Experience love at first bite with pumpkin oat flour muffins, made with gluten-free oatmeal and pumpkin puree for a flourless recipe! Whip up a batch light, fluffy muffins in minutes using only a blender!
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Oat Flour Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
I cannot stopping making these pumpkin oat flour muffins! Seriously. I’m obsessed. I already had a love affair with making 1-minute homemade oat flour and naturally gluten-free oat flour recipes because I love an easy, flourless, GF recipe that requires no special ingredients!
These muffins combine the same ease of my highly-reviewed oat flour bread recipe, by using gluten-free oatmeal to make affordable oat flour at home. Couple that with warm, cozy pumpkin spice and pumpkin puree, and you have a wholesome muffin to get your day started right!
Simply use a blender or food processor to blend the oats into flour. Add the remaining ingredients, process for a few seconds more, pour into the muffin tins, and bake. It only requires minutes of effort and no flour!
Late at night I was asked to make a gluten free breakfast sweet for an event the next morning. So glad I found this recipe! I doubled the recipe and used one 15 ounce can of pumpkin. I did add some extra pumpkin pie spice, but otherwise simply followed the recipe. Full of flavor, moist…just perfect!
—Pamela
My go to muffin recipe. These are absolutely scrumptious and turn out perfectly every time. Chocolate chips make these an extra special treat. Also added a pinch of ginger powder last time and they were fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
—Nooreen
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Ingredients Tid Bits
If you have canned pumpkin on hand then you should be good to go to make a quick batch of pumpkin oat muffins. Below are some quick notes about ingredients and swaps, but read all the comments below for more ideas on how to adapt the recipe.
- Oat Flour – For gluten-free muffins, use certified GF oats or oat flour. If you have oat flour on hand, see the recipe notes for the slightly adjusted amount needed.
- Pumpkin – Adds moisture without needing extra oil. Since this recipe doesn’t use the whole can, reserve the extra to make these chewy, homemade gluten-free pumpkin cookies or seriously fluffy almond flour pumpkin bread.
- Oil – A small amount of oil is needed, any preferred type may be used
- Milk – Substitute non-dairy milk for a dairy-free recipe
- Sweetener – Choose between brown sugar, or unrefined sweeteners, such as maple syrup, or honey. However, when using maple syrup or honey, the batter will contain a little more liquid, requiring an extra minute or two baking time.
Let’s Make This Together!
(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)
Make 1-minute oat flour
If you have a blender and oats on hand, please don’t buy oat flour! It’s ridiculously quick and easy to make at home. However, the more fine you can grind the oats, the fluffier the muffins will be. My Vitamix does a stellar job, but other blenders work great too. You may just have a little coarse crumb depending on the fineness of the flour.
Add other dry ingredients
Add the remaining dry ingredients – pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt and give a quick whiz to combine.
Can’t pumpkin muffins without pumpkin!
Now it’s time to add the pumpkin puree, eggs, milk, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla. Blend to combine, but stop and scrape down the blender halfway through to make sure all the oats are blended in.
Pour and bake
When pouring in the pumpkin oat muffin batter, fill almost to the top, about 2/3-3/4 full. You’ll want the tops to be nice and rounded, which is why I always fill muffin cups more than a cupcake.
I like to add a sprinkling of coarse turbinado sugar to the tops before baking. This gives a nice crunchy sweet finish to the muffin tops. Bake in 350ºF oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Can I Substitute Store-Bought Oat Flour?
Yes, of course! If you don’t want to grind the oats into oat flour before adding the remaining ingredients, you’re welcome to use store bought as well. In the recipe card I included the amount of flour to swap out for oatmeal. Then you may also use the no blender method listed below or whiz it all up in a blender.
No blender? No problem!
If you don’t have a blender, you can still make gluten-free pumpkin oatmeal muffins with a mixing bowl. You will need to purchase oat flour. Be sure that it’s a 100% oats flour and not a baking blend with other starches.
First whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl – oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar (or maple syrup / honey), egg, pumpkin, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, mixing well. Pour into the prepared muffin pan and bake as directed.
