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!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get affordable and easy gluten-free recipes delivered each week!
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 homemade oat flour and oat flour recipes, especially oat flour muffins, because I love an easy, flourless, gluten-free recipe that requires no special ingredients!
These muffins combine the same ease of oat flour bread, 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
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 gluten-free 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
- Pumpkin Spice – If you do not have this on hand, use 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ginger, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 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!
(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.
Optional Mix-Ins
The beauty of pumpkin is all the inviting flavors it pairs with! Use these mix-in ideas with any pumpkin baking recipe, like breads or easy almond flour pumpkin muffins. Make this recipe as is, or stir in one of the suggested mix-ins below.
- Chopped crystallized ginger
- Dried cranberries
- Chopped nuts
- Pepitas
- Mini chocolate chips or white chocolate chips (read label for gluten-free)
Storing and 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.
Substituting Store Bought Oat Flour
If you don’t want to make homemade 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.
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.
Save this recipe to your pinterest board!
Let’s be friends on Pinterest! I’m always sharing great recipes!
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 gluten-free rolled oats, (or 1 ½ cup + 3 tbsp. oat flour)
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, (see recipe notes for substitution)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup brown sugar, (or maple syrup or honey)
- ¼ cup oil, any
- ¼ cup 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. Plus to combine or whisk together.1 ½ teaspoon 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 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 AllrecipesMore Ideas
This 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.
This 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.
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
I have made these twice now in the last week!! The flavour is amazing!! Although I’m not sure whether I have old baking powder or old oat flour but they are not fluffy at all they’re more like a pound cake……. not complaining though because they’re still amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe
Hi Sherri,
I’m glad you are enjoying the recipe! As far as the texture, what are you using to grind up the oats? It could be they aren’t as fine so the crumb is a little more compressed. Just a thought!
Best,
Melissa
I really enjoyed this recipe and have made them twice. Once with dried red cranberries and raisins (I soak them in filtered water in advance of adding them to the recipe, carob bits, walnuts with brown sugar in the recipe and coconut sugar on top, and then again to use up the rest of the pumpkin puree–this time with honey instead of adding brown sugar to the recipe and walnuts only with pumpkin seeds on top of the muffins. Both times the muffins came out absolutely delicious. I use a bowl and a whisk and not my blender (easier to clean up). My husband and I prefer the fruit added muffins but both came out terrific.
What lovely additions! Thank you so much for taking the time to write, Patricia!
Best,
Melissa
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!
I appreciate you taking the time to let me know, Noreen! All those additions sound amazing!
Best,
Melissa
Love this!!!
1) super easy and I get a ton of compliments
2) in love with the ingredient amounts being listed within the recipe
Thank you, Jacquie! I appreciate it and I like that feature myself when I’m cooking for my site. I’m slowly and surely trying to go through all my recipes and make the change.
Best,
Melissa
Made these last week and we loved them! So much so that I’m making them again today.
I used pre-ground Quaker brand oat flour. But occasionally when I grind my own oat flour, recipes that I use it in always turn out great. I’ve just felt lazy lol.
As someone who has to be gluten free due to a serious intolerance, it’s always exciting when you find a recipe who’s result mimics regular’ muffins lol, and this is one of those!
One thing I did which I would wholeheartedly recommend is I used the gluten free crumb topping from Mama Gourmand’s recipe for ‘Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins’. It was a game changer for these muffins! They’re terrific as is, but oh my gosh, it definitely took them up a level 😄🙏💕✌️
Thanks Rachel! I think that’s a great idea to do the crumb topping. Definitely a way to level up!
Best,
Melissa
Hi again! Quick question, do you think this would bake up well in a loaf pan if I didn’t feel like making individual muffins? Just curious if you ever tried. Thank you, Rachel 😊
Hi again! Quick question, do you think this would bake up well in a loaf pan if I didn’t feel like making individual muffins? Just curious if you ever tried. Thank you, Rachel 😊
Hi Rachel,
I haven’t tried this, but I don’t see why not! I would use a smaller loaf pan, 8X4, so it’s not as thin. Also I’m guessing it would take about 35-45 minutes? But that’s just a guess, you would have to check throughout.
