You won’t miss the flour, oil, or sugar in these flourless pumpkin pie muffins! Loaded with pumpkin, chocolate, and warming spices, they make the perfect fall treat!
“These muffins are dangerous.” <– Mum’s words, not mine; although I can definitely back her up on that claim. These muffins are dangerous. They strike like ninjas and before you know what hit ya… they’ve vanished.
Seriously. I could’ve sworn I made an entire batch just yesterday, and now it’s nowhere to be found. Poof. Gone. But before you start calling me a glutton and nailing me with your accusatory glances, I’ll have you know that I wasn’t working alone. No ma’am (or sir). The entire Spoons family was in on it. I brought the whole batch (minus one muffin which obviously needed to be taste tested first) with me for dinner on Sunday, and it pains me to say that not a single muffin survived the night. Not even one measly crumb.
I should probably take that as a compliment — it just means they were freaking amazing. And I know this because I was obsessively gauging reactions.
I like to think that I’ve gotten a little more subtle and sneaky over the years, but I’m one of those people that will watch you take your first bite like.a.hawk just so I can capture the exact moment when your brain registers what you think of my baked treats… especially because some people just don’t say anything.
Men, I’ve found, are particularly bad for that.
“So… how did you like it?”
“What? Oh. It was great! Like always.” *grabs another and walks away*
Pft. Like always. Like I’m just supposed to assume it was great. Actually, I usually do. I’ve been at this long enough to have built up a pretty decent amount of confidence when it comes to my baking, but I still like the extra reinforcement! Especially when I’m trying to make things healthier without seeming like they’re healthier — ya know? Take these muffins, for example…
There’s no flour, no oil, and no refined sugar, but you’d never guess it since they’re just as moist, just as sweet sweet, and just as doughy as traditional muffins. That being said, they’re not exactly like traditional muffins. The texture is slightly denser, which is why I called them pumpkin pie muffins — they fall somewhere in between. Still doughy, but a melt-in-your-mouth kind of doughy. And have I mentioned that you can whip them up in your blender in under 5 minutes flat? And that they make your house smell amazing? And that the combination of chocolate and pumpkin is to.die.for? You need to make these yesterday. I did, and they didn’t even last 24 hours…
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Flourless Pumpkin Pie Muffins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 9 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (64 g) almond butter*
- 3/4 cup (180 g) canned pumpkin
- 1 large egg
- 6 Tbsp (120 g) honey
- 1/2 cup (40 g) rolled oats (GF, if needed)
- 2 Tbsp (14g) ground flaxseed
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F (190C) and prepare a muffin pan by spraying 9 cavities with cooking spray or lining them with parchment liners. Set aside.
- Add all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips to a high-powered blender** and blend on high until the oats have broken down and the batter is smooth and creamy. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Distribute the batter evenly among the muffin pan cavities, filling each on until it is about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store them in an air-tight container for up to 5 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months.
Notes
* Feel free to sub in with another nut butter if you prefer. Or use a soy nut butter to make these nut-free. ** If you don’t have access to a high-powered blender, you can simply grind the oats into a flour and mix everything together by hand.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
Looking for more pumpkin recipes? Try one of these!
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Mug Cake
Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
Flourless Pumpkin Brownies
One Bowl Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Bread
I made some alterations and these were good. I’ve been trying to eat better, but I love sweet things so I like to find sugar free recipes to work with. I did not add the chocolate chips in or the cloves and I used 1/2 cup of apple sauce instead of eggs (my son can’t eat them) and peanut butter because I didn’t have any almond butter. I also added some Gerber oatmeal in to help thicken it. I found out that I had to cook them about 10 minutes longer, but they were great and just sweet enough for me.
I have made these several times and they are very good. I have found that it works best for me when I grind the oats and the flax seed, then add to the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top!
I’ve been making these for the last year! I use peanut butter most of the time. Most of the time I use applesauce or bananas in place of the pumpkin. I just reduce the amount of honey when not using pumpkin. I love how easy and quick they are.
I bake these muffins every Fall. They are quick, easy and good for my waistline. Love! Love! Love!
Ooooh, these look amazing! And I’m already thinking of the variations I can make. Chopped pecans in one batch, butterscotch chips in another, both in still another… Fall, I love you, and I love this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Butterscotch chips! I love the way you think 😀
These are delicious. I just made one batch and, after tasting them, we decided to repeat! Very healthy and tasty. Do you have a banana bread recipe?
