By Brandy 20 Comments
Home » Recipes » Bread Recipes
Filed Under: Bread Recipes, Recipes
Jump to Recipe
Our healthier pumpkin muffins are filled with the tastes of fall, and made with applesauce instead of oil. Perfect for school lunches, quick breakfasts, or an afternoon snack.
You might also like these pumpkin recipes: quick rise pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pretzel bites and pumpkin cinnamon swirl bread.
My kids get bored with sandwiches in their lunch so I often find myself baking a batch of muffins in the evening to add to lunches the next day. We love all varieties; blueberry, apple cider muffins, and poppyseed, but pumpkin reigns supreme this time of year. Today I’m sharing our cinnamon pumpkin muffins that are packed with of the flavors of fall. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, walnuts for crunch, and sprinkled in a cinnamon and sugar topping. This recipe is an adaptation of the one that I use for pumpkin mini loaves and pumpkin bread. It is so versatile! This version is made with all applesauce instead of applesauce + oil and has acinnamon and sugar topping. Yum.
You can use oil or melted butter in this recipe, but I really like substituting applesauce (1/2 cup applesauce = 110 calories. 1/2 cup vegetable oil = 960 calories). Applesauce adds moisture to the recipe and cuts out calories, fat, sodium, and cholesterol at the same time. I don’t cut out any sugar so they aren’t aren’t as healthy as they could be, but still delicious and lower in fat just the same.
Cinnamon Pumpkin Muffin Ingredients
Makes 12 muffins
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (can be made with half whole wheat flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
- Topping: 2 Tbsp. sugar + 2 teaspoons cinnamon
(can use 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice in place of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg)
In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients (flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, baking powder, salt).
Add wet ingredients.
Give batter a nice stir.
Nuts are completely optional, but you’d be crazy not to add them 😉
Line a muffin tin with 12 baking liners. Divide batter into 12 muffin liners. Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean). Let muffins cool in muffin pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Store in an air tight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Can also be stored in the freezer for a month or two.
Nothing smells better than fall baking. My house smelled like I was burning all sorts of amazingly scented candles while these were in the oven.
Healthier Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
Healthier Pumpkin Muffins
Our healthier pumpkin muffins are filled with the flavors of fall, and made with applesauce instead of oil. Perfect for school lunches, quick breakfasts, or an afternoon snack.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes
Total Time: 32 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 220kcal
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chopped walnuts optional
- Topping: 2 T. sugar + 2 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, baking powder, salt).
Add eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and pumpkin.
Give batter a nice stir. Stir in nuts (optional).
Line a muffin pan with 12 baking liners. Divide batter into 12 muffin liners. Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean). Let muffins cool in muffin pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
Store in an air tight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Can also be stored in the freezer for a month or two.
Nutrition
Calories: 220kcal
Here is another healthier pumpkin recipe to try.
Brandy
Website | + posts
Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!
More Posts Like This
About Brandy
Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!
Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com without any additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Next Post: Nail Polish Birthday Tags (Printable) »
Reader Interactions
Comments
thefirsttastekc says
Great recipe! I can’t wait to try it, thanks for sharing!
Reply
Emily says
I’m visiting from Your Whim’s Wednesday. These look great! I bet my kids would love them, too; and I’m all for my house smelling fallish!! Thanks for sharing!
Reply
Emily says
My mouth is watering right now! These sound like a perfect bite of fall flavors! Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday this week.
Reply
Easy Peasy Life Matters says
This sounds so perfect for breakfast or dessert!!! 🙂
Reply
JESS44903 says
This sounds so tasty! PINNED! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Reply
Christine @ www.rustic-refined.com says
That looks wonderful Brandy! Thanks so much for joining us at the DI & DI Link party.
Reply
Miz Helen says
We will just love your Cinnamon Pumpkin Muffins, they look awesome. Hope you have a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Miz HelenReply
Carrie says
Those looks delish! Pinning.
Reply
Simone Emery says
These look great and perfect for lunchboxes 🙂
Reply
Florence says
Why is it that I’m always looking at recipes, when I’m starving…LOL! These muffins look so good, and I know they are good b/c I see those ingredients, and they are my faves too. Love that it’s made with applesauce, which tastes just as good as oil, IMO. Thanks for sharing at Sweet Inspiration!
Reply
Kim says
I so didn’t know you could trade applesauce for oil! I’ll have to try it! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
KimReply
JESS44903 says
Pinned! These sound amazing!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Reply
Dawn Beaver says
Just made these…substituted stevia for the sugar to reduce the Weight Watchers points. So good!!!! I’ve been craving all the pumpkin baked goods and these were perfect!
Reply
Brandy says
This is so good to know! I JUST had a reader ask if she could substitute the sugar for sweetener for another pumpkin recipe that I have, but I hadn’t ever tried and wasn’t sure what to tell her!
Reply
Dawn says
Yes! They were delicious!!
Reply
victoria james says
Great recipe. I didn’t know you substitute apple sauce for oil. Thanks!
Reply
Amy says
I love cinnamon and pumpkin and these muffins sound delicious. Thank you for sharing at Wonderful Wednesday.
Reply
Cortne Trout says
Pinned for later! Thanks for sharing!!
Reply
Joyce says
Can I use in mini loaf pans?
Reply
Brandy says
Hi Joyce! You can definitely use mini loaf pans. You’d just need to adjust the baking time to probably 25 minutes or so.
Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.