Best,
Melissa
I first tried this recipe with my own homemade oat flour but found that they muffins did not rise as the flour was too heavy (the muffins were still yummy but not fluffy like a muffin). Then I tried with store bought oat flour which is a much finer grind. The muffins turned out light and fluffy. I used 2 TBSP of butter for the oil and I used buttermilk that I had on hand. They turned out great.
Thanks for sharing, Laurie. I use a Vitamix, which grinds the oats into a fine flour. I’ve used a food processor and it gets the job done, but a coarser texture, which would affect the muffins’ texture. I’m glad you still enjoyed them!
Best,
Melissa
I made these yesterday and they are so good! I had two small issues which is why I’m giving 4 instead of 5 stars, but they’re still delicious.
Mine took twice as long as the cooking time in the recipe. In fact, I kept them in extra long until the toothpick seemed to not be too sticky, but after they cooled and I opened one up they were still undercooked. I ALMOST tossed them, but decided to put them back in the oven ONE more time because they tasted so good, I hated to not have them! And that did the trick. However they weren’t fluffy at all. They were flat and thankfully still moist with all of that cooking. The only thing I changed in the recipe was I swapped half of the brown sugar for stevia. It was really delicious and only 75 calories per muffin with that swap and using melted country crock light for my choice of oil.
I would def make again with maybe slightly more oat flour.
They’re so yummy tho. Just what I wanted on a fall day without falling off the weight-loss wagon, so thanks! Good job.
Hi Samantha,
I’m so glad you were able to “save” the muffins! Since you swapped out the brown sugar with stevia, it has less bulk which is why they were slightly compressed and not as fluffy. I think your idea to add more oat flour next time is a great one! I would also let the batter sit for about 15 minutes before dividing into the muffin tins and baking. This will give time for the moisture to absorb into the oats, which will also make them fluffier.
Best,
Melissa
Have these been tried with using flax egg?
Hi Stephanie,
I haven’t, but I don’t think it would be a problem. They might be slightly more crumbly when you eat them because of the binding, but still work!
Best,
Melissa
I cannot believe these are gluten free — they are just like normal muffins! I will definitely make them again.
Amen! These things are magical, aren’t they???
Best,
Melissa
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!
I’m so glad, Pamela! Thank you for taking the time to share. I really appreciate it!
Best,
Melissa
Super easy and delicious! Next time I’ll double the recipe.
Thank you, Megan! I really appreciate it!
Best,
Melissa
These pumpkin muffins have become a favorite recipe!! Spectacularly moist, good even after a day or two, and super flavorful! A big hit with my family. I’ve added some cardamom and nutmeg in the mix.
Thank you!! 🎃
Thank you, Martha! I really enjoyed reading your comment. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Best,
Melissa
I made my own oat flour and used coconut oil and maple syrup and these were delicious. Thank you
Thank you, Julie! Appreciate this so much!
Best,
Melissa
These have become a go to quick treat.
Glad to hear and thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Best,
Melissa
These turned out so wet!!! Basically like bread pudding. And I made a double batch. What brand of purée did you use? I am worried the brand I used was too wet. 😭😭😭
We’ll I reread the recipe and am sad to say I thought it said 1 CAN of purée not a cup. I really wish pumpkin muffin recipes just used the whole can. Who saves 7 ounces of purée? What a bummer.
Oh that’s a bummer! If you would like you can double the recipe and use the whole can.
Best,
Melissa
Pumpkin puree freezes so easily! I measure it out into 1/4 cup and put it in a muffin tin and throw the tin in the freezer for a few hours. Take them out and put them in a freezer safe bag and then back in the freezer. You can defrost 1/4 cup when needed!
Great tip, Kristina! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Best,
Melissa
I can’t even tell you how much I love this recipe. My almost 2 and 4 year old toddlers love these muffins and they’re so moist!
