Think of them as the individual version of my moist vegan pumpkin bread, with the added bonus of a buttery crumb topping. If streusel is your favorite part, you'll also love my vegan pumpkin coffee cake with a thick layer of pumpkin butter through the center.
If these put you in the mood for more fall baking, you can browse all of my vegan pumpkin desserts in one place, from quick cookies and muffins to pies, cheesecakes, and celebration cakes.
Why this recipe works
- Soft and incredibly moist: Pumpkin purée, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vegan buttermilk give these moist vegan pumpkin muffins a light, tender crumb.
- Tall bakery-style tops: Spacing the muffins out in the pan and starting them at a higher oven temperature gives them a much better rise.
- Crunchy pumpkin spice streusel: These are proper pumpkin streusel muffins, with a buttery spiced crumb and maple glaze rather than a plain muffin top.
- No eggs or dairy: These pumpkin muffins without eggs don't need a flax egg or commercial egg replacer, and all the ingredients are completely dairy-free.
If you're looking for a Starbucks-style pumpkin bake, these have that tall, generously topped bakery feel, but they're not a copycat of the Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin. Instead of cream cheese filling and pepitas, this version has crunchy streusel and maple glaze - and is completely eggless and dairy-free.
Key ingredients
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Pumpkin purée: Use 100% canned pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling. Canned pumpkin has a more consistent moisture level for baking. If you need to make your own, I recommend using butternut squash, which tends to be less watery than many homemade pumpkin purées.
Vegan buttermilk: Soy milk mixed with apple cider vinegar creates a simple vegan buttermilk that helps give the muffins a tall, fluffy texture. Oat or almond milk can also be used, although soy is my preference for baking.
Olive oil or almond butter: I've made these two ways. Olive oil gives you the lightest, fluffiest muffin, while runny almond butter makes the crumb a little richer and denser and is useful if you want to avoid added oil. Note that the flour quantity changes depending on which one you use, so follow the recipe card carefully.
Brown sugar: Soft brown sugar adds moisture as well as caramel flavor. Coconut sugar can be used instead, although brown sugar gives the muffins the softest texture.
Pure maple syrup: This adds another layer of sweetness and works particularly well with the pumpkin spice. Use pure maple syrup rather than maple-flavored pancake syrup.
Pumpkin spice: The blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves gives these vegan pumpkin spice muffins their warm fall flavor. You can use store-bought pumpkin spice or make your own using the recipe notes.
How to make vegan pumpkin muffins
Here's a visual overview of this recipe. Please refer to the detailed card at the end of this page for full written instructions.
Start with the streusel so you can chill it while making the muffin batter. Rub the pumpkin spice and optional orange zest into the sugar first, then add the flour and vegan butter and work everything together with your fingertips until crumbly.
For the muffins, whisk the pumpkin purée with the vegan buttermilk, olive oil or almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and brown sugar until smooth.
Sift the dry ingredients separately, then fold them into the pumpkin mixture in two additions. Stop as soon as you no longer see streaks of flour - overmixing will give you a denser muffin rather than that soft, fluffy crumb.
Divide the batter between your muffin liners, filling them generously for tall tops. If possible, leave an empty cavity between each muffin; I've found the extra space helps them rise higher without the tops spreading into one another.
Add plenty of chilled streusel, then bake at the higher temperature for the first 5 minutes before lowering the oven for the remainder of the bake. That initial burst of heat helps the muffins rise quickly and gives them more of a bakery-style dome.
Once baked, transfer them to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before drizzling over the maple glaze so it sits on top of the crumb rather than melting straight into it.
Variations
- Nut-free: Use the olive-oil version rather than almond butter.
- Oil-free: Use runny almond butter in the muffin batter. Skip the buttery streusel if you want the entire recipe to be free from added oil.
- Add chocolate chips: Fold up to ½ cup of dairy-free chocolate chips through the batter.
- Add pumpkin seeds: Stir some toasted pepitas through the batter or scatter them over the muffins for extra crunch.
- Skip the glaze: The streusel has plenty of flavor on its own, or serve the muffins with a spoonful of homemade pumpkin butter.
