One-Bowl Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
These Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins are tender, moist and full of warm fall flavors. Mixed all in one bowl + done baking in just 20 minutes, these muffins are made with a cup of pumpkin puree, whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and less added sugar than most muffin recipes. Perfect as a grab-and-go breakfast or hearty snack, these easy healthy muffins are a must-bake!
We all have unique gifts and talents…and it seems that one of mine is making veggie muffin recipes that win you and your families over time and time again. I love that my muffins have become a staple in your homes (as well as mine) and the only thing that might rival my gift for making healthy muffin recipes is my talent for making pumpkin-loaded recipes that you love just as much. My Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal and Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding show up in your kitchens time and time again as soon as fall hits and so it is only natural that it was time to combine those two gifts into the ultimate fall recipe: my absolutely favorite Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins.
Why are these my favorite? Because these hearty Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins are perfectly sweet, full of warm spices, and loaded with all kinds of wholesome ingredients. Rocking a cup of grated pumpkin puree and sweetened with applesauce and little bit of brown sugar, these muffins are tender, moist and mixed all in one bowl. Made with a combination of whole wheat flour and rolled oats for the ultimate texture, these muffins are truly the perfect quick snack or fall breakfast option. They are naturally dairy-free, and can easily be made gluten free, egg-free, and nut-free with a few adaptations. I added chocolate chips to the mix (because I think there is something magical about pumpkin and chocolate together) but you can leave them out if you like. This recipe makes a batch of 12 and only take 20 minutes to bake, so make a quick batch today and enjoy the leftovers for days to come.
And if you love these healthy pumpkin muffins, be sure to check out my Healthy Morning Glory Breakfast Muffins and my Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with veggies!) for more veggie-loaded bakes that are sure to be a hit!
How to make these muffins: step-by-step visual guide
Suggested Adaptations
- Swap the mix-ins: these Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins would be great with raisins or chopped up walnuts instead of chocolate chips!
- Replace the applesauce with mashed banana. Just know you will taste the banana in the muffins, which I personally think works well with pumpkin!
- Boost the nutrition: You could also stir in 2 to 4 tablespoons of nutritious add-ins like hemp seeds, chia seeds, or ground flax seeds.
- Make them gluten free: Use a cup-for-cup style gluten free flour mix instead of the whole wheat flour and make sure to use gluten free oats.
- Need egg-free? I haven’t tested it, but I think using a common egg-replacer such a flax “egg” would work in this recipe.
- Out of pumpkin? Use butternut squash puree or sweet potato puree in instead!
How to store these muffins
These Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins can hang out on your counter for a day, but if you plan to enjoy them over several days pop them in the fridge! Keeping them in an airtight container in your refrigerator will help to keep these moist muffins fresh longer and prevent molding.
You can also freeze these muffins for up to 2 months when stored in an air-tight freezer safe container. I like to thaw them on the countertop overnight or by zapping one in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.
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One-Bowl Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup (245 g) pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup (183 g) unsweetened applesauce,
- 2 large (2 large) eggs, can sub 2 flax eggs
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) olive oil, or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla
- ⅓ cup (73.33 g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 1½ teaspoon (3 g) pumpkin pie spice
- 1¼ cups (150 g) whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup (60.81 g) rolled oats
- ¼ cup (45 g) mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners or grease with oil.
- Add pumpkin puree to a large bowl, along with applesauce, eggs, oil, vanilla and brown sugar. Whisk together well.
- Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl with the pumpkin mixture. Whisk together again to incorporate everything.
- Add the flour and rolled oats to the bowl. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix, as this can result in dense muffins. Finally, fold in chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the 12 prepared muffin cups, filling about ¾ of the way. Top with additional chocolate chips, if desired.
- Bake until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. If you have a kitchen thermometer, cook until the muffins have an internal temperature of 200℉. This will ensure they are cooked through, but not overcooked.