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Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Fluffiest Pumpkin Oat Flour Muffins (5-Minutes)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (158 g) gluten-free rolled oats, (for oat flour, 1 ½ cup + 3 tbsp)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, see recipe notes for substitution
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (245 g) pumpkin puree, Libby's brand preferred
- ½ cup (117 g) packed brown sugar, or maple syrup or honey
- ¼ cup (55 g) oil, any
- ¼ cup (61 g) milk or non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- (optional) turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with 10 cupcake liners or lightly grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
- To make the oat flour, place the oats in a high-powered blender or a food processor. Blend the oatmeal until it turns into a fine, powdery flour, about 30 seconds – 1 minute.1 ½ cup gluten-free rolled oats
- NOTE: At this point you may continue making the blender or transfer the oat flour to a bowl. Using a bowl does make the batter easier to portion out at the end, making a larger yield.
- To continue making in the blender, add the pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Otherwise, transfer the oat flour to a large bowl. Pulse to combine or whisk together.1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the remaining ingredients – eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, milk, and vanilla to the blender. Alternatively, whisk together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Either combine everything in the blender, stopping to scrape down as needed, or transfer the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir to combine.2 large eggs, 1 cup pumpkin puree, ½ cup packed brown sugar, ¼ cup oil, ¼ cup milk or non-dairy milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Divide the batter between 10 prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 to the top. Sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar, if using. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out without wet dough and tops are set.(optional) turbinado sugar
- Serve warm or let the muffins cool to room temperature. After completely cooled, store in a sealed container up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.
Notes
Substitution for pumpkin pie spice
If you don’t have pumpkin spice on hand use 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ginger, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves.optional add-ins
- Dried cranberries
- Chopped nuts
- Pepitas
- Mini chocolate chips or white chocolate chips (read label for gluten-free)
- Chopped crystallized ginger
storing / freezing tips
Before storing the muffins in an airtight container, be sure they have cooled completely. Otherwise the hot air will condense, leaving you with soggy muffins. Store in a sealed container at room temperature up to 3 days. To freeze, transfer to ziplock freezer bag and freeze up to 3 months. For optimal freshness, individually wrap each muffin in plastic wrap before transferring to a freezer container. Recipe adapted from AllrecipesThis post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you. Read full disclosure policy here.
Delicious! I used maple syrup for sweetener and did have to cook a couple minutes longer. I also added walnuts. Yum!
Thanks so much for sharing, Charlesa! I appreciate it!
Best,
Melissa
I did a 1/4 cup of olive oil and an extra three tablespoons of pumpkin came out so moist and good!!
Love hearing this! Thanks for taking a moment to let me know!
Best,
Melissa
Can I replace the regular sugar with a sugar substitute such as Monk Fruit?
Hi Cheryl,
Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem at all!
Best,
Melissa
I have been making these monthly for my picky gluten free dairy free kids. Always a hit! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Thank you, Anna! It’s my pleasure!
Best,
Melissa
These turned out superb!
Thank you, Jess!
I had been hankering for some light, flavorful pumpkin muffins and this recipe seemed to fill the bill. However, these “fluffy” muffins turned out to be more like pumpkin-flavored concrete blocks. I was careful to measure everything perfectly, mix the wet and dry ingredients only till blended, and bake according to directions. I did some research and found that when I printed out directions for a half-batch of muffins, the amount of oat flour remained the same as for a full batch: for oat flour, 1 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp. Of course, all the other ingredients were cut in half. So I’m disappointed and somewhat irked to have wasted my time because of the faulty measurement provided in this recipe. Maybe you can be aware of that for others who wish to prepare a half-batch of muffins.
Hi Janice,
I’m sincerely sorry this recipe did not work out for you. You’re right, when you print out the recipe and change the servings it won’t automatically convert. I don’t like to depend on the auto generated conversions because it’s inconsistent. So it sounds like the amount of oat flour when the recipe was halved was too much. I know how frustrating it is to waste time and ingredients. That is never my intention. I hope you can give the recipe another chance!
Best,
Melissa
Thanks, Melissa. These muffins sound so good I DO want to give this recipe another try!
Question: your oats and oat flour should be the same in grams, but one is 158g and the other is 178g. Making flour from oats will not change the weight, so which is correct?
