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Easy Pumpkin Muffins are made with applesauce instead of oil for a healthier twist on the classic pumpkin muffin recipe. These muffins are moist with a tender crumb and perfect for a quick fall breakfast or snack!
Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins
When fall rolls around, my kids start begging me to make pumpkin muffins for breakfast. Some of our favorite pumpkin recipes are 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins with cake mix and easy one bowl pumpkin spice muffins and pumpkin bread and even pumpkin soup!
But our favorite recipe for pumpkin muffins uses applesauce instead of oil, brown sugar instead of white, and is easy on the pumpkin spice. I wanted the pumpkin flavor to be the star.
It actually took several tries to get this applesauce pumpkin muffins recipe just right. The muffins were either too dense or had too much spice. So finally, after supplying the kids and their friends and family members with enough delicious muffins to last until Christmas, we got it right. These applesauce pumpkin muffins are hands down the family favorite!
Oh, these babies are made in just one large bowl — no separate bowls for wet ingredients and dry ingredients, so cleanup is super easy. And that’s why I’m calling these the BEST pumpkin muffins ever! We have been making these for years now, and everyone loves them!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes
You only need a few simple ingredients for this homemade pumpkin muffin recipe. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.
- Eggs — large eggs
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar — for a deeper flavor
- Baking soda — the leavening agent
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Canned pumpkin — a whole can of pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- Applesauce — replaces the oil or butter used in most muffin recipes. Thee is no need to add any oil at all. Use unsweetened applesauce for best results, as there is extra sugar added in the recipe. Applese
- Milk — I use 2 percent, but whole milk works, too
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins with Applesauce
First, add the eggs to a large mixing bowl. Whenever I make one-bowl muffins or cake or anything with eggs, I add the eggs first. Then, I stir them up a little and add the remaining ingredients.
You can use a hand mixer for the muffins or make them with a stand mixer. If you want, you can mix the batter by hand.
Just be sure to mix until the batter is blended, about 1 minute. You don’t want to over mix the batter, or these delicious pumpkin muffins will turn out too dense and tough.
Next, add the batter to the muffin tin. You’ll want to use non stick spray or grease the cups with butter for easier removal.
You can also use paper liners or parchment paper liners if you want.
You want these pumpkin muffins to be as tall as possible. So, fill the muffin cups as high as you can. None of this two-thirds full stuff today!
Now, pop the muffin tin into the oven. The muffins take about 20 minutes to bake, and that’s it. When done, a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin should be clean.
Total baking time depends on your oven. Some people have to bake the muffins for 30 minutes.
Aren’t they gorgeous?!
Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Then, place the warm pumpkin muffins on a wire rack to cool completely.
Bake some of these homemade pumpkin muffins on the weekend, and you have grab-and-go quick breakfasts or a healthy snack to pack in school lunches ready to eat during the week. This is such a great recipe for the fall season, and the warm spices make your home smell amazing!
Storage
Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature — no need to refrigerate them. They’ll keep fresh for about 4 days, if they last that long! These muffins tend to release a good amount of moisture, so I like to line the container with a paper towel to absorb the excess moisture. To freeze pumpkin muffins, just let them cool completely, then wrap individual muffins in foil or freezer paper, and place in a large zip top freezer bag. They can be frozen up to 3 months for best taste.
Recipe Tips
You can use canned pumpkin or make your own homemade pumpkin puree. Just be sure NOT to use pumpkin pie filling, as you want to control the sweetness and spice here.
If you’re using homemade pumpkin purée, you need 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup chocolate chips for the chocolate lovers in your life. You can also make a simple glaze or crumb topping for richer flavor.
You can add 1/2 cup oats for pumpkin applesauce oatmeal muffins.
Make mini muffins using a mini muffin tin. They take about 15 minutes to bake.
Easy Pumpkin Muffins with Applesauce
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup applesauce unsweetened
- ⅓ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉, and grease a 12-cup muffin tin
- In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, and beat slightly
- Add the remaining ingredients, and use a hand mixer to blend together until smooth. Batter may have some small lumps, but don’t overmix
- Fill muffin cups almost to the tops with batter, then bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean
- Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly, then remove from muffin tin, and serve
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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They are delicious 😋 thanks for the recipe I will be making these more often.
Just made muffins. Terrific, super yummy. Homemade applesauce from the last apples on the block. Also puréed pumpkin at home. Had leftover batter to make a small loaf pan for my neighbor. I used some pumpkin juice and maple syrup w/ unsalted butter and powdered sugar for frosting. There goes my diet lol. Thanks so much
I made these today. They are so delicious. I had never made pumpkin muffins. They were a big hit with my hubby. I also put a few chocolate chips on the top before baking and mine also took 30 minutes. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you so much, Marie! I’m glad you liked them!
Wow these were really phenomenal. I had a leftover can of pumpkin puree from Thanksgiving, and I was looking for a healthier option to send with my toddler to school, and these were really great! I know what people mean about the batter coming out great- you can really smell the spices when its mixed up.
I whisked the eggs at the start and mixed the rest with a spoon- didn’t use a mixer. I made these as mini muffins with no liner- came out wonderful. In a 350F convection oven the mini muffins take 15 minutes to bake fully- it’s a wet batter but they’re also still very moist coming out and after a few minutes of cooling they came right out of the tin- no paper liners needed.
Great recipe to use up any extra cans of pumpkin- not overly sweet and I had all the ingredients in my pantry. Not sure what it is about this batter or mix but they came out of the oven like showstoppers- real ‘wow’ effect. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you liked the pumpkin muffins, Kelly. Thank you!
Fantastic recipe! These muffins are easy, delicious, and look gorgeous. The batter is very thick, so I took your recommendation to fill the muffin cups to heart and actually had them heaped up slightly above the top of the pan. The muffins came out big and beautiful and my family made short work of them!
So glad you liked the muffins, Emily!
This was a great recipe and the muffins look beautiful. The only problem I had was I had to bake them 30 minutes because the inside seemed doughy after 20 minutes. Has anyone else experienced this?
I’ve never had that happen, but all ovens are different. Also, if you live at a higher altitude, the bake time might be longer.
We have made these twice recently. Supper easy and everybody loves them. An easy breakfast before rushing off to school.
Thanks, James! I’m so happy you like the muffins!
Made these for breakfast/brunch this morning. Easy and what a huge hit. We added a few chocolate chips to the top after we poured the batter into the muffin tin. Yummy!
These are my favorite fall muffins! So good!
Thank you so much, Ann. I’m glad you like them!
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve made them twice now, the second time I added a half cup of oatmeal. They’re really good!
I’m so happy you liked them! I’m actually making another batch this weekend — yum!