These super moist and extra soft & tender vegan pumpkin muffins are the best of fall baking (well, that and pumpkin pie and apple cider donuts!). These one bowl vegan pumpkin muffins are filled with a dairy free cream cheese, and are honestly better than Starbucks!! You just need one bowl, a whisk, and a few easy ingredients!

vegan pumpkin muffins on a cooling rack

Why you’ll love these easy vegan pumpkin muffins

These one bowl vegan pumpkin muffins are literally like autumn just wrapped up in the most perfectly warm spiced bite. Filled with a tangy dairy free cream cheese filling, honestly, you’ll never need Starbucks again (especially when paired with my homemade vegan pumpkin spice latte, of course 😉 )

Along with vegan pumpkin bread and vegan pumpkin coffee cake (my twist on the classic vegan coffee cake), what more could you need for a cozy fall morning?

bitten vegan pumpkin muffin with cream cheese filling

Seriously though, these unbelievably vegan one bowl pumpkin muffins have the perfect balance of warming spices, moist and rich pumpkin, and sweet cinnamon, making these the perfect sweet vegan breakfast for a fall morning or even an afternoon sweet treat or snack (and check out tons more of vegan breakfast recipes here and in my cookbook!). 

Not one of my taste testers (I’ve now assembled an array of them haha!) thought these pumpkin muffins were made without eggs and dairy free, including my mom (who, by the way, has a knack for detecting what’s gluten free/vegan and what’s not!!).

These pumpkin muffins are:

  • Super moist and ultra soft
  • Perfectly sweet with the right balance of spices
  • Full of fresh pumpkin
  • Easy to make
  • Naturally vegan, eggless, and dairy free
  • Easily made gluten free
  • Customizable
  • Great for breakfast, snack, or dessert!
stacked vegan pumpkin muffins

Vegan pumpkin muffins ingredients

What’s really cool about these one bowl vegan pumpkin muffins is that the ingredients are extraordinarily simple, and you’ll have a few options if you don’t have every ingredient on hand.

For these muffins, you’ll need:

  • Pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • Flour: You can use either all purpose flour or gluten-free flour. I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour. Oat flour is a little too delicate for this recipe. I also do NOT recommend using coconut flour nor whole wheat flour. 
  • Sugar & Light brown sugar: You can swap in just coconut sugar, but the moisture from the brown sugar is super crucial. Coconut sugar will make these healthy pumpkin muffins refined sugar free, and the muffins will be slightly more caramel in color.
  • Pumpkin spice blend: or pumpkin pie spice! You can also make your own here. This is just a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Some blends might also include nutmeg and allspice. 
  • Neutral cooking oil: I used avocado oil, but you can actually also use olive oil or a regular vegetable oil. I have notes below for oil free pumpkin muffins!
  • Dairy free yogurt: I recommend Forager Project cashew milk yogurt- it’s absolutely delicious! Along with pumpkin, dairy free yogurt acts as a replacement for eggs. 
  • Leavening agents: This is your baking soda and baking powder.
  • Apple cider vinegar: Just a little bit to help the pumpkin muffins dome on top!
liner pulled off of pumpkin muffin

How to make super moist vegan pumpkin muffins (overview)

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

You’ll just love how easy and quick these vegan pumpkin muffins are to make!

Here’s how to make the best vegan pumpkin muffins:

Allowing the muffins to cool in the pan will actually help the muffins from sticking to the muffins liners, especially if you’re using applesauce.

Trust me, people will be knocking down your doors, so just be prepared if you’re sharing these!

Tips & Tricks for making vegan pumpkin muffins

If you want to add the cinnamon streusel on top: You can top with this easy vegan cinnamon crumble:

  • 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour*, plus 1 tbsp for coating the blueberries
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • 5 tbsp (70 g) vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt
bitten pumpkin muffin on cooling rack

Make these vegan pumpkin muffins gluten free: Simply use a gluten-free 1:1 baking flour blend, such as King Arthur measure-for-measure gluten free flour. 

