Pumpkin Muffins with Maple Syrup Recipe

These pumpkin muffins are sweetened primarily with real maple syrup for a naturally warm, lightly sweet flavor that pairs beautifully with cinnamon and ginger. They come together in one bowl in about 40 minutes and work equally well for a fall breakfast, a holiday brunch spread, or a simple afternoon snack.

The maple syrup does most of the sweetening work here. A small amount of brown sugar rounds out the flavor but the maple is the star.

Pumpkin / Winter Squash Choices

You can use any pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, you desire here. A can from the grocery store is just fine.

You can feel free to use leftover pumpkin from a pumpkin pie or truly any baked and pureed winter squash you have on hand. If you have acorn squash or butternut squash leftover from making soup or some other main dish they will provide the pumpkin flavor you’re seeking.

My acorn squash quick bread is another great way to use up leftover fall squash if you find yourself with extra.

Spice Choices

I kept it simple with cinnamon and ginger in the recipe below. However, you can feel free to use pumpkin pie spice or any other combination of spices you prefer.

You could skip spice entirely, if desired and still have some of the best pumpkin muffins around.

Fat Choices

Melted salted butter is easy and generally most folks have it on hand. However, you could use any liquid fat you desire.

Use olive oil or melted coconut oil instead of the butter. Even pureed applesauce would work if you wanted to lower the fat content.

If you skip the salted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients to make up for the lack of salt otherwise.

Optional Additions

Make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins by stirring in 1 cup chocolate chips to the batter.

Add 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans for some crunchy muffins.

Stir in up to 1 cup of raisins or dried cranberries for an even more filling snack.

How to Serve

Serve slightly warm muffins with a cup of coffee or glass of milk on chilly fall mornings for a simple but delightful breakfast.

Make it an even heartier meal by serving the moist muffins alongside eggs and bacon.

Use it as a simple snack by serving with fresh fruit and iced tea in the afternoon.

If you love the combination of pumpkin and maple, my maple sweetened pumpkin oatmeal muffins are worth a look too. Same cozy flavors with a heartier oat texture.

Troubleshooting

The muffins are too dense. This usually comes from overmixing. Stir the batter only until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. The batter should look a little rough when you stop and that is fine.

The muffins are gummy in the center. Pumpkin puree adds a lot of moisture to the batter. Make sure you’re measuring 1 1/2 cups accurately and not packing it in. Also check that your baking powder and baking soda are fresh. Start checking for doneness at 20 minutes.

The muffins didn’t rise well. Check the freshness of your baking powder and baking soda. Both lose potency over time. Also make sure the oven was fully preheated before the muffins went in.

The maple flavor is faint. Use real maple syrup, not pancake syrup or maple-flavored syrup. Imitation maple syrup loses most of its flavor during baking and won’t give you the same result.

The muffins stuck to the pan. Grease the muffin tin well before filling, or use muffin liners. Let the muffins cool in the pan for the full 5 minutes before trying to remove them.