin pie spice, a few chocolate chips, and a crispy crumble topping.

The secret to tall muffins is baking them first at a high temperature before turning the oven down and letting your pumpkin muffins bake all the way through. They look like they came from your favorite bakery!

gluten free pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips and crumble topping in pile in white bowl with one on top

Why this recipe works

It's easy to make: mix up the 3-ingredient crumble topping and chill it; whisk the wet ingredients, add the dry, mix, top, and bake. That's all!

The muffins have intense pumpkin flavor: more than 1 cup of pumpkin puree, with tons of pumpkin pie spice and a touch of brown sugar for richness.

The perfect texture balance: moist, tender, sweet muffin with a really soft crumb inside and a crispy, rich crumble on top.

Beautiful presentation: The muffins rise really high, and the crumble topping catches your eye and makes them look fancy!

ingredients for gluten free pumpkin muffins in small bowls with words on top for each ingredient

Recipe ingredients & swaps

Here the role of each ingredient in these muffins, and a bit about how you can replace some ingredients to avoid additional allergens:

  • Gluten free flour blend: use any one of my recommended gf flour blends, and be sure to add some xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already contain it. You must use an all purpose blend though, and not almond flour, coconut flour, or anything else.
  • Baking powder: provides plenty of rise for tall muffins, especially when we bake them first in a really hot 425°F oven for a few minutes.
  • Salt: brings out the other flavors and balances sweetness.
  • Pumpkin pie spice: A warm spice blend with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. If you don't have it, don't let that stop you. Use apple pie spice, or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg if you have it.
  • Sugars: mostly white sugar in these muffins for sweetness and tenderness, plus some light brown sugar for the rich taste of molasses. The crumble topping is all brown sugar for flavor.
  • Pumpkin puree: a full 1 1/4 cups of pure canned pumpkin puree make the muffins really tender and adds flavor and color. There's no substitute for this here.
  • Butter: Melted butter keeps the muffin crumb nice and dense, and adds lots of flavor. If you're dairy-free, try virgin coconut oil or Miyoko's Creamy vegan butter.
  • Eggs: Add rise and richness. If you're egg-free, try 2 “chia eggs” (2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
  • Chocolate chips: Dark chocolate chips pair really well with pumpkin, but semi-sweet work great, too. You can replace them with chopped raw walnuts or pecans, or another type of chip. If you leave them out, the muffins will be smaller.

How to make gluten free pumpkin muffins

For full instructions, see the recipe card below. Here's an overview of how to make these muffins in your own kitchen:

Make the crumble topping

Make the crumble topping first because it has to chill. Mix the gluten free flour blend, brown sugar and melted butter, which makes it easy to blend, and place it in the refrigerator to firm up and become stable enough not to melt quickly in the oven and stay chunky.

Whisk the dry ingredients then wet separately

We'll use two bowls to make the muffin batter. In the first, whisk together the dry ingredients, including the flour blend with xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to ensure there are no clumps.

In a separate bowl, add in the sugars, beaten eggs, melted butter and pumpkin puree and then mix until fully combined. You want the eggs to become emulsified in the melted butter and pumpkin puree, since the eggs help the muffins hold their shape after baking.

Combine all ingredients, then add chips

Placed the whisked dry ingredients right on top of the wet ingredients all at once for a thick, soft batter. Since there's no gluten in these muffins, you don't have to worry about mixing the batter too much. Then add the chocolate chips until they're evenly mixed and appear all over the muffins.

Fill the muffin wells, add topping, bake

Scoop the muffin batter into the muffin tin. The batter is thick, so a large cookie scoop can be useful in getting a rounded mound of batter in each well for round top muffins.

Break up the chilled crumble topping and scatter it over the muffins. Since it's chilled, it will keep its shape in the oven. Bake at 425°F for 6 minutes to quickly activate the baking powder and get a high rise, then finish baking at 350°F so nothing burns.

My Pro Tip

Expert tips

Bake in a really hot oven at first

To get a really tall rise on these muffins, bake at 425°F for 5 or 6 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F and finish baking, about another 20 minutes. The super hot oven activates the baking powder fast, and your muffins get a head start.

