Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping are a delightful fall treat. Pumpkin pie spice lends warm flavor to these cozy muffins and that topping makes them simply irresistible. 

These moist and fluffy warmly-spiced gluten-free pumpkin pancakes are here to pave the way through pumpkin spice season.

A universal truth?

Streusel topping always improves a muffin. Always. That is a fact.

So if you’re game for an inviting pumpkin treat, these muffins are here to serve!

Let us bake.

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins:

Pumpkin Puree: Canned pumpkin is what gives this bread that warm fall flavor, a natural sweetness and creaminess.

Eggs: Eggs make these healthy pumpkin muffins nice and fluffy and keep them held together nicely.

Butter: The fat that makes a muffin ultra moist! The butter also reacts with the baking soda to leaven the muffins. You can replace it with your favorite oil (I’d recommend coconut oil or avocado oil) to keep the muffins dairy-free. 

Pure Vanilla Extract: Optional but always recommended in bread and cookies to give that familiar warm flavor.

Gluten-Free Flour: The base of these pumpkin muffins is gluten-free all-purpose flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for this recipe. I’m confident Pamela’s and King Arthur’s gluten-free blends will work great too, but I haven’t tested the recipe with them yet.

Coconut Sugar (or raw cane sugar): Used to sweeten! Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index than cane sugar, resulting in a sweet treat without spiking your blood sugar.

Coconut sugar also has a natural caramel-nutty flavor, which is a lovely pairing for fall treats.

If you don’t have coconut sugar on hand, you can also use raw cane sugar, brown sugar, or granulated cane sugar. You can also use a sugar-free sweetener to make the bread sugar-free.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: Pumpkin pie spice is what gives anything that iconic pumpkin flavor. A pumpkin bread without the pumpkin pie spice is just a little bland.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, no worries – you can make your own blend. Use 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground cloves (or all spice), and ½ tsp ground nutmeg.

Baking Soda & Sea Salt: For leavening and for flavor! Baking soda helps the muffins rise AND holds them together. The sea salt enhances the flavor of all of the ingredients and helps them taste sweet without the need for more sugar. Don’t skip either one!

Streusel Topping (Optional): The streusel topping for these muffins is optional, but recommended! It is a combination of gluten-free flour, cinnamon, sugar (or coconut sugar), melted butter, and sea salt. The result is a sweet and buttery crumb topping that adds nice texture and flavor.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tray with papers (note: this recipe makes 15 to 18 muffins depending on your size preference, so you’ll need to make two batches).

Whisk the pureed pumpkin, eggs, melted butter, and pure vanilla extract together in a mixing bowl until well-combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and sea salt and stir until well-combined.

Pour the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet pumpkin mixture and mix until a thick dough forms and everything is combined.

In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients for the streusel topping.

Fill the muffin holes with the muffin batter and top with streusel topping.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until muffins are golden-brown on top and test clean.

Allow muffins to cool at least 1 hour before unwrapping and eating.

For an ultra delicious muffin, drizzle with honey when they are fresh out of the oven.

Recipe Adaptations:

• Add ¼ to ⅓ cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the streusel topping, OR add ⅔ cup chopped nuts to the muffin batter.
• Add ⅔ cup chocolate chips to the muffin batter.

More Healthy Muffin Recipes:

• Healthy Apple Muffins
• Flourless Oatmeal Banana Nut Muffins
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
• Avocado Chocolate Muffins
• Paleo Morning Glory Muffins

More Pumpkin Recipes:

• Healthy Pumpkin Cake
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
• Paleo Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
• Gluten-Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Enjoy!

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!