These almond flour pumpkin muffins taste like a cozy Fall day. They're moist, soft, and loaded with chocolate chips and pumpkin pie flavor. They're naturally sweetened, gluten free, paleo, and can be made dairy free too!
Pumpkin spice season (aka Fall!) has arrived and these fluffy almond flour pumpkin muffins couldn't be more perfect for it. They have a warm, cinnamon-y pumpkin spice flavor and are loaded with melty chocolate chips. The sweet and spicy flavors compliment each other perfectly. Think pumpkin bread meets chocolate chip muffin!
These are the pumpkin version of my almond flour banana muffins. They're naturally sweetened with coconut sugar and made with almond flour, making them naturally gluten free and incredibly moist. You can simply swap a few ingredients to make them dairy free so everyone can have a bite!
If you're a pumpkin fan, you'll also love my recipes for pumpkin chai snack cake and healthy pumpkin protein balls.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Delicious gluten free pumpkin muffins- These muffins are ridiculously moist and tender from pumpkin puree, warmly spiced, and have the perfect amount of sweetness from the coconut sugar.
- Almond flour- Almond flour is what makes these extra, extra moist! They're naturally gluten free because of it. You can buy almond flour at the grocery store or make your own by blending blanched almonds in a food processor and sifting out the lumps.
- Perfect for pumpkin season- Pumpkin, cinnamon, and spices make for the perfect cozy Fall breakfast. This recipe is perfect for pumpkin season, Thanksgiving, and the Autumn days in between.
Watch How to Make This Recipe
Ingredients
Here are some notes about the ingredients used. For quantities, see the recipe card below.
- Almond flour- Almond flour makes the muffins super moist. I recommend super-fine almond flour for the best texture. Use almond flour, not almond meal. Please do not substitute other flours, like oat flour, coconut flour, or wheat flour. Each kind of flour behaves very differently!
- Baking powder- This is a leavener to help the muffins rise. See this baking powder recipe if you are following the paleo diet.
- Baking soda- An additional ¼ teaspoon of baking soda helps the muffins rise even more.
- Sea salt
- Pumpkin spice- You can't make a pumpkin muffin without pumpkin spice! A heaping tablespoon is used to flavor the batter. You can buy pumpkin pie spice at most grocery stores or you can make your own with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and a little allspice.
- Pumpkin puree- Use real pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. You'll find it in the baking aisle at the grocery store in a can with one ingredient, pumpkin.
- Coconut sugar- Used to sweeten the muffins without adding any extra moisture. Coconut sugar also has a lower glycemic index than table sugar!
- Eggs- Use 2 large eggs at room temperature. The eggs help to hold all the ingredients together in oven.
- Tahini- This adds some moisture to the muffins and additional nutrients. Make sure you tahini is high quality and mixed thoroughly.
- Pure vanilla extract
- Apple cider vinegar- This is typically used in gluten free baking to help strengthen the dough. You won't be able to taste it, don't worry!
- Chocolate chips - I used a dark chocolate chips. Chocolate chunks or white chocolate chips could be delicious. You can use Hu Chocolate Gems to make the recipe totally paleo and dairy free.
Substitutions
- Eggs: 2 flax eggs can be used to make this recipe vegan. Note that I have NOT tested this method, but I'd love to hear how it works out if you try!
- Tahini: Creamy almond butter, cashew butter, or other nut butter can be used instead.
- Coconut sugar: Substitute with cane sugar if needed.
- Apple cider vinegar: If you don't have any on hand, use lemon juice.
- Chocolate chips: Cacao nibs can be used instead for less sugar.
Helpful Equipment and Tools
You'll need a 12-tin muffin pan filled with muffin liners and 2 mixing bowls. You'll also need basic baking equipment like measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixing bowls, whisk, and rubber spatula. I recommend a food scale too.
No stand mixer, electric hand mixer, or blender is required! Mix the muffins by hand since overworking the batter can make them dense.
How to Make Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins
Before you start, read all the directions carefully. Then, preheat the oven to 425°F. Make homemade pumpkin spice if needed with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice.