Chill the crumble topping first

The crumble topping has to be cold or it won't hold its shape in the oven. So mix it up first and put it in the refrigerator. As soon as you're done making the muffin batter, the topping is cold enough to break up, scatter on top, and bake.

Use room temperature ingredients

If you are using leftover pumpkin puree, it's going to be cold. If you add cold ingredients to melted butter, the butter will clump and your batter won't be smooth or cohesive. Microwave cold leftover puree at 50% power for 10 to 15 seconds to warm it up. Float cold eggs in warm water for 15 minutes before using.

light orange gluten free pumpkin muffins in white liners with crumble topping on wire cooling rack with white cloth
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Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

4.91 from 20 votes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 26 minutes
Chilling time: 10 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins
These gluten free pumpkin muffins are moist, tender, packed with pumpkin flavor and warm spices, and a crisp-tender crumble topping. Easy to make dairy free!
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Ingredients 

For the crumble topping

  • 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (70 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; please click thru for more info on appropriate blends)
  • ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)

For the muffins

  • 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; please click thru for more info on appropriate blends)
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (55 g) packed light brown sugar
  • 1 ¼ cups (306 g) pure canned pumpkin puree, at room temperature
  • 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
  • 6 ounces chocolate chips, I like dark chocolate chips here

Instructions 

Make the crumble topping

  • In a small bowl, place all of the ingredients (melted butter, brown sugar, flour blend and xanthan gum), and mix to combine fully. The mixture will be thick.
  • Place the crumble mixture in the refrigerator to chill while you make the muffin batter.

Make the muffins

  • Preheat your oven to 425°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
  • In a medium-size bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice, and whisk to combine well. Set the dry ingredients aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, place the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and eggs. Whisk to combine very well.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl of wet ingredients, and mix until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
  • Add the chocolate chips to the batter, and mix until just evenly distributed throughout.
  • Divide the batter among the prepared wells of the muffin tin. The wells should be full of batter.
  • Remove the crumble topping from the refrigerator and use the tines of a fork to break up the mixture into small chunks. Use your fingers to scatter the crumble topping evenly across the tops of all of the raw muffin batter in the wells, and press very gently to help the mixture adhere to the dough.
  • Place the muffins in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 6 minutes.
  • Without opening the oven door, lower the oven temperature to 350°F. Let the muffins continue to bake for about 20 minutes more or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the center muffin comes out clean.
  • If the toothpick still comes out wet at all after the final 20 minutes of baking, reduce the oven temperature to about 300°F and continue to bake until done.
  • Remove the pan from the oven. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Video

Notes

The recipe video has a modified recipe that uses buttermilk in place of some of the pumpkin puree, some baking soda in addition to baking powder, no brown sugar, and no crumble topping. The muffins are also baked at a lower temperature, and they're shorter.
Nutritional information.
Nutrition information is an estimate, per muffin, including the crumble topping, based on online nutritional calculators. It is provided as a courtesy and should not be relied upon.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 211mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 4311IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

make ahead/leftovers

Storage instructions

These are really moist, tender muffins that will keep well in an airtight container on the counter for 2 to 3 days.

Freezing

These muffins also freeze really well. Just place them in a single layer on a small rimmed baking sheet and freeze until firm. Then, place them in a feezer-safe zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let defrost overnight on the counter or microwave at 70% power for about 30 seconds.

light orange muffin with light brown crumble topping with muffin liner peeled back on small white plate

FAQs

Can I use this recipe to make mini pumpkin muffins?

Yes, you can definitely use this recipe to make mini muffins rather than full-sized ones. I would suggest checking the mini muffins starting at 12 minutes and using the toothpick test to judge whether they're done.

Why are my muffins so dense?

Your muffins might be dense because your leaveners that aren't fresh, so check your dates. Plus, ask yourself if did you bake for 6 minutes at 425°F and then lower the oven temperature to 350°F until they were done baking?