I’m glad you liked them, Kristina! And I definitely do! I have one version made with Greek yogurt — http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2015/06/01/greek-yogurt-banana-bread/ and I have a flourless muffin recipe that’s similar to these ones but made with bananas — http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2014/04/29/flourless-banana-bread-muffins/
Any info on calorie count?
Sorry Liz, I don’t calculate the nutritional info on my recipes. But if you need to know specifics, you can enter the ingredients into a calculator like this one to figure it out — http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
Any info on calorie count etc.?
Can these be kept in the freezer?
They sure can, Lisa! I freeze my muffins all the time.
For those of us calculating calories , I figured it out. Each muffin is 206 calories. I also entered into the myfitnesspal app, so if you use it you can find it there. FYI – I also found that this recipe only makes 6 reg sized muffins, so if you double this recipe you’ll actually get a full dozen. (Plus you have to bake them at 375 for 20-22 min.)
Thank you!
I just made a double batch of these because they looked so yummy. I did not have any almond butter so I substituted nutella and omitted chocolate chips. My other changes included: a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder, some ground ginger to complement the other pumpkin pie spices, reduced the honey, and substituted pureed fresh acorn squash for the pumpkin. I prepared 18 muffin cups but the batter only filled 12. After 17 minutes in the oven on 375, a toothpick came out clean. The tops rose nicely and the insides are perfectly moist with a great pumpkin spice flavor. However, the nutella was hard to detect. Maybe I’ll pick up some almond butter and try a batch with that. Overall, delicious muffins. Thank you for a great recipe. Have a great day.
Just made my first batch of these – followed all directions except reduced honey to 3 Tbs and added stevia (which made my muffins a bit thicker, I know, but still good) . Pretty good. I like the texture of your gluten-free breads and muffins – they are lighter and fluffier than a lot of “paleo” items.
I made these but substituted a chia slurry (1 T chia plus 3 T water) for the egg, 1/4 cup maple syrup for the honey, cashew butter, and chia seeds in place of flax meal. I added a bit more grounded oats to thicken since the maple syrup adds more moisture than honey. The batter was so yummy I could have eaten it without any baking. The muffins took a little longer to bake and they came out super moist and delicious. Next time I will need to double or triple the recipe. Thank you for sharing!
i really wanted to try this, but we don’t have canned pumpkin here where i live.
what if i use a fresh pumpkin instead? should i cook it first? can you give suggestions? thanks
You can definitely use fresh pumpkin, Jeanne. Just roast it until the skin is soft and puree it in a blender or food processor — that’s all canned pumpkin really is 🙂
I added chia seeds because I didn’t have flax, but I had to bake these muffins an extra 25 min. After 12 min, they were still mush. They’re out of the oven, but fell apart when I took them out of the baking tin. Maybe I’ll try them with flax next time as I’m always looking for a simple and yummy gluten free muffin recipe.
I just need to tell you how much my kids love these. We don’t have any allergies or restrictive diets in our family, but I am working to limit refined sugar and white flour. My kids tell me this is their favorite food that I’ve made since beginning that effort. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know, Jane 😀
What is the flax seed for? Is it to replace the egg? I’m hoping to substitute it for something else but I’m not sure what to use!
It’s for helping the muffins maintain their shape/structure. I’ve had a few readers leave it out entirely before, and while the muffins still turned out good, they didn’t hold up as well. You can try subbing in chia seeds.
Sounds delicious! Do you have any suggestions for substitutions for honey? I wonder if apple sauce would work???
The honey acts both as a sweetener and a binder, so I don’t think applesauce work work since it’s not overly sweet or thick. You could use something like brown rice syrup or maple syrup.
Made these tonight – yum. I did sub almond flour for oats & it was great! Thanks for the pumpkin motivation. 🙂
My Vitamix Blender had no issues with the mixture. I would however cook longer than 12 minutes next time as mine were too under-done for my liking. I also used an egg rather than flaxseed. Also used 3 T. Raw honey & 3 T. pure maple syrup as I didn’t have enough honey.
Can I substitute raw cacao powder for the chocolate chips in the pumpkin muffins? If so, what is the amount to use? Thanks.
Unfortunately, no. Cacao powder would change the texture of the muffins, since it’s drier and more like a flour. If you don’t want to add chocolate chips, you can just leave them out.
These are way too delicious! Do you know the nutrition?
I don’t, sorry! I just focus on using healthy ingredients.
I found this made about 6 muffins. Delicious but I will double next time.