Mouthwatering pumpkin muffins flavored with sweet cinnamon and warming pumpkin spice. These delectably rich muffins will make you feel like you’re cozied up sitting fireside on a cool fall day. Topped with a smooth vanilla buttercream icing, these muffins are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth!
Tis’ the Season
When you think of fall, you might think of pumpkin picking, pumpkin pie, or pumpkin spiced lattes. Well, that’s because pumpkin is quite literally in season! We can thank the good ol’ harvest season for why we carve pumpkins for Halloween and bake pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. And if you’re like me, you might think pumpkin flavors make the best desserts.
When I was in grammar school, my dad discovered the wonders of easy boxed pumpkin muffins. There was a stretch of time that he would make them once a week and pack them in our school lunches everyday. The best part was that he would cut them in half and put vanilla icing in the middle. It was one of my favorite memories and absolutely where I developed my passion for pumpkin muffins.
Sadly I can no longer enjoy the exact muffin mix and icing he used for these muffins, but that didn’t stop me from re-creating the recipe! Making muffins without eggs and preservatives isn’t necessarily an easy task. And boy, you can’t imagine how difficult it is to create homemade icing without those ingredients OR powdered sugar. The good news is: I’ve succeeded at both and officially created the best sulfite-free and vegan pumpkin muffins and vanilla icing out there!
Ingredients:
- Organic Pumpkin puree
- All purpose flour: Unbleached & Organic for sulfite-free
- Organic Cane sugar
- Organic Almond milk
- Maple syrup
- Melted Butter: For vegan option, use vegan butter.
- Natural Vanilla
- Sea salt
- Pumpkin Spice & Cinnamon
- Baking Soda
Making the Pumpkin Muffins:
For this recipe, you’re going to need a muffin pan that holds 12 muffins and a hand mixer. Start by pre-heating the oven to 375 degrees and line the muffin pan with baking cups. If you don’t have any baking cups, simply spray your pan well with extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. I would recommend spraying your baking cups with an oil as well as it helps them unwrap very easily!
In one bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice. In the other bowl mix the cane sugar, pumpkin puree, almond milk, maple syrup, melted butter, and vanilla together until well combined. Then pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix thoroughly. Fill the baking cups up 1/2 way with batter and bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes.
When the time is up, or when the muffins begin to darken near the edges, take them out of the oven and let them cool.
Making the Icing:
In a microwave safe bowl or in a saucepan on the stove, melt the milk and flour together until thick. In another bowl, use the hand mixer to combine the softened butter, cane sugar, and vanilla. When fluffy, add in the thickened milk and flour mixture and beat again on high until very well combined. The texture should be similar to cool whip!
When the muffins have cooled entirely, spread the icing on top and sprinkle with some pumpkin spice or cinnamon (or both!).
Check out these other fall recipes:
- Cinnamon pecan & pumpkin seed granola
- Pumpkin spice waffles (Sulfite free and vegan)
- Baked pumpkin donuts with maple glaze and cinnamon sugar
Pumpkin Muffins with Sweet Homemade Vanilla Icing
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups All purpose flour Unbleached & Organic
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Pumpkin spice
- 1/3 cup Cane sugar
- 3/4 cup Pumpkin puree
- 2 tbsp Almond milk
- 1 tbsp Maple syrup
- 2 tbsp Melted butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Vanilla Icing
- 1/2 cup Almond milk
- 2 tbsp All purpose flour Unbleached & organic
- 1/2 cup Salted butter
- 1/2 cup Cane sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin pan with cupcake holders.
- In one medium sized bowl, sift flour, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice.
- In a large bowl, mix cane sugar, pumpkin puree, almond milk, maple syrup, melted butter, and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together.
- Fill the cupcake holders 1/2 way up with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- When the muffins begin to darken near the edges, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before icing.
Icing
- Melt the milk and flour together in the microwave or on the stovetop in a saucepan until the mixture thickens.
- Using a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until fluffy.
- Beat in the milk and flour mixture to your bowl until the texture is similar to cool whip.
