Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

These grain-free and gluten-free paleo pumpkin muffins are an amazing autumn treat. My simple and delicious almond flour pumpkin muffin recipe has a moist crumb and calls for just a few easy-to-find ingredients!

A collage of the cooking steps to make easy and healthy paleo pumpkin almond flour muffins

Almond Flour Muffins

These paleo pumpkin muffins are made with just almond flour as the base. Even though I love grain-free paleo treats, I don’t have the patience (or the expandable pants) required to test out every single substitution or alternative flour available. If I can nail a paleo dessert recipe with just one type of flour—in this case, almond flour—I call it a day and say “you’re welcome” to my waistline. Plus, I don’t need to spend tons of money on expensive flours and starches that I’ll rarely use.

Pro tip: The most accurate way to measure almond flour is by weight on a kitchen scale. No scale? You can also just use the “fluff, sprinkle, and scrape” method demonstrated here with dry measuring cups.

On the left, someone is weighing out almond flour on a kitchen scale. On the right, someone is measuring the almond flour in a measuring cup.

Nut allergy?

Need a nut-free version? I don’t have one (yet), so try this pumpkin bread recipe by my pal Danielle Walker instead!

Substitutions?

Unfortunately, my cooking skills are way stronger than my baking skills so I’m not sure how this recipe will work with different flours or how to substitute the eggs, sweetener, etc. If you try a substitution and it works out great, please leave a note in the comments so everyone can benefit from your baking prowess. Thanks in advance!

Can you use the paleo pumpkin muffin batter to make a cake or bread?

Yes! If you want to make a paleo pumpkin snack cake or pumpkin bars, pour the batter into a greased 8-inch by 8-inch square cake pan and bake it in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until cooked through. Love pumpkin bread? Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until cooked through. If the top is browning too quickly, tent the top of the loaf with a piece of foil at the 45 minute mark.

Get your kids to bake them!

These paleo pumpkin muffins are so dang easy to make, you should hand the recipe to your kiddos and tell them to bake a dozen! Before I finalized the recipe, I asked my favorite teenagers to bake a batch to see if the muffins would come out the right way…and the recipe passed with flying colors!

A teenage girl and boy are scooping paleo pumpkin muffin batter into the muffin tins and the next picture has them transferring the cooked muffins to a cooling rack.

Let’s make Paleo Pumpkin Muffins!

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2½ cups (280 g) super-fine blanched almond flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar (or 1 teaspoon lemon juice)
¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 cup (240 g) canned pumpkin purée
½ cup (170 g) honey
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment: All my favorite kitchen tools are listed on this constantly updated Amazon page.

Method:

Heat oven to 350ºF with the rack in the middle. Line a muffin tin with parchment muffin liners or grease it well with ghee or coconut oil.

A person is adding parchment muffin liners to a muffin tin to make paleo pumpkin muffins.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl: almond flour, pumpkin spice blend, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk it all together.

Whisking the dry ingredients for paleo pumpkin muffins in a clear large mixing bowl.

In a separate large bowl, add the pumpkin purée, honey, eggs, and vanilla. Use a hand mixer or whisk to blend everything together.

Measuring out the wet ingredients for paleo pumpkin muffins and then mixing it together with a hand mixer.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and use a hand mixer to blend…

Adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and then using a hand mixer to blend the paleo pumpkin muffin batter.

…until well combined.

A teenage boy and a teenage girl are smiling as they are mixing a batch of paleo pumpkin muffins in a glass bowl.

Don’t dawdle because the baking soda has already been activated at this point and the muffins need to get in the oven!

The paleo almond flour pumpkin muffin batter ready to be scooped into the muffin tin.

Divide the batter evenly into each muffin liner. (I use a #20 disher to scoop the batter.)

Someone using a disher to scoop the paleo almond flour muffins into the lined muffin tin.

Bake the muffins in the oven at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the muffin tray at the halfway mark.

Baking the paleo pumpkin muffins in the oven and rotating them at the halfway point.

The muffins are done cooking when the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Checking the doneness of paleo pumpkin muffins by inserting a toothpick into the center of one.

Remove the muffins from the oven and transfer the muffins to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

A shot of the cooked paleo pumpkin muffins on a cooling rack.

Eat ’em up! Store the muffins in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

A closeup of the paleo pumpkin muffins on a wire rack.

Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013) and Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017)!

PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD