If you’re eating grain free, don’t give up on your baking. Make some of these moist Paleo Pumpkin Muffins! These Paleo Pumpkin Muffins are easy to make and also egg free and vegan.
I’m a fan of pumpkin year-round, I don’t believe that pumpkin recipes should be relegated to just the fall months! It can be an amazing vehicle for paleo recipes, too, if you’re looking for a great way to make grain-free recipes moist without eggs.
Back when I originally created this recipe, I had gone grain-free for a while to pinpoint some stomach issues I was having. I had already gone gluten free and had cut out several other of my allergens (like soy, dairy, etc.), but was still having stomach problems.
Come to find out, I had developed an intolerance to brown rice since I used brown rice protein powder all the time. Yikes. That eliminated brown rice flour that I used so much at the time.
During my grain-free phase, I didn’t want to stop baking because I enjoyed it so much. But baking grain-free without eggs is tricky (I can’t have eggs either). It can be a hit and miss! But these muffins turned out awesome with no grains, dairy, sugar, soy, or eggs!
I based this recipe off of one of my older 3-minute banana cake recipes that I posted years ago. That recipe is so easy to make and it’s an awesome quick sweet treat without added sugar!
I decided to make some muffins using the same recipe concept, and replaced some of the banana with pumpkin to cut down the amount of sugar.
Fortunately, these muffins turned out perfect on the first try. I had to make a second batch to test it again and make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Still great! 🙂
How to make paleo pumpkin muffins
When you mix up these pumpkin muffins, the batter will be quite thick, almost an airy dough (but not quite). The ample amount of baking powder in the recipe helps to keep the batter more airy.
Here are the steps for making these paleo muffins:
- Preheat your oven
- Whisk together the coconut flour and other dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, mash the bananas until very well mashed and almost liquid. Stir in the pumpkin and the other liquid ingredients.
- Add the coconut flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir very well.
- Spoon the thick batter into the prepared muffin cups to the brim. Gently smooth the tops of the batter if you like, but don’t press the batter into the cups.
- Bake and enjoy!
Make sure to stick with the listed amount of baking soda and don’t be tempted to add more! The amount of baking soda is just right for this recipe: if you try to add more baking soda to make the muffins fluffier, the muffins will taste bitter.
Because these paleo muffins have a lot of banana in them, these will turn a little brownish after a day or 2 because of the oxidation of the bananas, but don’t let that bother you. They are still fine to eat if they oxidize a little.
If you are making these for guests, make them fresh that morning to keep that nice pumpkin orange color.
Because these muffins are so moist, they don’t keep for very long. I’d store them for only about 2-3 days.
Our paleo pumpkin muffins aren’t really gorgeous looking muffins, but they do taste amazing! I want to create a nut-free paleo streusel that I can add to the top of these to make them a little prettier looking, but for now, these will do!
Check out our other muffin recipes:
- Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
- Gluten Free Lemon Muffins
- Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins
- Vegan Banana Flax Muffins
Paleo Pumpkin Muffins (Vegan)
Ingredients
- ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon coconut flour
- 3 Tablespoons ground flax or chia seed
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Dash each nutmeg and cardamom to taste
- 3 medium bananas mashed
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin
- ¼ cup coconut milk or almond milk (or your favorite unsweetened dairy free milk)
- 2 Tablespoons mild olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Vanilla creme Stevia to taste (I used about 1/4 teaspoon)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with muffin papers and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, ground flax seed, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and cardamom. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas until very well mashed and almost liquid. Stir in the pumpkin, non-dairy milk, olive oil, vanilla, and Stevia drops and mix well.
- Add the coconut flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir very well.
- Spoon the thick batter into the prepared muffin cups to the brim. Gently smooth the tops of the batter if you like, but don’t press the batter into the cups.
- Bake for 30 minutes*. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then move the muffins onto a cooling rack. Allow the muffins to cool completely before removing them from the muffin papers (this is important or they will stick to the papers).
- Store these in a sealed container in the fridge. These muffins also freeze well.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
We recently updated our post, it was originally posted in 2014! Here’s one of our older photos from this pumpkin muffin recipe:
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and allergy friendly food blogger of 12 years based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
I just took a food sensitivity test and cannot eat eggs so this recipe will be on the menu starting tomorrow morning!
Let us know what you think of them!
Hello!
These muffins look delicious!
I was curious to know how substituting yogurt and/or applesauce for the olive oil turned out? I also wanted to know if there is anything I could substitute for the vanilla creme stevia? I do not have that and am currently in a place where it is unavailable.
Thank you!
Hi Evelyn! I haven’t tried this recipe with yogurt or applesauce in place of the olive oil, so I’m not sure how that would turn out. But you can give it a try and let me know how it goes.
Instead of vanilla cream stevia, you can use regular stevia drops, or powdered stevia concentrate (add it and taste test), but probably not the 1-to-1 powdered baking stevia, though, since that would probably dry out this recipe a bit.
Hi there! Is it possible the banana and pumpkin could be subbed with applesauce and/or butternut squash or another veggie like cauliflower? I know it’s a stretch, but I really shouldn’t eat bananas (as much as I love them) and pumpkin has a bit of a strong flavour. What are your thoughts? Thanks! I have been looking for a vegan coconut flour muffin recipe and i hope i can make this work 🙂
Hi Willow! I bet pureed butternut squash would work great in place of pumpkin in this recipe. Applesauce might work instead of banana, you might just have to adjust the liquid in the recipe since applesauce isn’t as thick as mashed bananas. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Could I sub applesauce or yogurt for the olive oil?
Hi Victoria! You can try to sub the olive oil for applesauce or yogurt. I can’t guarantee the results, but you can certainly try it! Let me know how it goes if you do. I think I might try that and see how it turns out and post it as well 🙂
Sounds good! Thanks for replying!
oh yum! i love using pumpkin in baked goods! these sounds like a great fall treat!
Thanks for stopping by Kirsten!