Start your morning off right with these gluten free pumpkin muffins! Made with almond flour and topped with dark chocolate chips, these soft and tender muffins make the perfect fall breakfast treat.
Our almond flour pumpkin muffins are bursting with fall flavors, super easy to make and incredibly satisfying! Ready and on the table in about 30 minutes, this is one recipe we make almost weekly during the cooler months.
And for more fall breakfast inspiration, make sure to check out our apple fritters with pecans and baked apple cider donuts!
making almond flour muffins
Using almond flour is a great alternative to all purpose flour to create gluten free bakes with a soft and fluffy crumb. If you haven’t worked with almond flour before, here are a few tips to make sure your muffins are a success:
- Make sure you’re using almond flour as opposed to almond meal for this recipe. Almond flour is made with blanched (peeled) almonds and has a light, fluffy texture. Almond meal is made with unblanched (skin-on) almonds and is generally more coarse in texture.
- There’s also quite a bit of difference in texture between various almond flour brands. Use a quality blanched almond flour with a powder-like consistency. For best results, avoid almond flours that appear to have a coarser grind.
- Using almond flour makes these muffins prone to sticking to the pan, which is why we recommend using liners as opposed to greasing the muffin tin. You can also spray the liners with nonstick spray as an added measure of security, but I generally skip this step.
the process
Whipping up these muffins is quick and easy! Here are the steps:
- Mix together the dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- Mix together the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Incorporating the sugar with the wet ingredients aids the sugar in dissolving, which makes for better distribution.
- Combine both mixtures and fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin liners, bake and enjoy!
mix it up!
For the spices, I like to use a mixture of ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to get the perfect balance of fall flavors. But ginger, cardamom or even a pinch of allspice wouldn’t be out of place in these muffins! And if you want to up the almond flavor, try switching out the vanilla extract for almond extract.
As for the mix-ins, the dark chocolate chips can be swapped for milk chocolate chips or left out completely.
And if you want a crunchy topping, feel free to add your favorite streusel or simply sprinkle on a few slivered almonds or walnuts right before baking!
almond flour pumpkin muffins: FAQs
Blanched almond flour works the best for this recipe. When choosing your almond flour, make sure to use superfine almond flour from a quality brand – the consistency should be powder-like. Certain almond flours have a more coarse grind, which will affect the texture of your muffins. Also make sure to avoid almond meal (or unblanched almond flour), which will yield a denser muffin.
You’ll need 100% canned pumpkin puree for this recipe. Canned pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices, which can cause your muffins to be overly sweet or too heavy on the spice.
These muffins are quite moist in the middle and best stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. They can also be frozen for up to three months.
Looking for more ways to use up those cans of pumpkin puree? Check out these recipes!
- spiced pumpkin cheesecake cookies
- chipotle pumpkin mac and cheese
- ricotta and pumpkin pierogi + brown butter sage sauce
- easy turmeric pumpkin soup
almond flour pumpkin muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12
Description
Our soft and tender almond flour pumpkin muffins are gluten free, bursting with fall flavors, and super easy to make!
Ingredients
- blanched almond flour* 2.5 c (275 g)
- baking soda 1 tsp
- salt ½ tsp
- ground cinnamon 1.5 tsp
- ground cloves ½ tsp
- ground nutmeg ½ tsp
- pumpkin puree 1 c (250 g)
- brown sugar ½ c (100 g)
- eggs 3 large
- vegetable oil ¼ c (60 ml)
- vanilla extract 2 tsp
- dark chocolate chips ½ c (110 g)
- plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) and line a standard muffin tin with 12 liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
- Distribute the batter evenly among the muffin liners. Optional: top with additional chocolate chips.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Almond flour: Use a quality superfine blanched almond flour for best results. Certain brands of almond flour have a coarser grind, which will affect the texture of your muffins.
Storing: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to three months.
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Keywords: almond flour pumpkin muffins, healthy pumpkin muffins, gluten free pumpkin muffins
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