Healthy Vegan and Gluten-free Pumpkin Muffins
Healthy Vegan and Gluten-free Pumpkin Muffins- made with oat and almond flour, these muffins are so perfectly moist and tender that would never guess they’re gluten-free. Naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup!
It is time, my friends. Let there be pumpkin!!
I think I did a decent job waiting to jump on the pumpkin train. As soon as September hits, the internet starts blowing up with orange treats everywhere. I personally don’t like to rush things. Life feels like it’s passing by fast enough, you know?
At the same time, it’s important to have something ready for when the craving hits and everyone is searching frantically for pumpkin recipes. Don’t worry, I gotcha covered.
It feels sort of redundant sharing a recipe for pumpkin muffins seeing how I already have two others on my site. The top runner has been these Healthy Flourless Pumpkin Muffins and I’ve had several requests to make those vegan. I tried my little heart out but it just wasn’t happening.
In order to make a vegan and gluten-free muffin without starches or gums, I had to abandon the flourless blender method and go back to the drawing board. It took me a few attempts but I’m pretty stoked with how well they turned out.
The trick to getting the texture just right is a combination of oat flour and almond flour mixed with ground flax and apple cider vinegar. Those ingredients are key to having a muffin that doesn’t turn out dense or gummy and also holds together perfectly.
Pure maple syrup is the only sweetener which means they’re also refined sugar-free (minus the chocolate chips). I’ve made them with tahini and coconut oil and enjoyed them both ways so I listed either as an option. The tahini requires a little more mixing (prior to combining with the dry ingredients) to get out the large lumps but other than that the results are fairly similar.
If you’re looking for a wholesome vegan and gluten-free pumpkin muffin then I hope you’ll give these a try. I’m so happy with how they turned out and I think you will be too!
Healthy Vegan and Gluten-free Pumpkin Muffins
Yield: 12
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 40

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons flax + 3 tablespoons water
- 1/3 cup almond milk + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 and 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)*
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons tahini (or melted coconut oil)
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or nuts/dried fruit)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease or line a muffin tin.
In a small bowl, combine the flax and water. Set aside to thicken. In a measuring cup, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar then set aside.
In a large bowl, add the oat flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Sift to combine.
In a separate large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract, and almond milk. Add tahini (or coconut oil) last then whisk until thoroughly combined, making sure there are no large lumps. Add the flax and stir a few times.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet then use a spatula to fold everything together until just combined. Make sure there are no pockets of flour but be careful not to over-stir. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts or dried fruit.
Fill each muffin tin 3/4 of the way full then bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until a knife comes clean from the center. Allow to cool completely before serving.
*My favorite pumpkin puree is by the brand Farmers Market. It has a thinner texture than other brands. Depending on the brand you use the water content may vary. You may have to adjust the liquid accordingly and possibly add a few tablespoons of milk.
Leftovers are best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback!
I’m pretty sure I have all the ingredients on hand. Maybe I can attempt to mke these today during one of Camryn s naps. :)
Have I told you how much I love the name Camryn? So beautiful and unique! :)
Thanks, Sarah! :)
I made these this afternoon and they are delicious. I used the tahini which I’d never done before. Only thing is my muffins look nothing like yours. They are quite ugly. Lol. I think it’s because my batter was so thick. I did add an additional 4 tablespoons of almond milk and it was still super thick. But at least they taste amazing. David loves them and can’t believe they are vegan.
I think it might have something to do with the pumpkin puree you’re using because this happened before when you made my pumpkin pancakes. The brand I buy is usually more on the watery side. I bet if you added the extra milk from the beginning they would look prettier. Mine were a little lumpy on top though. I’m just glad they tasted good, lol!
Yay for fall baking!!! I’ve been going back and forth between testing apple and pumpkin recipes and I must say it’s super fun! haha These look awesome! I just bought some more pumpkin so now I am stocked and ready to bake some muffins :)
Mmm…I need to get cooking with apples next! Yum. :)
You are a pro for creating these muffins!! Vegan baking – correction, baking in general – is just so darn hard. I have whatever the equivalent is of a “black thumb” when it comes to baking lol!! Luckily I have awesome food blogging friends’ recipes to go to when the craving hits!!!