For oil free vegan pumpkin muffins: Swap in an equal amount of applesauce for the vegan butter, and it will work great! The liners might be a little trickier to pull off sometimes. Simply leave the muffins in the tin for 20-30 minutes to help loosen the liners.

These muffins are more than just breakfast: You can make these pumpkin spice muffins as mini versions and pack them for a healthy snack or treat. Warm them up with a little vegan butter or nut butter, or even crumble up with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream!

How to store pumpkin muffins

To store any leftover pumpkin muffins:

  1. Store at room temperature: these pumpkin muffins will last for up to 5 days in an air tight container or bag at room temperature.
  2. Place into the fridge: much like the room temperature option, store the muffins in an airtight container or bag for up to 1 week!
  3. Freeze! If you want to have these muffins for longer than 1 week, you can store them in the freezer as well; these pumpkin muffins will last for about 1-2 months in the freezer.
bitten vegan pumpkin muffin

You’ll absolutely love these easy vegan pumpkin muffins! They seriously are so fun and easy to make, so if you give them a go, let me know in the comments below, as well as giving it a rating!

And of course, I’d absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there (and thank you to all that do! I really love seeing them, you guys are so creative and GREAT bakers!).

Happy vegan pumpkin muffin baking!!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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bitten vegan pumpkin muffin with cream cheese filling

Moist & Tender Easy Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 26 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 22
  • Total Time: 32 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

These super moist and extra soft & tender vegan pumpkin muffins are the best of fall baking (well, that and pumpkin pie and apple cider donuts!). These one bowl vegan pumpkin muffins are filled with a dairy free cream cheese, and are honestly better than Starbucks!! You just need one bowl, a whisk, and a few easy ingredients!


Ingredients

Scale

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins:

  • 2 1/4  cup (290 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
  • 1 tbsp pumpkin spice blend
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup (260 g) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) organic granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup (80 g) dairy free yogurt or applesauce, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) avocado oil or neutral oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Vegan Cream Cheese Filling:

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp pumpkin spice
  • 1 tbsp melted vegan butter or neutral oil

Instructions

  1. Please read through all instructions before beginning.
  2. Prep: Preheat the oven to 400 and line a cupcake tin with 11-12 cupcake liners. Measure out all ingredients before beginning.
  3. Prepare the cream cheese filling: In a small bowl, cream together the cream cheese, cornstarch, and brown sugar with a hand mixer. Once mixed, set aside.
  4. Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Then add in the pumpkin pie spice blend, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, followed by the apple cider vinegar. Finally, add in the flour, and use a silicone spatula to fold the flour into the batter just until the dry is incorporated into the wet.
  5. Fill the pumpkin muffins. Scoop batter into each muffin liner to the top of the liner. Then fill a piping bag with the cream cheese filling, and use scissors to slice the tip of the piping bag. Place the piping bag tip into a pumpkin muffin just before it hits the bottom of the muffin pan. Then gently press the piping bag, squeezing about 2-3 tbsp of cream cheese filling into the muffin. Allow the piping bag to come up as you fill the muffin (see photos). Then repeat for the remaining muffins. 
  6. Bake the pumpkin muffins: Place the pumpkin muffins into the oven to bake for 5 minutes at 400F, then reduce the oven temperature to 350F, and continue baking for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The tops of the muffins should be lightly golden and set. Remove from the oven once done.
  7. Serve and enjoy!  Allow the muffins to cool for 15-20 minutes in their pan before serving. Then serve and enjoy!
  8. For the cinnamon sugar topping: If you’d like to coat the tops of the muffins with a cinnamon sugar topping, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon or pumpkin spice together in a small bowl. Then brush the top of each muffin with melted vegan butter or oil. Dip the top of the muffin into cinnamon sugar and enjoy!
  9.  
  10. Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days or freeze for up to a month.

Notes

Gluten free: Use gluten free 1:1 baking flour, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 muffin, no streusel on top
  • Calories: 204
  • Sugar: 13.4 g
  • Sodium: 116.7 mg
  • Fat: 8.6 g
  • Saturated Fat: 5.1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 29.2 g
  • Fiber: 1.1 g
  • Protein: 3.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 21.9 mg