Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

🧁 Why We Love This Recipe

• Prep a big batch, freeze for later: we always make a double batch of these vegan pumpkin muffins for two reasons. One: they're insanely delicious and tend to disappear faster than expected. Two: they freeze SO well! Pop the second batch in a freezer bag and grab one on the go. They heat up perfectly in the microwave.
• Easy to make: These vegan pumpkin muffins come together in a few simple steps and only require about 15 minutes of prep work.
• Great fall breakfast: with pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, brown sugar and pecans, these vegan pumpkin muffins are the ultimate fall treat! They're especially good with coffee, hot cocoa or hot cider.
• Bakery style muffins: we fill our muffin liners almost to the top for giant, fluffy, bakery style muffins with a crunchy, sweet oat streusel topping. If you're making these for kids, feel free to make smaller muffins.
• Allergy friendly: these pumpkin muffins are dairy and egg free, and the base recipe is also gluten free. You can modify them to be nut free if needed as well!

🍫 Ingredients

Here's are the key ingredients in these vegan pumpkin muffins:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Pumpkin purée: We used a canned pumpkin purée in this recipe. If you want to make your own, try this recipe. (Note: pumpkin purée – pure pumpkin without additives – is different from pumpkin pie mix, which contains spices and often sweeteners.)
• Pumpkin spice blend: If you don't have any, you can make your own. Just whisk together 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1-2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½-1 teaspoon ground cloves and an optional ½ teaspoon allspice. (Don't use all of it in this recipe - just the 1 tablespoon noted in the recipe.) You can multiply the batch and keep it on hand for other fall recipes like this pumpkin mousse and pumpkin spice granola!
• Gluten free flour: we almost always use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour – it works like a charm and you can find it at most grocery stores! Of course if you're not gluten free, you can also substitute with the same amount of regular all purpose flour.
• Oats: be sure to use old fashioned whole rolled oats in these vegan pumpkin muffins, NOT instant or quick cooking oats.
• Nondairy milk: for best results, let the milk sit out until it reaches room temperature before adding to these vegan pumpkin muffins. We typically use oat milk in this recipe, which has a neutral flavor and creamy texture.
• Pecans: we use unroasted, unsalted pecans in this recipe. You can also sub with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or another nut/seed of choice. (Or, leave them out altogether.)

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚F / 175˚C. Line a muffin tin with liners or grease your tin thoroughly.

(1) In a medium bowl, stir together all oat streusel topping ingredients (oats, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon) and set aside.

(2) In a large mixing bowl, stir together gluten free flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.

(3) In a separate bowl or stand mixer, cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree and continue mixing until evenly incorporated. (Note: if using vegan butter, the mixture may separate. That's normal – it will come back together when you add in dry ingredients.)

(4) Pour apple cider vinegar into milk. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to the wet ingredients until the batter comes together. 

(5) Fold in the chopped pecans and chocolate chips. 

(6) Fill muffin liners about ¾ full, then top with oat streusel topping. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 15-20 minutes. 

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Not gluten free? Sub the gluten free all purpose flour AND oat flour with 1 ½ cups regular all purpose flour. 
• Make sure the butter is softened: Leave your butter at room temp for 30 minutes before creaming the butter and sugar together. You can also pop it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, checking frequently, until it's soft.
• Use liners: You can opt to grease the muffin tin instead of using liners, but we find that the muffins can still stick even with a greased tin, so the liners just make life easier.
• Get your muffins in the oven as quickly as possible for the perfect rise. Without eggs and gluten, these vegan pumpkin muffins rely on the chemical reaction between baking soda and apple cider vinegar to get a nice rise in the oven. The reaction starts happening as soon as the ingredients are mixed, so it's important to get the batter in the oven ASAP in order to make the most of the chemical reaction.
• Don't over-mix the batter. Don't worry if the batter is a bit lumpy! If you over-mix it, these muffins won't rise quite as much and they may have a dense texture.
• The wet mixture might look a bit separated once you add in the pumpkin puree, but don't worry! This is completely normal when you mix pumpkin and vegan butter, but the batter comes together perfectly when you start adding in the dry ingredients.
• Gently press the streusel into the muffin batter so it doesn't fall off (and make a mess) when eating.
• Storage: store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Be sure to let the muffins cool completely before storing.
• Freezer storage: for long term storage, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. (As long as there's no freezer burn, they're fine to eat!) Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds, until warmed through.
• Adapt for mini muffins: if using a mini muffin tin, start checking the muffins for doneness between 10-15 minutes.

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