Vegan and gluten-free baking used to be my arch enemy but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. At least until I try to make something new, haha!
Mmm pumpkin muffins sound amazing! Too bad it still feels like summer outside right now. What the heck?! I’m dying to break out my leggings and cans of pumpkin already!
I know- it was cool a few weeks ago and now it’s like summer again. I think it will be cool soon though!
Well you know how much I LOVE your flourless pumpkin muffin recipe, as in I make like 6x per season… but I can’t wait to try this updated version. I just bought a new bag of flax, so I’m stoked to give this recipe a try this weekend.
Thanks Hillary! xoxo
These are EXACTLY what I’ve been craving this week. I just picked up a few more cans of pumpkin at Trader Joe’s this weekend so I’ll take that as a sign I need to try them ;)
Making them just for the scent in your house is worth it. ;)
These muffins look super delicious! Canned pumpkin is always in rotation around here year round, that’s how much I love pumpkin in baked goods. I had to get creative this summer, though, when it was just too hot to turn on the oven for 3 months! I made stovetop skillet pumpkin cookies as well as pumpkin cookies baked in the toaster oven. I love that no pumpkin has to go to waste as it freezes beautifully. Thank you for posting this recipe! :)
Sounds like you came up with some great pumpkin alternatives, Jerilyn! I haven’t tried freezing leftover pumpkin yet as I usually just give it Lucy. But I love that idea to keep from wasting it!
Serious kudos to you for sticking to your guns and not pumpkin-ing it up in July in preparation for October, lol! I love that about you! These muffins are well-worth the wait! I’m digging the oat and almond flour combo and those chocolate chips are driving me batty!
I don’t like to rush things anymore either when it comes to the recipes I share. What I post needs to reflect what I’m eating and I wasn’t ready for pumpkin until a few weeks ago! These muffins are exactly what I’m craving these days and I have everything on hand to make them. I can’t wait to try them!
Just made these to exact recipe specs, choosing tahini (Trader Joes organic) vs coconut oil and dark chocolate chips with only one exception- I put one Sweet and Spicy pecan (Trader Joes) on each top before baking mainly for looks (and because I look for excuses to eat them) . The muffins were excellent. I ate one while still warm, held shape beautifully, dense, moist, spice combo perfect. Sweet but not too sweet.
These are some of the most beautiful muffins I’ve ever seen! Your photography is absolutely gorgeous and I love how you’ve made them vegan and gluten free which can be tricky at times without sacrificing quality. Will be trying this recipe for sure :) Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!
Mmm, I love pumpkin muffins! I hear you, I don’t like to jump the gun too quick on the pumpkin & apple baking. But now that it’s October, I’m all about it :)
I made these this weekend (followed the recipe to a ” T ” ) and my S/O and I can’t eat them fast enough! These GFV muffins have the absolute BEST crumb structure out of any other recipe that I’ve ever tried, thank you!
That makes me so happy to hear, Samira! I like to use wholesome flours for maximum nutrition but sometimes the texture can suffer as a result. We really enjoyed the texture of these and it makes me so glad to hear you do as well. Thank you!
Hey, As I’m Vegan this is really so cool recipe for me and my family. Loved the way you presented muffins here. Loved these GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS Totally. Will try these muffins asap at my home and I have already bookmarked this recipe. Will definitely share the recipe of the yummylicious muffins with my friends too. Looking forward to more recipes like this. Thanks for sharing this with all of us Best wishes and regards.
Delicious muffins! I made these today using tahini and raisins in place of chocolate chips. Moist and flavorful. I’m bookmarking this recipet.
Thank you, Minette! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. :)
I am looking for a vegan recipe for my daughters first birthday cake! Have you tried this with an alternative to the almond flour? I made vegan buckwheat pancakes the other day with almond flour for her and I am not sure that it settled well with her. TIA
Hi Jamie! The almond flour is key to this recipe because it is higher in fat so it helps give the muffins texture that isn’t gummy.
You might try searching for a vegan oat flour muffin recipe…I’m sure there are tons out there. I just haven’t tested them that way and don’t want to steer you in the wrong direction!