- Allow them to cool in pan for 15 minutes before enjoying. Once cooled completely, store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or in your freezer for up to a month.
Can I sub a GF flour blend for the whole wheat flower?
I find a cup-for-cup GF flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill works well as a sub for whole wheat flour.
Perfection!
Yay! So happy to hear you loved them as much as we do. A batch disappears as quickly as I make it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Laura. Much appriciated!
What is the purpose of the applesauce? Can we use all pumpkin purée instead? Thank you.
The applesauce helps to add some sweetness while keeping the added sugar lower. You can absolutely use just pumpkin puree in its place, but your muffins might not be as sweet as the original recipe.
We loved them! Had to make it gf so I substituted the whole wheat flour and oats to just 2 cups of oat flour. Thank you!!
SO glad you enjoyed them, Ali!
Yum! And love the one-bowl, fast cooking time…made for an easy morning today.
So happy you enjoyed these and found them as easy as I do!
We made these as mini-muffins. It made 48 minis and took about 11 minutes to bake. My girls loved them so much that they want to eat them for breakfast, snack, dinner, etc., and I don’t feel like they’re eating little sugar bombs. Another great muffin recipe!
Delighted this was another success for you, Jessica! I love how they are perfectly sweet without a ton of added sugar!
This recipe has been on repeat in this house. Such a delicious recipe that even our four year old loves! Today we decided to add a bit of fresh orange zest to them and it was delicious!!
Oh, LOVE the addition of the orange zest! So smart and I’m totally going to try! Delighted you love these muffins as much as we, Heather!
I can’t wait to make these!…. BUT, I just realized that I have 100% Pure Pumpkin, and not pumpkin puree. Will that still work, or will it really change the taste? Is pumpkin puree definitely needed? 😬🙃
That is the same thing! As long as it doesn’t have added spices or sugar (which would still be fine, you’d just need to scale back on how much you added to the recipe), it is pumpkin puree! Happy baking!
Cans of pumpkin come in different sizes, can you share what size can you used? Thanks in advance! Looking forward to making this recipe 🙂
Just 1 cup of pumpkin puree!
Thank you! Totally read it as can, not cup, lol. Thanks for clarifying! 🙂
Understandable! Happens to all of us
I was able to throw these together with items I had around my house on a Sunday morning. They were absolutely delicious. Moist, soft but also a little hearty so fill your belly. My fruit/veggie averse husband gobbled these up without hesitation!! Thank you for helping me get healthy food onto our plates.
Love when you love a recipe!
Hi Taesha! I live in France so canned pumpkin purée is non existent 🙁 I have a fresh pumpkin though (I believe the variety is Kabocha). Any tips on making homemade pumpkin purée? This is something I always ask myself when making homemade pumpkin pie (I’m Canadian so it’s a favourite!).
Thank you!
Hi Soraya! I’m hearing this issue from many of my followers outside the US! I had no idea canned pumpkin was such an American specific thing! I’m working on writing up a recipe blog post for how to make homemade pumpkin puree for those who want and need it, but for now….here is what I do.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Lay it cut-side-down and roast in the over for about 45-55 minutes or until you can easily puncture the skin with a knife. Take it out, let it cool enough that you can easily handle it and peel the skin off (it literally should just fall off). Put the cooked flesh in a blender or food processor and puree. You might need to add a little water to thin out your puree depending on the water content of you pumpkin, but just add a couple tablespoons at a time so that it isn’t too thin.
Hope that helps!
Amazing, thank you for writing such a detailed reply <3
Yes, as a Canadian living abroad the last several years I keep finding funny things like this that are 100% North American haha
Don’t even get me started on all the kinds of salsa I miss. In France our options are basically limited to the Doritos brand.
Thanks again!!
