The Best Healthy Oat Flour Pumpkin Muffins for Fall

Fall is just around the corner! Nothing says fall quite like freshly baked pumpkin muffins. Traditional pumpkin muffins might leave you feeling less than perky with all that sugar and white flour. Try these healthy pumpkin muffins with oat flour instead.

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I’ve tried my share of pumpkin muffin and pumpkin bread recipes. Some good, some just o.k. and some that slowly made their way to the trash can. This is often my life as I like to take traditional recipes and make them healthier.

Maybe some of you can relate. I’m not sure I’ve ever made a recipe as written unless it was already cleaned up. My goal is to eat as much yummy food as possible, and I prefer not to need a nap afterward.

My most frequent baking mistake is cutting too much sugar. While I do like to keep things as low in sugar as possible, pumpkin muffins are meant to be a treat in my book, so they need to be slightly sweet. My first go around with this recipe, I used 1/2 cup of sweetener, and it wasn’t enough.

It’s possible that 3/4 a cup might work here especially if you like subtly sweet desserts. I have not tried cutting back from recommended 1 cup yet as I really wanted the second batch to be a win with my kiddos.

Are These Muffins Kid Friendly?

These healthy pumpkin muffins underwent the ultimate test when my son had several of his baseball buddies over recently. I set them out with some other snacks, and all of the boys gobbled them up in record time. These muffins are officially 8-year-old boy approved.

Will This Recipe Work for Pumpkin Bread?

Yes, it should! You will just want to use alternative baking instructions as breads take longer to cook than muffins due to the size of the loaf pan verses a muffin tin.

If you are baking at 350 degrees, cook time for pumpkin bread is approximately 60-80 minutes.

Is Pumpkin A Superfood?

Yes, pumpkin is incredibly healthy, and many consider it a superfood!

Pumpkin is super low calorie with only 50 calories in a cup of pumpkin. It is rich in vitamin A, which is great for vision and the immune system. Pumpkin also contains lutein and zeaxanthin compounds that protect your eyes from age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.

It is high in potassium, vitamin C, antioxidants and fiber which are essential for heart health. The vitamin C is also an immune booster that helps reduce cell damage from free radicals.

Pumpkins contains cancer-fighting carotenoids. Carotenoids are plant pigments produced by yellow, orange and red plants like pumpkins, carrots, squash and tomatoes that defend against certain types of cancer.

About the Ingredients

The Flours

I have experimented with many flour combinations over the years, but I like the consistency of an almond and oat best. The almond flour offers a hearty flavor while the oat flour brings the fluffiness/lightness of a traditional muffin.

For simplicity, you can absolutely just use oat flour. If you need the muffins to be gluten free be sure to use a gluten-free oat flour like Rob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour or grind your own gluten-free oats.

If you can tolerate the gluten-like protein found in oats or potential trace amounts of gluten via crop contamination, any oat flour will work just fine. I typically buy Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Flour.

I use basically this same flour combination in all of my muffin recipes. If you are looking for a healthier chocolate chip or double chocolate muffin recipe, I have got you covered.

Butter or Coconut Oil

I typically use Kerry Gold butter for baking. It’s grass fed, which gets you a few benefits above regular butter like more omega-3 fatty acids. Grass fed butter also contain less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat, which is better for heart health.

Coconut oil should also work well in this recipe. I have not tried any alternatives like avocado oil of ghee.

The Milk

My family uses almond milk for most everything, so that’s the main reason I use it in these muffins. I have also used coconut milk and am certain almost any type of milk would work fine in this recipe, including oat, cashew or whole milk.

The Pumpkin

Be sure to buy pure pumpkin or pumpkin puree rather than pumpkin pie filling, which will contain lots of added sugar. This recipe calls for a full can, which I love! There’s nothing more frustrating than being left with half a can of perfectly good pumpkin puree ;).

Coconut Sugar

Maple syrup is typically my sweetener of choice but when I tried this recipe with maple syrup, it was too moist. Coconut sugar is slightly more nutrient dense than cane sugar and has a lower glycemic index. It also tastes yummy! Personally, I go for a little real sugar over the artificial sweeteners.

More important than the type of sugar is the amount. These muffins have about half of the sugar of a traditional muffin recipe, and they are still sweet enough to taste like a treat. My kids are quick to call out my “healthy recipes,” but there was no protesting with these.

I estimated the sugar content at 16 grams of sugar per muffin.

Eggs

Not much to say here. Eggs are one of my favorite foods, so I always want at least two when I am baking. Plus, baked goods need as much protein as possible to blunt those blood sugar spikes.

Spices

I am not a skilled baker, so the spices for pumpkin desserts have always confused me, honestly! I looked at a few pumpkin muffin recipes and went with the most common choice of pumpkin pie spice plus a little extra cinnamon. Cinnamon is my absolute favorite spice, so I’m always generous there.

What is in Pumpkin Pie Spice?

If you are forgetful like me, let me remind you what is in pumpkin pie spice as I tend to have individual spices rather than blends. Pumpkin pie spice traditionally contains cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. But wait … sometimes it also contains all-spice. See, kind of confusing!

I used a DIY blend of pumpkin pie spice and did add the optional all-spice. I thought the flavor was perfect for what it’s worth.

The Supplies

If you are wanting to reduce toxins in your kitchen, here are a few of my favorite supplies.

I use this basic stainless-steel muffin tin. I’ve used it years, and it’s in near perfect condition. You can find better quality, but since I always use baking cups, it’s not a big concern of mine at the moment.

Anchor Hocking is my choice for glassware including their 4-quart glass mixing bowls. I have these IKEA stainless-steel measuring cups, and here are my favorite unbleached baking cups.

Final Thoughts

I hope these healthy pumpkin muffins with oat flour are a hit for your family like they were with mine. Whether you make these for breakfast, brunch or a special occasion, I hope they give you all the fall vibes. Enjoy!