Out of the 3 pumpkin cupcake recipes I tested, this one received the best praise by far! They are AMAZING! I added a pumpkin icing to them and it all came together perfectly
That is an awesome compliment! Thanks Kelly!
Well deserved :) And also by cupcakes I totally meant muffins! Too much holiday chaos to think straight haha
Made this recipe exactly as written. The muffins were great tasting, great texture, and gorgeous to look at as well.
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I used this recipe as a base. I’m on a very restrictive temporary diet right now (no diary/gluten/oats/citrus/corn/soy/nuts/most oils ….I know…wow!) And so used 1 cup coconut flour, 1 cup brown rice flour and a 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut instead and also swapped the pumpkin for 2 bananas and rice milk for the almond milk. I added about a 1/4 cup of zucchini ( that’s all I had) and a 1/2 cup of shredded carrot. When I combined the dry and wet what was left was a super thick “batter” that probably could have been used as playdoh. I divided the batter evenly and smooshed the batter into a 12 muffin tin….fingers crossed. Interestingly, they turned out great! They didn’t rise much and maintained relatively the same appearance but they taste SO good! Despite looking really dense they’re very moist and have yummy flavor and texture. I’ve tried to alter many other vegan/gf recipes and I can’t speak for the original but I’m going to eventually keep reworking my alterations!
These are soooo good. I had company over and everyone loved them. They disappeared quickly!
Yay! Thanks for the review, Liz!
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These muffins are delicious and have a wonderful texture! I made a couple of substitutions though; I used pureed butternut squash in place of pumpkin and almond butter instead of tahini. I also added a little extra water to my flax “egg”. I will definitely make these again.
Yum! Those sound like delicious substitutions. :)
Thanks for the review, Caroline!
I am so bad at baking, but I made these and they came out great! the texture holds together well, and they’re really delicious. the only changes I made were that I used oat milk instead of almond (it was what I had open at the house) and I couldn’t find oat flour so I just blended up some rolled oats to get them to flour-ish texture. there were still some whole oats but I don’t mind that. oh, I also had a pre-made fall/winter spice blend so I used that in place of the cinnamon and ginger. I think next time I would possibly sub the chocolate chips for some walnuts, but that’s just personal preference. thanks for this awesome recipe, will definitely make again as well as recommend!
Thanks for the awesome review, Lauren! :)
Could you use all almond flour and no oat flour?
Unfortunately no. Almond flour is high in fat so that will change the recipe altogether. Grain-free and vegan baking is super hard but hopefully I can master it one day! :)
I made these for a church function, and they were inhaled by everyone. I actually made them in a small tart size, so the recipe made 36 minis, and they were perfect bite-sized nuggets of yum!
I have to say, I have shared your website with my friends. In our Church, we fast from animal products several times throughout the year (usually twice a week, then Advent, Great Lent, and two other fasting times), and finding a site like yours helps to keep things healthy for everyone. Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
I can’t tell you how much it means that you shared my site! That’s truly the best support I can ask for. Thank you so much!
Hi! I just made these and they were fantastic! We are trying to cut down on our sugar intake, would it be possible to reduce the amount of syrup and then increase the amount of milk instead? Or some other liquid? And for sure I could swap out the (so yummy) chocolate chips. :)
Thanks for your help!
Could you use fresh blueberries instead of chocolate chips?
Yes you can!
These muffins look super delicious! Such a filler, Looking super delicious really. Now I can’t wait for the kids to go trick or treating so I can make this !! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Much love and regards xoxo.
These are absolutely delicious! I made them today for our beach trip ( pumpkin in summertime ha!) with some leftover homemade pumpkin purée we had in the freezer. They are spectacular- my toddlers and husband all gave their stamp of approval! Thank you!
Hi, Can I use gluten free all purpose blend for this recipe instead of oat flour?
I haven’t tested it that way so I’m not sure what effect it will have on the end product. You would have to be willing to experiment, otherwise I recommend using oat flour, if possible!
Can I freeze these?
Yes! Just make sure they cool completely prior to freezing so there isn’t any moisture to cause freezer burn. Seal them tight and they should last in the freezer for several months!