Easy Pumpkin Muffins {With Cake Mix}

Quick and easy pumpkin muffins recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. Starts off with spice cake mix box. Soft, moist, topped off with crunchy sugar topping!

This moist pumpkin muffin recipe is a doctored cake mix recipe and much better than any scratch recipe I have tried. They are also known as "pumpkin spice muffins." And as you know, Fall and Thanksgiving is all about enjoying pumpkin in our cooking and baking. Here are some more seasonal recipes you won't want to miss: Pumpkin Bread (With Cake Mix), Easy Pumpkin Donuts (With Cake Mix), and Easy Pumpkin Cake (With Cake Mix).

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to make pumpkin muffins?
• Tips and Techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More pumpkin desserts
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Pumpkin puree- This is a 15 oz. can.
• Eggs- Use large at room temperature.
• Water- Helps make a thinner batter consistency.
• Spice cake mix- Use your favorite brand.
• Sanding sugar- This is optional but makes a great topping.

Variations

• Banana muffins- Reduce quantity of pumpkin puree by half and replace that with mashed bananas.
• Add cream cheese- Make a cheesecake mixture and swirl that into the muffin batter OR you can just top off the baked muffins with Best Cream Cheese Frosting.
• Mix in chocolate chips- Mix in ½ cup mini chocolate chips in the batter. Make sure they are tossed in a little flour first so that they don't sink to the bottom.
• Oatmeal version- Mix in ¼ cup quick cooking oats in the batter. You can also add some oats in a crumble or streusel topping.
• Zucchini muffins- Reduce quantity of pumpkin puree by half and replace that with shredded zucchini (excess water squeezed out).
• Streusel style- Make a simple crumble/ streusel topping and sprinkle on top of each muffin, prior to baking.
• Toss in some apples- Mix in ½ cup finely diced apples into the batter. Make sure they are tossed in a little flour first so that they don't sink to the bottom.
• Add cranberries- Mix in ½ cup roughly chopped dried cranberries in the batter. Don't use fresh cranberries since they will release a lot of juices during baking and yield soggy muffins.
• Use nuts- Mix in ½ cup roughly chopped pecans or walnuts in the batter.
• Add a drizzle- Just prior to serving, drizzle some Homemade Caramel Sauce or Homemade Dulce de Leche or Nutella Syrup or a simple spice glaze or even chocolate ganache.
• Make mini muffins- Use a mini muffin pan or cupcake pan. They will be cute and bite-sized and perfect for kids.

How to make pumpkin muffins?

1. Prepare muffin batter- Mix together eggs, water, pumpkin puree, cake mix powder until just combined.
2. Pour batter in pan- You can use cupcake or muffin liners or just pour batter in a greased and floured muffin pan.
3. Add sugar topping- Sprinkle sanding sugar on top of each muffin which will add a nice crunch.
4. Bake- Until they are golden brown and an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
5. Enjoy- Let them cool down and dig in! They actually taste better the next day, when the flavors have had a chance to deepen and develop.

Tips and Techniques

• Double recipe- This recipe only makes 17 muffins. To make a bigger batch, just double all the ingredients.
• Use pumpkin puree- And not pumpkin pie filling. Those are two different things and cannot be used interchangeably.
• Don't replace water with milk- This is one of those instances where I won't recommend using milk since it makes the muffins too dense.
• All ingredients must be at room temperature- That's because they blend together smoothly and evenly.
• Sanding sugar is optional- These muffins will taste great even without them. Sanding sugar is not the same as granulated sugar. Granulated sugar will end up melting during baking , unlike sanding sugar.
• Canned pumpkin puree vs. Fresh pumpkin puree- Either can be used.
• Don't over-mix muffin batter- Because that will yield tough, dense and glutenous muffins. This batter will be thick. Don't try to thin it out by adding more liquid. Don't worry if there are some lumps. That's perfectly fine!

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Room temperature- Store in a covered box for up to 3 days.  
• Refrigerate- Place in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• Freeze- I recommend not adding any streusel topping or sanding sugar if you want to freeze them, because it doesn't thaw well. Otherwise, place in a sealed container for up to 1 month, thaw, and enjoy.
• Make ahead- These can easily be made up to 3 days in advance. If you want to make them further a head, refrigerate them for up to 5 days before serving or place them in the freezer for up to 1 month, thaw out, and serve.

More pumpkin desserts

• Pumpkin Fudge (With Gingersnap Crust)
• Pumpkin Truffles
• Easy Pumpkin Pie (5 Ingredients)
• Pumpkin Bars (With Cream Cheese Frosting)
• Pumpkin Cheesecake (With Gingersnap Crust)

Recipe