TIA
Hi DM,
Great point. The only reason I use slightly more oat flour for this recipe is because it has a tendency to be finer then when people grind their own oatmeal at home. The extra bit of oat flour helps absorb all the moisture from the canned pumpkin. Hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa
They were very tasty but the batter was a bit runny and didn’t rise that much. My blender likely didn’t grind the flour finely enough. It could also have been the large degree of error that always occurs when measuring by volume.I would love to see this recipe using weights, it makes baking so much easier especially gluten free. I will try them again.
Hi Helen,
Thank you for your comment. I’ve updated the recipe with grams. I’ve been doing this as I go through older posts, but this is one I’ve missed so thank you for putting it on my radar! I hope you will try the recipe again.
Best,
Melissa
Loved the flavor. Easy to make. My non-gluten free friends like them.
Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know, Linda! Have a lovely weekend.
Best,
Melissa
Delicious and now my favorite muffin! So easy to make as well..
Love readying this, Paula! Thanks for letting me know.
Best,
Melissa
These are SOOO good. I added chocolate chips and oh my gosh…. I’m actually making them for the third time today!
Hi!
Could I use unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil? Would it be a 1:1 ratio?
Hi Rachael,
Yes, you can, but the muffins may be a little drier. If you can’t have any oil I would do that, but if you want to reduce the oil I would replace half with the applesauce.
Best,
Melissa
Wow!! I doubled the recipe and did half the sugar. It was still amazing. Mom even loved it. Nicely done.
So good to read this. I appreciate you sharing, Blanca!
Best,
Melissa
Hi! Excited to try this 🙂 do you think I could sub applesauce for the maple syrup? I want to make them for my 14 month old:)
Hi Kimie,
Yes, I think that’s a great idea and shouldn’t be a problem. Let me know how it goes!
Best,
Melissa
These muffins are INSANE. Like seriously you’d never guess they’re gf!!! I added semi-sweet chocolate chips and use coconut sugar for the sugar. Mine took closer to 25 minutes to bake. Will be making this recipe over and over!
Having you say the muffins are ‘INSANE’ made me smile, Jordan! Thanks so much!
Best,
Melissa
Delicious muffins! My new favorite!
Great suggestion to let the batter sit for 15 minutes before cooking. 20 minutes cook time was perfect.
Made a few modifications: subbed chia eggs for regular eggs, used maple syrup instead of sugar, subbed unsweetened nonfat keifer for oil, and added walnuts. May add chopped apple next time for added flavor and texture.
Sounds great, Barb! Thank you for taking the time to share and comment.
Best,
Melissa
What is your response to Brian, above? Is it 1.5 flour and 1.5 oats? Thank you.
Hi Judy,
If using oat flour, instead of rolled oats, it is 1 1/2 cup and 3 tbsp oat flour. I hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa
Can you use additional pumpkin to replace the oil. Can you use flax eggs?
Hi Judy,
Flax seed eggs would definitely work. As for more pumpkin to replace the oil, I’m not sure. If I was going to try, I would probably use something else, like unsweetened applesauce. Let me know if you decide to give it a try!
Best,
Melissa
I followed the recipe the first time and added some chocolate chips, when they were done I put some peanut butter and honey on top and it was so good, so the second time I substituted the oil for melted butter and added 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of greek yogurt and the chocolate chips. They came out amazing so tasty and moist.
Thanks for sharing, Davina. I appreciate it!
Best,
Melissa
I suspect there is an error in the oat / oat flour volumes. The amount of oat flour should be less than the amount of oats prior to pulverizing. My guess is that they were switched and it should be 1.5 cups of oat flour / 1.5 cups +3TBSP of oats. This might help explain other commenters saying it is too wet, if they only used 1.5 cups rolled oats.
Wow, these are delicious! My family loved them with our turkey soup supper last night. Thanks for sharing an easy, can-do recipe! I doubled the recipe, and it worked beautifully.
I’m really loving your recipes and find myself coming back to your site over and over. Thanks for creating legit, easy recipes that my family actually will eat. I’m the only GF person, but I think my whole family is benefiting from cutting out gluten.
This really means a lot, Ashley. I am right in your boat, so I know how it is. I’m the only GF person in my family, so I know the need to cook easy meals that everyone will love and enjoy. I’m glad it’s working for others!
