These Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins combine the best of both worlds – Donuts and Muffins!
Pumpkin and doughnuts mixed together?? Yes, please!
If you love muffins and you’re looking for a new recipe to try, put this one at the top of your list!
This recipe is the perfect marrying of two of my favorite things for fall! The muffins were a little drier than I expected and the batter was thick, but when rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar, they were pretty much perfect! And my family agreed!
Pumpkin Donut Muffins Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/3 cup buttermilk (or make your own buttermilk)
- 1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree
- 10 Tablespoons butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar (or raw sugar)
- 2 eggs
For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating:
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
How to make Pumpkin Muffins
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease 12-18 muffin cups (or line with paper) and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; set aside.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir together the buttermilk and pumpkin; set aside.
4. In a large bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on low speed. Then add half of the pumpkin mixture and mix on low speed.
7. Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture.
8. Fill greased muffin tins roughly 3/4 full of batter and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean).
9. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
10. While the muffins cool, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl and mix together the cinnamon and sugar in another small bowl.
11. Roll or dip the muffins completely in butter and then roll or dip them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture until they are fully coated.
12. Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack.
Storing Pumpkin Cinnamon Muffins
Once the muffins are completely cooled, you can place them in a food storage container and store at room temperature or freeze for later.
Do not store muffins in the refrigerator as that can dry them out.
How long do homemade pumpkin muffins last?
Not long in our house!
Like any muffin, they are best fresh — but should last at least a couple of days at room temperature.
If you want to make them in advance, you can freeze them — although we’d recommend freezing them WITHOUT the sugar topping and adding that once the muffins defrost.
Pumpkin Muffins Recipe FAQs
Using enough fat is key for moist muffins. This recipe has lots of butter — so don’t cut back if you want your muffins to stay moist!
Overmixing the flour into the batter is one of the main reasons muffins and breads become gummy. When you overmix the flour, you develop extra gluten — which works to bind the muffins together, giving them that gummy texture. We recommend only mixing the flour until just combined.
Cinnamon Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
For the Muffin Batter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 15 oz. pumpkin puree
- 10 tbsp butter softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar or raw sugar
- 2 eggs
- For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2½ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease 12-18 muffin cups (or line with paper) and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, stir together the buttermilk and pumpkin; set aside.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix on low speed. Then add half of the pumpkin mixture and mix on low speed.
- Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture.
- Fill greased muffin tins roughly 3/4 full of batter and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean).
- Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
- While the muffins cool, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl and mix together the cinnamon and sugar in another small bowl.
- Roll or dip the muffins completely in butter and then roll or dip them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture until they are fully coated.
- Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
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More Pumpkin Recipes:
- Whole-Wheat Pumpkin Waffles
- Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Pumpkin Crescent Rolls
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Freezer-Friendly Pumpkin Bars
- Freezer-Friendly White Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
What is YOUR favorite pumpkin recipe to make? I’d love to hear!
Reader Interactions
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These look fantastic! I can’t wait to make these with my kiddies.
YUM! Making these soon–thanks so much. 🙂
You’re so welcome!
Wow. Dipping the muffins in butter AFTER baking them is definitely the cherry on top of this fall sundae! These seem easy and frugal. I can’t wait to try them!
How big is your can of pumpkin? (The ones you can get here are 28oz…)
All the recipes I checked for muffins were the smaller 15 oz. can which is a tad bit less then 2 Cups which one recipe called for. If you only have the large cans the 2 c. Measure will work. I really started eating pumpkin warmed or cold with cinnamon and/or pumpkin spice just as is, so having a little leftover can be a treat. It is a Zero point Weight Watcher food. Just shared a can with the grand dog she was having some issues and just a little with her rice and boiled chicken fixed her up in two days. Just a little though it works two entirely different ways!
My favorite pumpkin recipe is pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese filling.
2 c. Flour
2 c. Canned pumpkin
2 c. Sugar
2/3 c. Vegetable oil
4 Eggs
1 t. baking soda
2 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Salt
2 t. Baking powder
Mix together. Pour into cupcake papers. Mix filling and drop onto the middle of batter in cupcakes.
Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, room temp (not reduced fat)
1 egg
1/2 c. Sugar
Dash salt
1/2 mini or regular chocolate chips
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Thank you so much for sharing!