These are really good! I doubled the recipe except for the sugar and the applesauce then added two ripe bananas that I had. I also used coconut sugar instead of brown. I topped them with pumpkin seeds. It yielded 9 large muffins. LOVE one bowl. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them so much, G.G.! Thanks for taking the time to share your successful tweaks and review of the recipe
Excellent recipe. Very moist muffins. Apple sauce and pumpkin are a nice combination. Increased brown sugar to 1/2 cup though.
Delicious!
These muffins are on repeat in our home. They are delicious and not too sweet. My toddler loves them!
So happy these were such a success with your crew! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Heather. I really appreciate it.
So delicious! These are awesome muffins.
So happy you loved these too. Our muffin of the season, for sure!
You’ve done it again! I literally made these and had to put these up high so the kids couldn’t reach because they wanted muffins for every meal and snack. The flavor is delish and they were a cinch to make! Ages 2-44 were overjoyed!
Love a winning recipe that spans the ages! 😉 Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Jessica!
Hi,
I’m eating much healthier these days and your recipe is a good one. Is almond flour an ok 1 to 1 substitute? Also, what’s a healthier substitute for the brown sugar please, or can I just leave it out as I’m trying to keep sugar low? Thank you!!!
Hi Rhonda, This recipe might be more what you are looking for since it uses almond flour and is sweetened with maple syrup. I do feel like pumpkin muffins need some sort of added sweetness, as pumpkin itself is pretty earthy and doesn’t bring much sweetness to a recipe. https://thenaturalnurturer.com/one-bowl-paleo-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins/
Thank you for the other recipe. I actually like this one better except for the brown sugar. I think I’ll try subbing almond flour and maple syrup. If that makes it a little more runny I’ll add more flour/oats. Any other thoughts for this recipe? Thanks again!!
Update: I used this recipe and substituted a mixture of Paleo baking flour and Almond flour and just a T of maple syrup for the brown sugar. I’ve cut down so much on sugar that that was enough sweet for me. I passed on the choc chips (don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate) as I don’t always like it mixed in with some things (plus I choose when to splurge. 🙂 These were so good. I think I’ll add nuts next time. Thanks so much. I only gave it a 4 as I hadn’t tried it yet. Giving it a 5 now!!!
I appreciate the update and sharing what worked for you! I’m sure other readers will find your experimentation helpful too!
I think that is a good jumping off point! Another reader left a comment that she made these gluten free with oat flour and they were a success. So that is another option. Or you could sub cup-for-cup GF flour blend for the whole wheat.
Love this recipe thank you! I’ve made them several times now for my toddler
I’m so delighted to hear that, Jenny! They are a favorite here too!
These were absolutely delicious! My 2&1/2 year old ate two full muffins fresh from the oven… as did I! This recipe will definitely be added to our fall baking rotation.
Side note: we didn’t have applesauce so I used a full can of organic pumpkin purée instead and they came out perfect 🙂
Oh, I love that these were such a success! And I’m glad you were able to make it work with a full can of pumpkin! Did you find them sweet enough with the applesauce? If so, I tottaly need to try my next batch.
Yes! Plenty sweet for our liking 🙂 thanks so much for a great recipe!
Excellent and flavorful, I swapped out gluten free oat flour and it was wonderful. Thank you,
So glad you enjoyed them so much, Christina!
Your recipe calls for a can of pumpkin puree but does not specify can size. Can you clarify the amount needed for this recipe in cups rather than cans?
Hi Jeannie! If you scroll or jump to the recipe card, it says 1 cup of pumpkin puree.
I never comment on recipes. Ever. But this one is worthy of comment. It’s really well balanced, delicious, and uses up two of my preserved products from last year. What’s not to love? I would ask what other mix-ins would work well besides nuts and chocolate chips. This is one recipe I’ll keep using.
Kids approved too!
I’m so glad you enjoy these so much! Besides chocolate chips + nuts, I think raisins or dried cranberries would work great in these muffins!
So easy to make and absolutely delicious! I add toasted pecans to the recipe as well as more oats and less flour.
Yummmm! I bet the pecans were so delicious in this, Donna! Thanks for sharing!
