Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
Packed with pumpkin, oats and nuts, these Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins make for a tasty breakfast on a chilly autumn morning!
This is one of my favorite times of the year. The holidays are on the horizon, and there is a general excitement in the air. Whether it’s seeing friends and family for the holidays or wondering what Santa might leave under the tree this year, everyone seems to be excited. I love it!
Aside from that excitement, I also love the smells that drift out of the kitchen. There’s just something about the familiar smells of a turkey roasting in the oven or your favorite dessert resting on the kitchen counter. I love breakfast food, but I don’t often go to the effort of baking something for breakfast. Perhaps on a lazy Saturday morning, I might make a tray of buttermilk biscuits. Oh, who am I kidding? Lazy Saturday mornings don’t exist when you have a 6-year-old in the house!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
I had a craving for muffins recently, so I hopped into the kitchen and whipped up a batch of these Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins. These muffins are packed with many of the classic autumn baking ingredients – cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, pumpkin and chopped pecans. How can you go wrong with that combo!?
These muffins feature a base with a noticeable pumpkin flavor – after all, there’s a cup of pumpkin puree in there! However, instead of just flour, I used a mixture of flour and oats. The oats add a chewiness to these muffins that is fantastic! I know ‘chewy’ and ‘muffin’ aren’t words that typically go together, but just trust me here. These muffins are fantastic…and we haven’t even talked about the streusel topping!
Years ago – when Laura and I first moved to New York – I took several professional baking courses at a local community college. I wasn’t planning on a career as a baker. I wasn’t even writing this blog at the time. I just wanted to learn how to bake from scratch.
One of the tricks I learned in an American Commercial Baking course was the value of topping muffins with streusel. Now there are plenty of amazing muffin recipes out there that don’t include a streusel topping. However, if you really want to take a muffin to the next level, add a streusel topping!
I crumbled my go-to streusel topping on top of these Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins before they went into the oven. I also sprinkled a few more oats on top just for looks. The result? Fantastic! I mean streusel is basically brown sugar, cinnamon and butter – sounds pretty delicious, right?
So go pull out your favorite sweater or grab a cozy blanket. Bake up a tray of these muffins. Enjoy the morning with your family and friends! And if you happen to have extra muffins left over? These are fantastic (like seriously fantastic!) if you slice ’em in half, butter ’em and pop ’em into a toaster oven for a couple of minutes. Enjoy!
Did you bake a batch of these Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins at home? Leave a comment or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
For the Streusel Topping
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
For the Muffins
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats plus more for garnishing
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 large egg
Instructions
For the Streusel Topping
- Using a medium bowl, add sugars, cinnamon and salt; stir until well combined.
- Add the melted butter; stir until well combined.
- Add the flour; stir until well combined; set aside.
For the Muffins
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners (or spray with nonstick baking spray).
- Using a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, oats, brown sugar, chopped pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt); stir until well combined. Set bowl aside.
- Using a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, buttermilk, vanilla, oil and egg); stir until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients; stir until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin.
- Crumble the streusel on top; press streusel lightly into the batter. If desired, sprinkle a few more oats on top of the streusel.
- Bake for 23-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean.
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Cant wait to make this soon for me for the topping can i use vegan butter and muffins can i use coconut milk i never had pumpkin oatmeal muffins before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
I haven’t tried vegan ingredients in these muffins myself, Ramya, but I do think they would work well. If you give them a try, let me know? I love the flavor of these muffins for chilly, rainy fall days!
i love how easy that muffins are to make, and they taste so good. these sound healthy and tasty david.
I hear ya, Sherry! Some friends back in New York used to call me the “muffin man” – I just love muffins! 🙂 These are great for the season with the pumpkin (even though I know pumpkin is usually savory down there) and spices. Healthy? Well, if we left off the streusel topping maybe….haha.
While I don’t really link pumpkin to the holiday season (It’s more like a pre-holiday season), I think you’ve managed to create muffins that would be perfect for the next couple of months. This combination of spices, brown sugar, and nuts is so irresistibly cozy and homey. Just like a perfect treat for a lazy Christmas morning… or a hectic Christmas morning if you have a six-year-old in the house! LOL
I hear ya on the pumpkin, Ben – it’s not really a Christmas ingredient in my mind, but it does work for Thanksgiving. American Thanksgiving is coming up next week, so this one is a great way to start the day! The combination of nuts, oats and baking spices really is cozy and homey. (And you said it about Christmas morning…it’s gonna be nuts! And Robbie is turning 7 tomorrow!)
I think my boys would enjoy these for breakfast! Love that you added oats and a streusel topping cannot be beat!
I really love oats when it comes to baking. The slightly crispy, slightly nutty flavor really adds a lot! 🙂
Muffins are on of my favorite things to bake. I love that streusel topping and the warm spices mixed with the pumpkin. Perfect for this time of year.
I’m with ya, Kathy – I love baking muffins. We haven’t made too many recently (I blame the move), but now we’re settling back into our habits. These pumpkin oatmeal ones were fantastic…and perfect for the season, too!
Wow. I haven’t made muffins in ages David. And seeing these I’ve got a right craving for them now! Definitely putting on the list for baking soon! Yum!
Oh, you should totally make a batch of muffins soon, Neil – they’re great with a nice cup of coffee this time of the year. Cheers!
I love that crumble top on these muffins, David. And you can never go wrong with the combo of pumpkin and oats – SO good!
A good crumble on top of a muffin is where the party’s at! 🙂 Seriously, though, these muffins turned out really well – and they’re great for chilly autumn mornings!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve had a thing for muffins this fall, and it just won’t quit! I’ve been baking them almost every weekend, and taking one to work with me during the week. I haven’t made a pumpkin muffin, though – and I’m so excited that you say that these muffins have a great pumpkin flavor. I can’t wait to try them.
I get it, Jeff. Once you get a thing for muffins, it’s hard to make that thing stop. So just give in and become The Muffin Man! You should definitely give these a shot. They’re delicious, and they’re perfect for this time of the year, too. Happy baking, my friend!
These look just like what we need David, even if it’s almost Summer here. I have a piece of pumpkin which needs to be cooked, and some puree from that would be perfect for this recipe. Love it, thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Pauline! I understand that pumpkin down in your area typically goes into savory foods. This version is sweeter – perfect for mornings with a cup of coffee! 🙂