STEP 1: Whisk the dry ingredients. First, add the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to a medium mixing bowl. Whisk until combined and set the bowl aside.
STEP 2: Whisk the wet ingredients. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, eggs, tahini, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar together until smooth and well combined.
STEP 3: Fold in the dry ingredients. Pour the mixture of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients ½ at a time. Gently fold with a rubber spatula until no dry streaks of flour remain. Then, fold in the chocolate chips.
STEP 4: Fill the muffin liners. Line 1 muffin tin with 12 liners or 2 tins with 6 alternating liners. With a large cookie or ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner ¾ of the way full. Top with additional chocolate chips.
STEP 5: Bake. Place the muffins in the oven and then turn the heat down to 375F. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The muffins are done when they are domed and spring back when lightly touched. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Sprinkle some extra coconut or course sugar on top of the muffins and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Make sure all the wet ingredients are mixed together well. You don't want to find any chunks of pumpkin or tahini in your muffins!
- Fill the muffin liners ¾ of the way full. You can fill them a little more than you usually would since they're gluten free and will rise less than traditional muffins.
- If you struggle to get the muffins to rise, try baking only 6 muffins in every other muffin tin. This allows them to have extra space to rise and form crusty edges like bakery-style muffins.
- Let the muffins cool for a maximum of 5 minutes in the pan. This prevents the bottoms from getting soggy. If they stay in the pan for longer, condensation from the cooling muffins will leak in and make them too wet.
Additions and Variations
There are so many things you can add to these muffins instead of chocolate chips!
- Nuts- some of my favorites are raw walnuts, chopped pecans, and pistachios. A sprinkle of pepitas (pumpkin seeds) on top adds a nice crunch.
- Dried fruit- add dried tart cherries, cranberries, apricots, or raisins.
- Cream cheese- Mix 4 ounces of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 egg yolk together. Then, swirl an even amount on top and into the middle of each muffin before baking.
- Streusel- You can top the muffins with the almond flour streusel from my cinnamon streusel muffin recipe.
How to Store
- Counter- Make sure the muffins are completely cool before storing in an airtight container on the counter. Also make sure that the chocolate has hardened before stacking the muffins on top of each other. They will last at room temperature for up to 4 days. Don't store them in the refrigerator because it can dry them out.
- Freezer- Muffins can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Simply thaw on the counter for a few hours before eating or heat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Almond meal and almond flour are pretty much the same thing, except almond meal is made from unpeeled almonds. So you may see some brown flecks in the muffins if you use almond meal.
The muffins can get soggy if they sit in the muffin pan too long after baking. Condensation from the cooling muffins can form inside the muffin liners and leak into the bottoms. Make sure to remove the muffins from the pan as soon as they are cool enough to handle with your hands. Almond flour is already super soft, so it can easily become soggy if too much liquid is used in a recipe. This is why tahini/nut butter is used as the fat source instead of butter or oil.
You may have overmixed the batter or added too much almond flour. I recommend using a kitchen scale to get the most accurate measurements.
More Fall Recipes
📖 Recipe
Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl, whisk the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice together. Set the bowl aside.2 cups almond flour, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- In a separate large mixing bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, tahini, eggs, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar together with a whisk until well combined and smooth.1 cup pumpkin puree, 1 cup coconut sugar, ¼ cup tahini, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet with a rubber spatula. Mix in ½ of the dry ingredients at a time until just combined. Gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter.1 cup chocolate chips
- Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners (or 2 muffin pans with 6 liners alternating each well- this helps the muffins rise). Scoop the muffin batter into each liner about ¾ of the way full. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips and coconut sugar on top.
- Turn the oven heat down to 375F. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes until they have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center has only a few moist crumbs. Let the muffins cool slightly for no more than 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Leaving hot muffins in the pan too long makes them wet and have soggy bottoms, so this is important! Sprinkle extra sugar on top of the muffins if desired and enjoy!
Rudi
These muffins look beautiful!