Christina's recipe tips
Leave space between the muffins. I get noticeably taller muffin tops when I fill every second cavity in the muffin pan rather than placing the muffins directly beside one another.
Fill the liners generously. For high bakery-style tops, fill regular muffin liners all the way to the top. If you're using tall tulip liners, fill them to around the level of the muffin pan.
Use the high-low baking method. Bake at the higher temperature for the first 5 minutes, then turn the oven down for the remainder. The initial heat gives the raising agents a quick boost and helps create taller tops.
Choose your fat depending on the texture you want. Olive oil gives the lightest, fluffiest crumb, while almond butter produces a slightly richer and denser muffin. Remember that each version uses a different amount of flour.
Don't overmix. Fold only until the dry ingredients disappear. Overworked muffin batter can turn tough and dense.
Cool before glazing. If the muffins are still warm, the maple glaze disappears into the streusel instead of sitting nicely on top.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. These eggless pumpkin muffins were developed without eggs or an egg replacer. The pumpkin contributes moisture and some binding, while the vegan buttermilk, flour, and raising agents give the muffins their structure and lift.
There's no need to add flax eggs, chia eggs, or a commercial egg replacer.
Yes, but choose one version depending on what you need. For nut-free dairy-free pumpkin muffins, use olive oil instead of almond butter. For an oil-free muffin batter, use runny almond butter and follow the lower flour quantity listed in the recipe.
If you want the entire recipe to be oil-free, leave off the vegan-butter streusel as well.
Yes. Once completely cool, place the muffins in an airtight container and freeze for up to one month. Let them thaw at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving.
For shorter storage, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or refrigerate for up to a week. I like to warm them gently before serving to bring back that freshly baked texture.
More vegan pumpkin recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Muffins With Streusel Topping
Equipment
- Muffin tray
- Tulip muffin liners
Ingredients
Streusel Topping (optional)
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar *see note 1
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice mix *see note 2
- 1 teaspoon orange zest optional
- 50 g (3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) plain flour
- 30 g (1 oz) vegan butter room temperature
Muffins
- 1 batch vegan buttermilk *see note 3
- 300 g (1 ¼ cups) canned pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling
- 110 ml (⅖ cup) olive oil or 160g runny almond butter *see note 4
- 100 ml (⅖ cup) pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 140 g (⅔ cup) soft brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 280 g (2 ¼ cups) plain flour OR 240g/2 cups if using almond butter
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice mix *see note 2
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Maple Icing (optional)
- 80 g (⅔ cup) powdered sugar (icing sugar) *see note 5
- 2 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 190°C(375°F) or conventional 210°C(410°F).Line 2 muffin trays with 10-12 muffin liners - leave a gap between each one as you will only be filling every second cavity. To make the vegan "buttermilk" add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a medium bowl, stir, and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Make the streusel topping: To a medium bowl, add the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and orange zest, and use your fingertips to rub the zest and spices into the sugar. Add the flour and butter and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. You'll be left with a crumble consistency. Set aside in the fridge.
- Make the muffin batter: Add the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, almond butter or olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and brown sugar to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.To a separate large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and pumpkin spice mix. (NB: note the difference in flour amounts whether you're using olive oil or almond butter). Whisk to combine.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 parts. Fold the ingredients into the batter between each increment until there are no pockets or streaks of flour. Do not be tempted to overmix!
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, distribute the batter amongst the muffin liners and make sure to fill them all the way to the top for high muffin tops. If you're using tulip muffin cases, fill them only to the surface of the muffin pan. Crumble some streusel topping on top of each muffin.
- Bake at fan-forced 190°C/375°F or conventional 210°C/410°F for the first 5 mins. Then turn down the temperature to 170°C/340°F or conventional 190°C/375°F and continue to bake for another 15 minutes.Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them out of the tray and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool further for 30 minutes.
- Make the glaze: Mix together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until smooth. You can add more or less sugar depending on whether you want it runny or thicker. Drizzle the maple icing on top of the muffins once they have cooled.
- Storage: Place the muffins in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let them sit at room temperature for an hour before serving if stored in the fridge. You can freeze them in an airtight container and defrost them for a couple of hours before serving.You can also gently warm the muffins in the oven to get them back to tasting like they're been freshly baked!