Thank you, Bethany! This is so appreciated!
Best,
Melissa
These muffins are delicious! I had some pumpkin purée I need to use up and decided to try this recipe. My kids loved them so much that I ended up making a second batch!
Thank you so much! This makes me so happy, April!
Best,
Melissa
Delicious! I doubled the cinnamon and added walnuts, cranberries and raisins. Will be repeating often.
Yay! So glad to hear, Lisa!
Best,
Melissa
These muffins will be made on a weekly basis. I cannot have gluten, sugar or dairy. I used maple syrup instead of sugar and lactose free milk. They were amazing, soft, moist, tasty and so easy to make.
Best ever!!!
I love this, Michelle! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Best,
Melissa
These are so good!!! I made these and put coconut sugar instead of the brown sugar and they turned out great!!
WoW. These muffins turned out amazing!! It was soft, moist, AND fluffy and my mom (who rarely compliments my baking) really liked it!! I used 3.5 tablespoons of brown sugar, little less than ¼ cup of olive oil, ¼ cup soy milk, and half of small banana as I only had ¾ cup of pumpkin puree on hand and still turned out amazing. It was still sweet to my taste so next batch I will add only 2 tablespoons of sugar. I can’t wait to make another one!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad they were such a hit with you and your mom!
Best,
Melissa
These were fantastic. Made a double recipe last night and I don’t want to admit how many are left. I cut back just a bit on the brown sugar and they were still sweet enough for my taste. I was a little concerned that I had somehow mid-measured the oats as it seems pretty liquid compared to most muffin batter but they turned out great with a moist but not gummy texture.
Thank you, Rachel! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know!
Best,
Melissa
There are so many mediocre muffin recipes out there and this one is not! I’m so glad that I gave this one a try – thanks and congrats 👏
Yay! Favorite comment of the day! Thanks so much for letting me know, Sandra!
Best,
Melissa
Wow, this recipe was amazing…. Moist, delicious, soft and not bad of a recipe for someone who does not normally bake! I lost my taste due to covid, and once I got it back I craved sweets! Nothing already baked or premade in stores hit the spot so I had to take it home and make things from scratch to see if it helped and it looks like pure ingredients seem to help me to taste. For a first recipe, as someone who doesn’t bake as much, this is straight forward, more healthy and it made my taste buds happy. I don’t feel guilty one bit eating 4 out of the 12 muffins that were made as it’s basically equivalent to 1/2 cup of oats. Looking forward towards making these for fall and winter. Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you, Melissa! Oh my gosh, I am so happy you got your taste buds back! I can’t even imagine!
Best
Melissa
I made these today and they are great! I threw in an extra egg yolk because I used the white part for granola and didn’t know what else to do with it. 😄
My husband and I both agree these are the best gluten free ones I have made. Thank you for the recipe!
If I knew how to post a pic I would. I put walnuts on the top of a few, granola on some and cranraisins on some.
Thank you, Mary! I’m so glad they were such a success! All your additions sound fabulous! You can’t post a pic here, but you can on the Pinterest pin. Thanks for taking the time to write!
Best,
Melissa
These are AMAZING!!!
I mixed mine in a bowl – using the suggestion of pure maple syrup as sweetener and melted coconut oil as the oil. Add-ins I used were: 1 T each dark choc chips, pepitas, and dried cranberries.
This came out to a dozen short muffins in a standard cupcake pan. I think this could have been filled almost to the top of 10 muffin cups to get a bit larger muffins as there was not a whole lote of rise to these, but it could be that my backing powder is aging.
Will definitely be tucking away this recipe as a wonderful fall afternoon treat!
Hi Jenn,
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them! Yes, they do get a better rise with 10, it’s not your baking powder. I tried the recipe with 12 and the muffins were as you described, kind of short (but still just as delicious!). Sounds like you will have another chance making them though, and that makes me so happy!
Best,
Melissa