Pumpkin Muffins Recipe with Glaze

These pumpkin muffins are soft, lightly spiced muffins made with 1 cup of canned pumpkin, oil or melted butter, brown and white sugar, and cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. The recipe makes 12 muffins and takes about 30 minutes: 10 to mix, 18 to 22 in a 375°F oven.

Top them two ways or both. A pinch of cinnamon sugar goes on before baking and bakes into a thin, crisp crust. The vanilla glaze goes on after they have cooled. On weekdays I often skip the glaze; for a weekend batch I do both.

One Batch at a Glance

• Makes: 12 standard muffins, cups filled three-quarters full
• Oven: 375°F (190°C), 18 to 22 minutes
• Pumpkin: 1 cup (245 g) plain canned pumpkin from a 15 ounce can
• Flour: 1¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose
• Keeps: 3 days at room temperature, 3 months frozen (unglazed)

The Pumpkin and the Spices

Use plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, so the muffins turn out too sweet and the batter gets loose. A 15 ounce can holds about 1¾ cups, so you will have roughly ¾ cup left over.

That leftover is enough for a jar of pumpkin butter or a couple of servings of pumpkin overnight oats. If you would rather start from a whole pumpkin, my guide to homemade pumpkin puree shows how to drain it until it is as thick as canned. Watery puree is the usual cause of gummy centers.

The spice mix is 1½ teaspoons cinnamon with ½ teaspoon nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon each of cloves and ginger. It tastes warm without leaning heavy on the cloves. I keep a jar of the blend premixed for fall baking.

Oil or Melted Butter?

The card lets you use ½ cup of either, and I have made these muffins both ways. Butter gives a richer flavor and a soft crumb you notice most while the muffins are still warm. Oil gives a moister muffin that stays tender longer at room temperature, and in my batches it domed a little higher.

For lunchboxes and muffins you plan to eat over three days, use oil. For a warm brunch basket, use butter.

Mixing the Batter Without Toughening It

Whisk the eggs with both sugars until the mixture looks smooth and slightly thick, about a minute by hand. It dissolves the sugar and beats in a little air, which helps the muffins rise. Then whisk in the pumpkin, oil or butter, milk and vanilla. Brown sugar is slightly acidic, and together with the pumpkin it gives the baking soda something to react with.

Add the whisked dry ingredients in two additions and fold with a spoon. Stop as soon as the last dry streak disappears. More stirring than that develops the gluten in the flour, and the crumb turns tight and chewy. The finished batter is thick and spoonable, not pourable.

Filling the Tin and Baking

Divide the batter among 12 lined cups, about three-quarters full each. Fuller cups spill over and sink in the middle. For the cinnamon sugar, stir 2 tablespoons sugar with ½ teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle a pinch on each muffin right before the tin goes into the oven. If it sits on wet batter for long, it dissolves instead of baking into a crisp layer. Fine granulated sugar gives the most even crunch.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick from the center comes out clean and the tops spring back when pressed lightly. Cool them in the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.

A Simple Glaze for Pumpkin Muffins

Stir ¾ cup powdered sugar with ½ teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk, then add more milk a few drops at a time, up to 2 tablespoons. It is right when it falls off the spoon in a thick ribbon that holds its shape for a second. Drizzle it only over fully cooled muffins; on warm ones it melts, soaks in and slides off. A piping bag gives neater lines, but a spoon does the job.

Why Pumpkin Muffins Sink or Turn Dense

• Sunken centers: underbaked, or the cups were filled past three-quarters. Check with a toothpick at 18 minutes and give them the full time if it comes out wet.
• Dense or gummy crumb: the batter was overmixed, or the pumpkin was watery. Fold just until the flour disappears.
• Dry muffins: baked too long. Start checking at 18 minutes; every oven runs a little differently.
• Glaze slides off: the muffins were warm or the glaze had too much milk. Cool them fully and stir in more powdered sugar.

Keeping and Freezing the Muffins

Store the muffins in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you are glazing, add it on the day you serve them. A 10 second spell in the microwave brings back the soft, just-baked feel.

To freeze, keep a few muffins plain. Wrap them, freeze them in a bag for up to 3 months, thaw at room temperature, then glaze or dust with cinnamon sugar. Glazed tops turn sticky in the freezer.

If you like these, try the pumpkin cream cheese muffins with a cheesecake center, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, or my pumpkin cupcakes when you want frosting instead of glaze. Pin these to your fall baking board, and tell me in the comments which topping won at your house.