Pumpkin Maple Muffins

Pumpkin Maple Muffins
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Ali Slagle.
Total Time
50 minutes
Rating
5(5,539)
Notes
Read community notes

These muffins are just the right amount of sweet, lightly spiced and deeply orange, thanks to the addition of ground turmeric. Browning the butter beforehand may seem like a fussy step, but it provides a vaguely nutty, deeply caramelized flavor that makes for a superlative muffin.

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Ingredients

Yield:12 muffins
  • ½cup/114 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1cup/145 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1cup/140 grams whole-wheat flour (or 1 cup/145 grams all-purpose flour)
  • 2teaspoons baking powder
  • 1teaspoon baking soda
  • teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • cups/355 grams pumpkin purée (about 1 15-ounce can)
  • 3large eggs
  • 1cup/200 grams light brown sugar
  • cup/150 milliliters maple syrup
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

291 calories; 9 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 28 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 271 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Spray muffin molds with nonstick spray or line them with paper liners.

  3. Step 3

    Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter has melted, foamed and started to brown, about 5 minutes. Use a whisk to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and set aside.

  4. Step 4

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and nutmeg.

  5. Step 5

    In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar and maple syrup until totally smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients, followed by browned butter.

  6. Step 6

    Divide among prepared muffin tins and bake until the tops are puffed and spring back slightly when pressed, 20 to 25 minutes.

Ratings

5 out of 5
5,539 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

These are excellent! I reduced the sugar to half a cup as well as the maple syrup, and added about one third cup of buttermilk. I had some leftover kabocha squash that i had roasted and used that instead of the pre-packaged stuff. Fantastic! I made them in a mini muffin mold and they are great for that since they really puff up. So I'm making them again today! Thanks for a really wonderful recipe!

Thanks to all the other readers' tips I adjusted the amount of sugar and maple syrup down by a half and still found the muffins plenty sweet.
I also substituted 1/4 cup of flour with a 1/4 cup of flaxseed meal, which I think improved the texture and added even more nutritional goodness.
I will definitely makes these muffins again.

Great recipe. I bake it regularly. I offer three small tweaks. First, just use the whole 15oz can of pumpkin. It works out fine and then no waste or trying to figure out what to do w small amount of pumpkin. Second, add at least half a cup of chopped toasted walnuts when you add brown butter. The texture and taste of walnuts is a big plus. Last, if you are trying to cut sugar intake, it is still plenty sweet when you reduce sugar by 1/4 cup.

Made these to use up pumpkin puree left over from [Canadian] Thanksgiving.

Mixed reviews. Some loved them whilst others found them too sweet -- maybe scale back the brown sugar? Would cut the cinnamon to 1tsp as that dominated the other spices.

It also makes VERY big muffins. In hindsight, I wished I'd used the extra batter to make mini muffins alongside - would have been perfect for small hands and those of us who cannot face something the size of a boulder.

Still worth another go! :)

Delicious warm with a cup of coffee. I didn't have any maple syrup so I used about 1/2 cup of good honey instead. I also cut the brown sugar slightly. I cut the cinnamon in half and added some vanilla, and they cooked for 20 minutes. With the changes, the sweetness was just right. I will make these again!

I've made these several times and absolutely love them! They are very easy to make, they feel healthier than most muffin recipes with the natural sugar. I made them again today, and this time around I decided to cut down the sugar. Instead of using 2/3 cup maple syrup, I used 1/3 maple syrup and 1/3 raw honey (I ran out of maple syrup); I also only used half a cup of brown sugar. With the change, they turned out just as delicious and now feel even healthier! Cheers to this fabulous recipe!

I listened to all the comments about cutting the sugar and maple syrup in half. They tasted awful. Definitely needed more sugar.

I made the recipe exactly as written. It has a lot of sugar - the brown sugar plus the maple syrup - and these are very sweet. I put some frosting on them and called them cupcakes. Their texture is very soft and moist. Folks, changing out some of the white flour for something else or reducing the sugar even by half ain't going to make these healthy or even reduce the calories by much, if at all, so you might as well enjoy them as they are, but to each their own.

Made as is. Don’t change recipe!

Really liked these. Note to those who like to cut sugar when possible. I tried half the sugar- okay for me, but my husband thought it was a stretch. I'd rec'd 3/4 brown sugar and full maple syrup. I also used half butter and coconut oil and that seemed to work well.