Notes
- Sugar: Can use brown sugar or coconut sugar for the topping, but it will give a darker colored crumble
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Mix: Mix together 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp nutmeg, and ¼ tsp ground cloves.
- Vegan Buttermilk: Soy milk works best for fluffy muffins, but you can swap it for almond milk or oat milk. Learn more in my vegan buttermilk post.
- Olive Oil Vs. Almond butter: Opt for smooth runny almond butter for a slightly richer muffin, or olive oil for a light and fluffy muffin. For the olive oil version the amount of flour in the muffin batter is increased to 280g.
- Some white sugar in the US is not vegan, if in doubt use organic sugar.
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This recipe was originally posted in August 2022. It has since been modified and improved to be even more delicious and easy to make!
I have baked many a muffin in my day, both vegan and non-vegan, and I am impressed with this recipe. The muffins baked up high with a moist & tender crumb and were evenly baked - no scorched bottoms. The flavor was outstanding. You hit all the flavor notes just in the right balance with each other. The amount of effort that had to be put into developing this recipe is impressive. This is going into my "keepers" file to be made again and again! Thank you!
Hi Catherine,
This has absolutely made my day! Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment 🙂
Hi when you say 1 Bach of buttermilk how many cup were looking it . Do we put lemon or venigar.
Hi Gitaben,
It's 1 cup of soy milk and 1 tablespoon of vinegar (the amounts are linked if you click on the buttermilk in the ingredients list) Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi Chritina ❤️ These are the BEST pumpkin muffins we ever had. We looked forward to have 2 of these muffins for breakfast every day!!
Hi Nora,
This is so wonderful to hear - thank you!
This is my first experience of anything 'pumpkin pie' themed. As a South African, the 'fall' custom of pumpkin flavoured lattes, cookies, pies, cakes and spice.... was never more than something that appeared on TV.
So, once moving to the UK where ingredients like pumpkin puree are readily available - I thought I would give it a shot.....and WOW.
What an amazing, delicious, softly spiced, not too sweet (besides the streusel and glaze) creation. Absolutely LOVED these.
Easy to make, and utterly lovely. I will 100% repeat these and woe betide anyone who thinks they can muscle in on my share 😉
HI
Hi Megan,
What an honor it is for this to be your first pumpkin baking recipe! I'm so happy you loved it. Growing up, we also didn't have many pumpkin desserts in Ireland, so I completely understand your excitement once tried them!
Thanks so much for sharing your lovely review 🙂
The perfect Pumpkin Muffins do exist, it's these 🙂 And they are super easy to make. I totally recommend these recipe 🙂
Hi Nina,
Thank you so much for your positive feedback, I saw your muffins on Instagram and they looked so perfect!
Hola buenas tardes !!
en la cobertura se puede sustituir la mantequilla vegana por margarina ?
gracias por compartir tus recetas .
hola buenas trades !!
en el streusel la mantequilla vegana se podria sustituir por margarina ?
gracias por todas tus recetas !!!
Hello Hortensia,
I think it will be fine to use margarine for the streusel topping 🙂
Muchísimas gracias, ya los hice y quedarnos deliciosos, gracias por contestar y compartir tus deliciosas creaciones . Linda tarde !!
Just made these today and already ate two (don’t tell anyone). They are fluffy, light, beautiful to look at, just the right amount of sweet, deliciously spiced, perfect! I used a regular muffin tin and got 18 muffins though… I guess that means it’s ok to eat 2 😉
Hi Eve-Marie,
I'm delighted to hear that you loved the recipe, thank you so much for your feedback. You've reminded me to make another batch today! Oh yes, the liners I used in the images are slightly larger than regular muffin cases, but as you say, the more muffins the better 🙂
These look delicious. Would it work using carrot puree too??
Thanks so much Claire,
I'm not sure how the flavor would work with carrot puree, usually, I would use grated carrots for carrot-based bakes. Butternut squash would have a similar flavor to pumpkin though if that's easier to find? You just need to make sure that the puree isn't too watery, so reduce it in the pan if needed 🙂