Vegan Pumpkin Muffins: Easy & Gluten Free
Is your mouth watering for these yet? The words ‘Easy’, ‘Pumpkin’ and 'Muffins' are one of the best combinations in the world in my book. And after seeing the recipe for these vegan pumpkin muffins, I have a feeling, you’ll love it too.
The fact that these muffins are vegan is what I'd call an added bonus. They're packed with a special blend of pumpkin spice flavor and incredibly easy to make. The maple syrup adds just the right amount of sweet and there's a punch of citrus from the orange juice.
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So Do these Vegan Pumpkin Muffins taste Good? Aka, can you tell they're GF?
Short answer, yes, they taste amazing and no, you can't tell they're GF!
If you like pumpkin, maple, spices and Fall, then you'll LOVE these! If pumpkin is not you thing, then maybe check out these gluten free, dairy free blueberry muffins or these gluten free carrot apple muffins, either way, there's a muffin for you.
And you can confidently share these with your gluten consuming friends and family - they'll never guess they're gluten free, or vegan.
What is in the pumpkin spice mix?
It's almost hard to believe that delicious pumpkin spice mix can actually be made and bottled to enjoy any time. But that taste bud tempting aroma is a simple mixture of cinnamon, ginger and allspice, spices that you probably have on hand right now.
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
Start with Room Temperature Ingredients
The ingredients list here is short and sweet. Pumpkin, maple syrup (use real maple syrup, no maple flavored!), some brown sugar, spices and our amazing gluten free flour blend. This flour blend will be your best friend when it comes to baking. Mix up a big batch and keep it handy!
Mix the ingredients in separate bowls
These glass bowls by Pyrex are my go-to's when it comes to mixing and prepping. For these vegan pumpkin muffins, use the larger one for dry ingredients and the medium one for the pumpkin mixture and then add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Fill the muffin cups to the top
Unlike other muffins where you fill them not quite full, with these muffins, go ahead and fill up that muffin cup. In fact, aim to fill each one almost to the top so you have nicely rounded muffins when they're baked.
Sprinkle with Brown Sugar Mixture
This brown sugar mixture is the icing on the cake or in this case, the best topping on these delicious muffins. Just use a large pinch-full on each muffin top.
Enjoy this recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Muffins and if you liked it, will you give it a rating?!
Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Prepare a muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin mix ingredients.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Mix the chia seed and warm water in a small bowl and let sit for just a few minutes – it will become very thick.
- Lightly mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl and add them all at once to the large bowl with the dry mix. Stir just to combine.
- With a spatula, fold in the special pumpkin mix.
- Set batter aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Prepare the topping: combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Fill each muffin cup nearly full with the batter and top each with a sprinkling of the topping.
- Bake at 350F for 26 – 28 minutes until a toothpick tests done.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- Apple juice can be substituted for the orange juice.
- Gently fold the pumpkin mixture into the muffin batter.
- You might have some brown sugar topping left over.
- Baking time varies between 26 - 28 minutes.
Next check out these delicious bread recipes:
- Soft Gluten Free Breadsticks
- Golden Gluten Free French Bread
- Gluten Free English Muffins
- Buttery Gluten Free Crescent Rolls
And these helpful gluten free baking tips:
- 5 Alternatives to Xanthan Gum & Guar Gum
- Ultimate Guide to Gluten Free Flour Substitutes
- How to Substitute for Potato Starch and Potato Flour
So appreciate your recipes! Grandson is also allergic to orange juice - can you suggest a substitute in the pumpkin muffins? Thank you!!
Hi Suzanne,
Yes, apple juice works well too. I'll update the recipe to reflect that as I had someone else ask about it too!
Christine 🙂
What can be a replacement for the brown sugar?
Thank You
Hi Suzette,
So I'd recommend Swerve brown sugar replacement - it's one of my go-to's and it'll work great.
Christine
Hi, what can I use instead of the Maple syrup? Im in South Africa and the imported product is ridiculously expensive.
Hi Desi,
Sure, so honey or agave nectar would be good alternatives.
~Christine
If replacing xanthan gum in a recipe, what are the equivalents for the various substitutes- like agar agar, gelatin, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc.? Thank You!
Hi,
Thanks for asking! So I wrote this article to offer some suggestions for replacements. https://zestforbaking.com/make-substitutions-xanthan-gum-baking
Let me know if you have any other questions!