You guys, I made these with a LOT of modifications: 1 cup almond flour and 1 cup French 45 flour 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 stick of browned butter and added coconut oil Added chopped walnuts, that I soaked in the butter! I was told by multiple people these were the best muffins they've ever had. They're moist and amazing (and definitely don't need as much sugar as originally specified). Please make these, everyone will love you. Also made about 18 normal size muffins.

Muffins are deelish! I followed the advice to reduce sweetness- skipped maple syrup and used dk brown sugar. I think that although still irresistible, it could have used more sweetness- next time will add maple syrup. I also halved the cinnamon because sometimes it can be overpowering. I will NOT do that next time; it needs the cinnamon. Added pecans for crunch. I did taste the browned butter come through and the turmeric gave it a sublime dimension of flavor- never would've thunk it! YUM.

These are outstanding! Like others, I cut down on the brown sugar and maple syrup (2/3 c. brown sugar and a bit over 1/3 cup syrup) and they were still just sweet enough. Also used 1.5 tsp cinnamon. Great flavor and very easy. I'll be making these regularly.

I added chopped candied ginger and walnuts, which made it a much more exciting muffin.

Thanks for the tips on sweetness. I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of maple syrup which was plenty. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly (used a boring old can of pumpkin puree). I was able to get 18 nice sized muffins from the recipe.

These are so easy and so good! The only changes I made were no turmeric, I did a half cup of maple, added vanilla. Incredible muffins. Super fluffy and light, which surprised me as pumpkin muffins tend to be dense. Not too spicy, just a little and the pumpkin really shines. Making them again and adding chocolate chips!

Delicious!

These are delicious! I made them according to the recipe. I measured the dry ingredients by weight.

Delicious, moist and perfect texture. I followed the recipe as written and will reduce the amount of sugar next time (and there will be a next time!).

I think these could use a bit more sugar.

I’ve made this recipe several times as written with the exception of using GF flours. I’ve used various combinations of almond, coconut, oat and “cup for cup” store package mixes. You cannot go wrong - always delicious! They freeze well, too!

Cut sugar to 1/2 cup. Replace 1/2 of white flour with almond flour. Add dark chocolate chip for the guys

I LOVE these muffins! Second time making them and they are just as good as the first time. I also cut the sugars (1/3 c syrup and 1/2c brown sugar) and I like the sweetness level. I use whole wheat flour and I think I will try another suggestion of subbing 1/4 flax seed for extra fiber (using 3/4 c four and 1/4c flax meal instead). The browned butter is the key here — cut back on the added salt if you’re using salted butter.

replaced the maple syrup with honey, used a combo of canola + coconut oil (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons total), added a tsp of vanilla extract, & finally sprinkled them with sugar before baking so you get those nice, cripsy crunchy muffin tops. they turned out delicious, & this is a great recipe to tweak, or to enjoy as is!

Used 1/2 cup brown sugar.. made 16 muffins

By all means cut the sugar, but not the maple syrup!!! (Canadian gasps)

Fantastic recipe! I used all ap flour, vegetable oil instead of butter and white sugar instead of maple syrup (used a little less than 2/3 c) because that is all that I had on hand. They’re delicious and huge and I’m already dreaming of having one with my coffee in the morning. I can’t wait to try it exactly as it was written because I feel like I’m missing out on three major contributors of flavor. Still so good without them though!

Tasty but didn't add much to the usual pumpkin bread recipes. I thought the turmeric would be special, but it did not add a huge amount of flavor. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 29 standard muffins that had huge crowns on them. Fun to mix and batter had a very satisfying texture.

This recipe is great as written, and is also a great base for adjustments. I make these regularly and use 100% whole wheat flour. I have also cut the maple syrup and brown sugar amounts in half, and subbed in some apple sauce and a cup of grated carrot. Still delicious and yummy enough for my picky four-year-old. The only other change I make is to reduce the turmeric to a scant 1/4 teaspoon based on personal taste preference.

These are perfect as is. Especially if you’re using good, fresh spices. Good spices cut any sweetness and the browned butter is perfection. They’re really easy to make and I got 17 regular sized muffins. You don’t need anything on them and can eat them as is. They’re nice and moist. Definitely adding this recipe to my repertoire!

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