This easy vegan recipe for pumpkin muffins is a perfect fall recipe and will solve your pumpkin spice cravings. It's easy, healthy, and a muffin that vegans and non-vegans alike will love.
½cuppacked brown sugar (65g)light or brown is fine
¼cupmaple syrup (80g)
2tspvanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350F.
Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the muffin topping: pepitas, shelled sunflower seeds, demerara sugar, chia seeds, and poppy seeds. Set aside.
Spread the remaining pepitas, shelled sunflower seeds plus the pecans on a small baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 6 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
Heat ¼ cup water to a boil. Place flax seeds in a small bowl. Pour the hot water over the flax and mix well. Set aside to cool and thicken.
Heat the apple juice, cider, or water until it's warm to the touch. Place the dried cranberries in a small bowl and pour the warm liquid over the fruit. Set aside to plump and cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, pumpkin spice blend, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flax mixture, pumpkin puree, canola oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until well combined.
Mix the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. There will be a few streaks of dry flour which is fine at this stage. You don't want to over mix because that will lead to a tougher muffin.
Strain the liquid from the cranberries. Add to the muffin mixture along with the toasted nuts. Fold into the batter gently until well distributed.
Add about 1/2 cup of batter to each muffin cup. I like to use a disher scoop for this. This recipe makes 12 muffins so just try to fill each muffin cup as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the seed/sugar topping evenly over each muffin. Bake for ~25 minutes until the muffins spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean (a few crumbs is fine.) Cool completely and serve.
Notes
I like to use apple juice to plump the dried cranberries. It adds just a little more flavor and sweetness, but if you don't have it, water will be just fine.