That means you can eat 2 muffins back to back, feel totally satisfied in a comfort food sort of way, and go about your day as usual (no nap required).
My double chocolate banana muffins, flourless peanut butter cookies, and dark chocolate peanut butter balls are awesome like that, too.
Why You Should Make These Muffins ASAP
It's a tradition for me to bake these pumpkin apple muffins within the first two weeks of September. And typically the week of Thanksgiving, too. This is my eighth year doing it. Even if it's still 95 degrees out here in Texas, I make them! Why?Taking one whiff of the muffin's spicy aroma is equivalent to a sudsy bath, a tight embrace, a gossamer knit sweater, comfy slippers, and a lick or two from your favorite kitten or puppy.
In other words, they are a feel-good, fall in a muffin kinda recipe.
Seriously, bake a batch of these muffins when you're feeling stressed, and not only will your kitchen smell amazing (no need for a synthetic scented candle), but you'll soon find yourself feeling more cheerful! Aromatherapy's pretty awesome like that.
To make it even better, pair them with a cozy drink like a pumpkin spice latte, apple cider sangria, or cranberry, apple & orange sangria and you will be in heaven!
Ingredients For Making These Pumpkin Apple Muffins
- Flour: I almost always use unbleached all-purpose flour or all-purpose einkorn wheat flour. I've also recipe tested this with this gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour and it worked out great.
- Old Fashioned Oats or Rolled Oats: These add a bit of texture, protein & fiber to the muffins. Plain instant oatmeal (fine ground) should work if that's all you have on hand. I just haven't tried it yet so let me know how it goes if you do.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: These help the muffins to rise in the oven, although this particular recipe doesn't rise much. Make sure they're fresh so they work properly. I like to date the top of my baking soda & powder so I know when I opened them.
- Sea Salt: This helps to balance the sweet flavors & warm spices. Just a bit is needed. I use gray Celtic sea salt, which is my favorite and what I keep on hand for almost all my recipes.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: I either use my homemade pumpkin pie spice (mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cloves & a pinch of cardamom) OR a jar of the spice blend from the store depending on what I have on hand at the moment.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: I love these spices so much that I add extra to the muffins so they are more pronounced. If you don't have these on hand, you can skip them and add an extra teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice instead. I HIGHLY recommend getting some Ceylon cinnamon powder if you can find it at your local store. It's the only "true" cinnamon, has a softer flavor (cassia tastes harsher to me in comparison), and is made in Sri Lanka. I use it almost every day and it has lots of health benefits.
- Pumpkin Puree: I use canned pumpkin to keep things simple (I almost always have a few stocked in my pantry year-round). Make sure it's plain 100% pumpkin puree, not the kind with the spices mixed in already. If you can't find canned pumpkin, winter squash makes a good substitute.
- Sweetener: My favorite sweetener for muffins right now is coconut sugar. It's lower on the glycemic index so it's just a tad less sweet and imparts a light molasses flavor. I highly recommend you try it if you haven't. Otherwise, real maple syrup or brown sugar are great options. Honey works, too, but it's more prone to burning so I don't use it for baking as often.
- Cooking Oil or Unsweetened Applesauce: For years I've used applesauce in this recipe, but have recently switched to cooking oil instead (avocado oil specifically). Both work fine, it just depends on your desired outcome. The applesauce makes the muffins extra moist & low-fat. The cooking oil adds a richness to the muffins that makes them a bit more filling & decadent.
- Eggs: I recommend large eggs if you can find them. This adds extra moisture and also acts as a binder + adds some much-needed fat & protein. If you need to make a vegan version, substitute a 1/2 cup of mashed ripe banana instead of the eggs. I haven't tried this (since I'm not vegan) but I've had several followers on Pinterest leave "tried it" comments on my pins that they did & loved it.
- Apple: Any apple will do (you can leave the peel on), just make sure it's diced small (around the size of chocolate chips or chunks). My favorite is Honeycrisp since that is sweet & tart, followed by Fuji.
- Dried Sweetened Cranberries: This adds a bit of texture, sweetness, and a pop of red color once the muffins are split open. If you don't have any on hand, you can omit it.
Tips & Tricks For Making These Pumpkin Apple Muffins
- GREASING: Make sure to use a cooking spray (or butter) to grease your muffin tins or muffin liners (even if they're parchment paper). The muffins will stick otherwise, especially if you're using applesauce instead of oil.
- FRESHNESS: Before baking, check to make sure your spices, baking soda & baking powder are fresh. Do the spices smell strong & fragrant or sort of dull/muted? If it's the latter, toss them and get new ones. If it's been quite some time since you've baked (4-6 months), it's smart to get some fresh baking soda & powder so you know it'll work properly. While you're at it, write the date on the top of your new containers to help your future self.