I love the looks of this recipe. I’m wondering, can I use my sourdough discard in it and how much if so?
Hi Ginger! I am not a sourdough expert, so unfortunately I can’t really offer you guidance in that department. I love the idea, though! If you give it a go, let us know how it goes.
Hello Taesha, I added ½ cup sourdough discard and lowered the applesauce to ½ cup instead of ¾ cup…just in case it would be too much liquid. The muffins turned out great! Thankyou for my new walking snack!
Very good! Used all purpose because I didn’t have WW flour, still super good! I personally would put a little less of the spice in next time I make them (I’m not huge on pumpkin spices), but this is the best recipe for pumpkin muffins I’ve found!
With all the pumpkin muffins out there, this is quite the compliment, Jane!
Love these!! So easy, family friendly. One bowl, score! I used 1 cup of flour and 1 cup oats to simplify. Also, dark chocolate chips!! This is a keeper for us!
Yay! So glad you loved these as much as we do! House staple this time of year!
Delicious. Made as directed in the recipe. Thank you for the link to the pumpkin spice recipe as I had all the individual spices but not the ‘pumpkin spice’.
My granddaugher enjoyed the muffins with some whipped toppingand a few sprinkles as an alternative to frosting.
Oh yay!! I’m so glad both recipes were helpful and a hit, Debbie!
This one is a keeper!! I’m always looking for healthier, tasty recipes my family will enjoy, and am so happy to have come upon this one. I made it exactly as written with a swap out of chocolate chips for golden raisins. Delicious!!
Yay! So glad it ticked all the boxes for you!
These are GOOD! I made homemade puree just for fun and then was looking for something to do with it so I came to Taesha’s page for inspiration (she is the BEST). I followed the recipe exactly but chopped regular chocolate chips into chunks to use what we had and probably a little extra applesauce as I used two little unsweetened containers. I also added several scoops of collagen just to up the protein a little. I LOVE that these are subtly sweet and not overly sweet.
And I actually served these in a way that was inspired by Taesha, as well! Greek yogurt with homemade puree and half a scoop of protein mixed together with some flax seed and a crushed up muffin. It was a great way to start the day!
I’m so glad you loved these and took inspo from my breakfast IG posts! That breakfast is an easy go-to for me that really is fueling + just makes me happy
Yum! I made these with Kodiak protein oats for added protein. Delicious!
Ohhhhh! Excellent idea! So glad you enjoyed them, Christy!
I loved these muffins! I did the banana replacement for applesauce and used a flaxseed egg because that’s what I had on hand. They were delicious! I’m making them again a week later 🙂
Yay! So glad you loved these, Beth!
Can i substitute smashed banana for applesauce? And add raisins without changing cook time?
Yes for both!!
Can you use maple syrup instead of the sugar? If so, how much?
I haven’t tried it with this recipe but I find you usually can swap them in most of my recipes. Since maple syrup is a liquid sweetener, you would need to reduce the moisture somewhere else in the recipe to balance it out with the dry ingredients. I would say to reduce the applesauce to 1/2 cup or 2/3 cup if you replace the 1/3 cup brown sugar with maple syrup.
This is the best use of canned pumpkin I’ve found–even better than vegan pie. Now I’m so sorry I didn’t buy tons of cans of pumplin when it was around during Thanksgiving at a decent price. I made mine with my egg alternative of one flax egg plus the other of 1 and a half T. of oil and water and 1 tsp. of baking powder (adding that right before the flour) and only used chips on the top, not inside the muffin. I love them without chips or with just a few–plenty sweet and truly wonderful.
Wow, Shirley! So glad you loved these so much!
Made these without the chocolate chips and left my applesauce a little chunky. These were great as a breastfeeding mom to a 3 month old dealing with a cow milk protein allergy. I appreciate you sharing this recipe. Nothing needs to be corrected
Oh yay! SO glad these were such a success, Ruby! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. Always so appreciated