Moist and not too sweet, these vegan and gluten-free pumpkin muffins are made with almond and oat flour, rolled oats, and a pecan crumble topping. Coconut sugar adds a nice caramel flavour to the muffins and you can use canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
These are adapted from my gluten-free banana muffins. Looking for more gluten-free snacks and treats? Try my gluten-free banana buckwheat pancakes or almond flour chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
No blends or hard-to-find flours needed for this recipe! Just almond flour, oat flour, and a bit of arrowroot for binding.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Pumpkin: replace the pumpkin with sweet potato puree if that's what you have. You can use canned or homemade pumpkin puree, but don't sub pumpkin pie filling.
- Oat flour: oat flour can be replaced with your favourite gluten-free blend, but note that oat flour is naturally sweet and adds moisture to the batter. Use certified gluten-free oats if needed (they are naturally gluten-free, but are often contaminated during processing).
- Arrowroot flour: if you can't find this, replace it with cornstarch.
- Pumpkin spice: if you don't have the blend, use ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ⅛ teaspoon allspice, and ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg in its place. (This is just homemade pumpkin spice.)
- Pecans: substitute another nut like hazelnuts or walnuts, or use sunflower or pumpkin seeds for a nut-free option.
- Add-ins: if you like a bit of crunch, try adding a tablespoon or two of millet to the batter along with the other dry ingredients.
Step by Step
Step 1: blend the oats into a coarse flour.
Step 2: add the ground oats to a large mixing bowl with the other dry ingredients.
Step 3: in another bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, lemon juice, sugar, milk and vanilla.
Step 4: add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Step 5: mix the crumble ingredients in a smaller bowl.
Step 6: scoop the muffin batter into 9 lined muffin cups.
Step 7: top with the pecan crumble.
Step 8: bake for about 25 minutes and cool before serving.
Top Tips
- Don't skip the oats: mixing ground oats with oat flour and almond flour makes for the best texture! If you don't have a food processor, replace the coarsely ground oats with half oat flour and half rolled oats.
- Fill the cups: these muffins won't rise too much during baking - the crumble prevents it - so don't worry about filling the muffin cups right up.
- Don't over-mix: usually for gluten-free recipes it doesn't matter too much, but this is a thick batter and over-mixing can result in the muffins not rising as well.
How to Store
Storage: keep the muffins in a sealed container at room temperature for up to three days.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled muffins to an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
FAQ
Do you need xanthan gum in gluten free muffins?
Xanthan gum is a replacement for the way that gluten creates elasticity in baked goods, but it's not really necessary for things like muffins. Pumpkin and arrowroot starch make up for the lack of gluten here.
How do you make gluten free baking less dense?
Gluten-free muffins need extra moisture (pumpkin, milk, etc.) to make them lighter. That's why it's best to use gluten-free specific recipes rather than subbing blends for wheat flour.
Can I just replace flour with gluten free flour?
While you can often replace plain wheat flour with a store-bought gluten-free flour blend, you'll get better results when following a recipe developed specifically for gluten-free flour.
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Recipe
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins
Equipment
- Food processor
- Measuring cups and spoons
- 3 mixing bowls
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 cup almond flour
- ⅔ cup gluten-free oat flour
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumble Topping
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 3 tablespoons oat flour
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped pecans
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pinch pumpkin spice or cinnamon
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and add muffin liners to 9 cups in a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
- Add the rolled oats to a food processor or dry-ingredient safe blender and mix until they turn into a coarse flour.1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- Add the ground oats, almond flour, oat flour, arrowroot, baking powder, salt, and spices in a bowl. Stir to combine.1 cup almond flour, ⅔ cup gluten-free oat flour, 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder, 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin, oil, lemon juice, sugar, milk and vanilla, stirring well.1 ½ cups pumpkin puree, ⅓ cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup non-dairy milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¾ cup coconut sugar
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Make the crumble topping by mixing all of the crumble ingredients in another mixing bowl until well combined.3 tablespoons coconut sugar, 3 tablespoons oat flour, 2 tablespoons roughly chopped pecans, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 pinch pumpkin spice or cinnamon, 1 pinch sea salt
- Divide batter amongst 9 lined muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with a little bit of crumble on each muffin. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool the muffins on a wire rack. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to three days.
I LOVE these muffins. So moist and tasty! I reduced the sugar to a quarter cup and they still taste great. I store them in the fridge and heat them up before popping them in my mouth! So so good and gluten-free!