Why are my muffins gummy?

Did you use one of my recommended flour blends and measure by weight, not volume? Did you bake your muffins at the right temperature? If the oven temperature is too low, they may not rise properly. If your oven temperature is too high for too long, the outside will become dark before the inside has the right baked structure and the muffins will sink as they cool and become gummy inside.

Can I make these muffins in a loaf pan?

No, this recipe is only suitable for muffins. If you'd like to make a loaf, try our recipe for tender and flavorful gluten free pumpkin bread. Like these muffins, it's full of pumpkin flavor and made with simple canned pumpkin.

Can I make them egg-free?

Try replacing the 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel.

Can I make them dairy-free?

Try replacing the butter in the crumble topping with virgin coconut oil, Spectrum shortening, or vegan butter. And for the muffins, virgin coconut oil or vegan butter should also work really well. Be sure your chocolate chips are dairy-free, too.

Can I make them without the crumble topping?

Yes! Skip the crumble topping if you'd prefer, and reduce the baking time at the reduced 350°F oven temperature by 2 to 3 minutes.

Whole pumpkin chocolate chip muffin on small white plate
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffin cut in half on small white plate

About Nicole Hunn

Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough!

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Recipe Rating





31 Comments

  1. Kat says:

    4 stars
    I love your recipes but have to work hard to remove some of the sugar. Trying to cut back on it and there is a lot of it in this recipe. Removed the chocolate chips for coco nibs, used Monk Sugar and date sugar in smaller amounts and added a bit of oat flour. Removing gluten is easier and easier these days, sugar not so much

    Thanks for the great GF options.

    1. Nicole Hunn says:

      Hi, Kat, there is no more sugar in my recipes than in other conventional recipes of the type. It sounds like you’re seeking low-sugar recipes, and I don’t specialize in that. Sugar is not just a sweetener, but it’s a tenderizer and locks in moisture in baked goods, so when you reduce sugar in one of my recipes, you change the recipe substantially in more ways than just how sweet it is. Maybe a keto blog, which recipes that are designed to be sugar-free, would suit your needs better.

  2. Misty Price says:

    Can I make these muffins without the chocolate chips?

    1. Nicole Hunn says:

      Hi, Misty, yes! Please see the detailed information on “chocolate chips” in the “Key ingredients & substitution suggestions” section of the text of the post.

  3. Sandy Beal says:

    5 stars
    Delicious

  4. Wendy says:

    These were very good. I made them yesterday and I added more chocolate chips as we really liked them. Also I baked them a bit longer, mine needed a couple extra minutes in the oven. They are delicious. Thanks for this recipe.

  5. Martha Davidson says:

    4 stars
    They taste great but a bit dry. I would decrease the baking time or add a bit more oil. I added some Orange zest.
    Will make them again!

  6. Dana Schwartz says:

    5 stars
    This is one of my family’s favorite shoestring recipes! It’s easy and always a hit. I’m lucky if these last more than one day! A wonderful breakfast or dessert.

    1. Nicole Hunn says:

      That’s so great to hear, Dana. So nice to hear from you!

  7. Karen S. says:

    5 stars
    First time I’m making these – easy and delicious (even with leaving the chocolate chips out!) I will definitely be making these again for my family! Thank you!

  8. Lori says:

    Hi again,
    Oh, I will try the pumpkin muffins but I have pumpkin butter to use. Is it the same amount as pumpkin in the recipe?

    1. Nicole Hunn says:

      I’m afraid you can’t make these muffins with pumpkin butter, no, Lori. You must use pumpkin puree here. Please see the post about pumpkin butter for information on where you can use that.

  9. Lori says:

    Hi,
    Do you have a muffin recipe using applesauce?

  10. Loretta says:

    These were delicious. I believe my canned pumpkin was too dry as I had to stir in a little extra buttermilk just to stir in all the dry ingredients. I’m a scale user so I trust the measurements. At any rate they turned out fabulous. Thanks for all the work you do developing these recipes.

    1. Nicole Hunn says:

      Great to hear, Loretta!