Pumpkin Muffins With Cake Mix

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We make these pumpkin muffins with cake mix often during fall because they are the EASIEST muffins ever! You need a box of cake mix and pumpkin puree for sure. Also, use eggs, oil and buttermilk to have wonderfully fluffy and moist muffins.

Pumpkin muffins with cake mix on a cooling rack and peanuts on the side.

If you love baking with cake mixes, go check out our other cake mix recipes like peach cobbler with cake mix, lemon cake mix cookies and chocolate cake mix cookies. They are all ridiculously easy to make!

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Why We Like This Recipe
About The Ingredients
How To Make
Expert Tips
Variations
Storing
FAQs
Other Pumpkin Recipes
📖 Recipe

We have seen several recipes for cake mix pumpkin muffins, which call for only two or three ingredients. They are made just with a box of yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree. Well, we’ve tested a few of them and ended up with muffins that are not soft or fluffy enough.

So these are NOT two-ingredient pumpkin muffins. We created our own recipe by adding the necessary ingredients for fluffiness. Hello eggs, oil and buttermilk! Yet, it is still easy to make because you will use a box of cake mix or your own diy cake mix, so you won't need to worry about the dry ingredients. They are already whisked and ready.

Why We Like This Recipe

They are super easy to make with a box of cake mix and a few additional ingredients.
They taste no different from homemade muffins made from scratch although you use boxed cake mix.
They are wonderfully soft and fluffy.
They make perfect on-the-go breakfast.
They freeze well for up to 2 months. Just bring them to room temperature before serving.

Cake mix, pumpkin puree, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, panuts, buttermilk and olive oil all in separate bowls on a grey background.

About The Ingredients

Eggs: They are perfect binders, so they help the muffins have a good and tender structure. The role of eggs in baking is important, so include them in your pumpkin muffin batter. If you want to make them egg-free, use an egg substitute like flax eggs.

Oil: It is another ingredient that makes these pumpkin muffins soft and moist. Also, oil helps the muffins to be removed from the tin or paper cups easily. Use any oil that has a mild flavor like light olive oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil.

Buttermilk: It is one of the best ingredients that makes what you bake (muffins in our case) really fluffy and tender due to its acidic structure. If you don't have it on hand, you can substitute yogurt for it.

Pumpkin puree: Make sure it is NOT pumpkin pie filling. Either buy it from a store or make your own pure pumpkin puree. We always have some to make this cake mix pumpkin muffin recipe, cornmeal pumpkin muffins or pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

Cake mix: You can use white cake mix, vanilla cake mix, yellow cake mix to make these super easy pumpkin muffins. You should add spices to the mixture if you use one of these cake mixes. We used homemade cake mix and added two spices in it: Cinnamon and nutmeg. You can just use store-bought pumpkin pie spice too. It is a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and ginger.

On the other hand, you don't need to worry about spices if you use a box of spice cake mix.

Optional add-ins: We love some nuts in our pumpkin spice muffins, so put some roasted peanuts. Walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts work fine too. Alternatively, you can use mini chocolate chips too.

How To Make

This cake mix pumpkin muffin recipe has a few easy steps.

First, combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl: Whisk together the eggs, oil, and buttermilk well. Then add in pumpkin puree and mix well.

A collage of pictures showing the steps of cake mix pumpkin muffins recipe.

Second, add in the cake mix and spices (or spice cake mix). Now fold in chopped peanuts.

Pumpkin muffin batter poured in a muffin white muffin tin.

Next, share the batter into a muffin tin using an ice cream scoop. Finally, sprinkle extra peanuts on top of each muffin and bake.

Expert Tips

Don't leave out eggs, oil and buttermilk! These are the key ingredients for delicious pumpkin muffins with cake mix. This recipe could easily be made with two ingredients: a boxed cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree. But don't do that. We don't recommend this! For fluffy, soft and moist muffins, you should use eggs, oil and buttermilk in the recipe. Otherwise, you end up with dense muffins.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can easily make it at home. Mix 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in a cup. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and your buttermilk is ready.
If you use a spice cake mix, leave the spices in our ingredient list out.
To make these gluten free, you can use a box of gluten free cake mix.
Brush your muffin pan with oil or use paper liners and then pour the batter. This will help you remove muffins from the pan or paper liners easily.
Don't over-mix the batter. After adding the cake mix and spices, mix with a hand whisk just until everything combines well. And just stir a few times after adding nuts (or chocolate chips).
Don't use pumpkin pie filling in this cake mix pumpkin muffin recipe. It contains sugar and spices, so it is definitely not for this recipe. Use pure pumpkin puree.
Always test your muffins after 20 minutes before removing them from the oven. If a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, they are done. If it comes out wet, you need to bake them for a few more minutes. Check mini muffins after 10 minutes.

Pumpkin muffins topped with chopped peanuts on a white and grey plate , roasted peanuts on the side.

Variations

You can use the same recipe to make a cake mix pumpkin bread. Just pour the mixture- in a loaf pan instead of a muffin tin. Then you should bake them for about 40 minutes. Make a toothpick test after 30 minutes.

You can make mini muffins if you want smaller portions. Then you should bake them for about 10 minutes.

You can top the muffins with an easy streusel topping and then bake them.

You can turn these pumpkin cake mix muffins into cupcakes by topping them with a cream cheese frosting.

If you would like a chocolate flavor, you can even use your homemade chocolate cake mix in the batter and turn them into perfect chocolate pumpkin muffins.

Storing

Keep these cake mix muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days and in the fridge for up to a week.

They are freezer friendly too. Put them in a resealable freezer bag and keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw them, you can let them sit on the counter overnight and enjoy the next morning or about 1 hour before serving.

Pumpkin muffins on a plate, one is halved.

FAQs

Is pumpkin in a can cooked?

Yes, it is cooked so you can directly use it without cooking again.

Can I use fresh pumpkin instead of canned?

Of course. You just need to cook and make a puree out of it before using it in your baking. It is a ridiculously easy process.

Is pumpkin puree the same as canned pumpkin or pumpkin pie filling?

Canned pumpkin is cooked pumpkin like the pumpkin puree and it has no sugar, sweeteners or spice in it. However, pumpkin pie filling has sweeteners and spices.

Is pumpkin in a can cooked?

Yes, it is cooked so you can directly use it without cooking again.

How many cups are in a can of pumpkin?

In a can of 15 ounces there are 2 cups of pumpkins.

Other Pumpkin Recipes

As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!

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