- LEFTOVERS: If you're opening a new can of pumpkin to make this recipe, you won't need to use the whole thing. Use the leftovers to make a homemade pumpkin spice latte, maple pumpkin butter, or stir it into steel-cut oatmeal (along with pumpkin pie spice, some vanilla almond milk & a sweetener). You can also add a bit to your favorite pancake or waffle mix to stretch it further.
- SIZE: These muffins don't rise much, so they're on the smaller side. I'm happy with that, but if you want to make them bigger, try portioning the batter into only 8 muffin tins (instead of 12) so they're filled almost to the top with batter. and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Check on them at around 16 minutes just to be sure they're not cooking too quickly and pull them out when a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- WHOLE WHEAT: If you want to use a heartier flour such as 100% whole wheat or einkorn wheat flour, you'll want to add a bit of extra moisture so they don't turn out as dense. Increase the cooking oil (or applesauce) to 3/4 cup and make sure they don't overcook.
Watch The Recipe Video
Are you a visual learner? Watch my short recipe video showing you how easy it is to make these easy pumpkin apple muffins.
More Fall Recipes You'll Love:
- Fall Charcuterie Board (Meat & Cheese Platter)
- Easy Maple Pumpkin Butter (for spreading onto baked goods)
- Savory Roasted Butternut Squash (for salads, sides & breakfast)
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk (using the squash from above)
- Stovetop Candied Pecans (great for snacks & salads)
- Gorgonzola Pear English Muffin Pizzas (easy fall appetizer)
- Leftover Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes (you've gotta try this at least once)
- Savory Rosemary Spiced Nuts (great for an appetizer or holiday gift)
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Yield: 12 muffins
Pumpkin Apple Harvest Muffins
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 28 Min
An easy recipe for pumpkin apple muffins that are incredibly moist, fragrant, and made with simple pantry ingredients. Bake a batch in less than 30 minutes to make your home smell super cozy & give your family a slightly sweet treat to celebrate the fall season. (gluten-free & vegan option)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (4.5 oz) of flour (like unbleached all-purpose flour, all-purpose einkorn wheat flour, or gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour)
- 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats OR rolled oats (like these oats)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt (I love this gray Celtic salt)
- 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice (get my homemade recipe here)
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (I recommend Ceylon cinnamon a.k.a. "true cinnamon")
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1 cup of 100% pumpkin puree (like this canned pumpkin)
- 1/2 cup of cooking oil (like avocado oil or melted unsalted butter) OR unsweetened applesauce
- 3/4 to 1 cup of sweetener (like coconut sugar, real maple syrup, or brown sugar)
- 2 large eggs (or sub 1/2 cup of mashed ripe banana for vegan version)
- 1/2 an apple (heaping 1/2 cup or more), cored & finely diced (Honeycrisp is my favorite)
- 1/4 cup of dried sweetened cranberries
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-count muffin tin (or muffin liners) with cooking spray or butter. Don't skip this step or the muffins will stick.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt & spices). Add the wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, cooking oil or applesauce, sweetener & eggs) and mix the batter gently until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Gently fold the apples and cranberries into the batter. Fill each muffin tin equally until all the batter is used up. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool completely, then store on the counter in an airtight container for a few days. For the freshest flavor, freeze them immediately and thaw each muffin before eating (they keep 1-2 months in the freezer).
Notes:
SPICES: If you don't have extra cinnamon & nutmeg on hand, you can use 3 tablespoons total of pumpkin pie spice instead. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you make your own with cinnamon powder, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cloves & a pinch of cardamom (see the link above for the recipe).
SWEETNESS: This muffin is very lightly sweetened so I've included either 3/4 or 1 cup in the measurements in case you prefer it a bit sweeter. I used to add only 1/2 cup in years past, but I find that the extra sugar helps to balance the warm spices and bring out their flavor more.
APPLESAUCE VS. COOKING OIL: For years I've used applesauce in this recipe, but have recently switched to cooking oil instead. Both are fabulous options but yield slightly different results. The applesauce makes the muffins extra moist & low-fat. The cooking oil adds a richness to the muffins that makes them feel a bit more decadent & more filling.
© The Rising Spoon. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not reprint this recipe without my written permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please take your own pictures, rewrite the directions in your own words, and link to this post as the original source. Thank you!
UPDATE (September 2020): This was originally published in November 2012 and I've recently updated the post with a more thorough explanation of the ingredients, some tips & tricks, and a new recipe card with a few updated measurements that reflect how I like to make these muffins today (eight years later).
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