Best,
Melissa
Hello, these are literally the best pumpkin muffins I’ve ever made in my life! They are so delicious and everybody loves them. I’m having one issue though… as soon as I take the muffins out of the oven, they fall flat. Every time. The first time I made the recipe, I thought I just made a mistake with the ingredients. The second time I made them and took them out of the oven I was extra careful not to bang the pan, but they still fell. And then again on the third time. They are still super delicious and we eat them anyways because to us they taste like cake (yum), just looking for some thoughts on my flat muffins. Anyone?
Hi Denise,
If they are flat and kind of gummy, I would say cut back on the milk a bit, maybe like 2 T less. If they just fall, I would do a couple things, first let them sit for 10 minutes to give time for the liquid to absorb with the pumpkin and build out the structure. The other thing you can try is adding a little more oats. Are you using oat flour or oats ground into flour? If the second option, what are you using to blend the oatmeal into flour?
Best,
Melissa
Very easy to make but not in the blender. My blender was not that powerful and quit in the middle of it so I had to transfer to a bowl, but easy peasy after that. Hey, you’re telling me I can eat these sugar-loving pumpkin buddies and not gain weight, what a bliss! Thank God for this! Oh thank God for oatmeal and turbinado sugar!!!
Sorry to hear about your blender! That exact same thing has happened to me before. Glad the recipe still worked out for you!
Best,
Melissa
I made these as mini- muffins muffins for a school potluck. They were easy and turned out great. I used oat milk so they were gluten free and dairy free. That was a test run for making them with my preschool class tomorrow.
Mini muffins mneeded 12 minutes in my oven.
Thanks for the tips, Susan! I hope the kids enjoy them!
Best,
Melissa
Not sure where this recipe went wrong for me…I used 1 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats in my Vitamix to make my oat flour. Then followed the recipe as written and mixed in my blender. It came out SUPER wet, like cake batter/waffle consistency. I thought, “No way, this can’t be right.” Every oat flour muffins recipe I’ve ever made was on the thicker side. If I had any more oats I would have blended them into flour and added more just to try and thicken it up, but I didn’t. I decided to let the batter rest for about 15-20 min before baking to try and let the oats absorb some of the liquid and thicken. That didn’t seem to change consistency so I went ahead with the recipe against my better judgement. Baked for 18 minutes and the tops were still completely wet. Put them back in for another 5 minutes and the tops were finally starting to set, but I could tell they were nowhere near done. Back in for another 3 min and toothpick still came out slightly tacky. Baked another 2 minutes and the toothpick came out clean. At this point I have trust issues with these muffins and decided to give them another 2 minutes for good measure. Toothpicked again and came out clean. Pulled them out of the oven and sat on a cooling rack and after about a minute they seemed to gradually deflate. Super disappointing. Let them cool a bit and broke one open to confirm my suspicion that they were ever so slightly doughy in the very middle. After 30 minutes for a recipe that calls for 18-20, I’m out. I’m honestly not blown away by the flavor like the other reviewers claim to be. I found them a little bland. Super bummed, but I’ll stick with a traditional pumpkin bread that I make into muffins.
So sorry to hear this, Traci! I understand why you would be bummed. I wouldn’t like spending precious time or ingredients that doesn’t work out in the end either. From what you have written, it sounds like there was an issue with the amount of liquid. The batter shouldn’t have been that runny. You can see by the pics in the recipe post what the batter should look like before baking. You did all the right things to try to fix it. Generally with oat flour recipes letting it sit does help to absorb extra moisture, but perhaps the ratios were too far off. My apologies for the frustrations!
Best,
Melissa
I am planning to make these soon and wonder what your opinion would be of subbing some of the oat flour for a) almond flour b) coconut flour and/or c) ground flaxseed. I know the deal with coconut flour, but sometimes I swap like 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of flour out for it and the moisture to dry ratio is sometimes ok. And since I have store bought oat flour, I thought about subbing the extra 3 TBSPs for ground flaxseed. What would you recommend for this recipe? Thanks. 😊
Hi Sara,
Of these three options, coconut flour or ground flaxseed would work the best. Almond flour would add too much extra moisture. You can do a combination of both, but I would stick at 1/3 cup substitution max. Hope this helps!
Best,
Melissa