Cornmeal Pumpkin Muffins

Why We Like This Recipe

This is one of our favorite muffin recipes and here are the reasons:

• These cornmeal pumpkin muffins are very easy to make. Simply combine the ingredients to make the batter and bake it!
• It makes 12 muffins and no batter is left over, so just perfect for our 12-cup muffin pan.
• They are packed with delicious and well-balanced fall flavors.
• This recipe is very flexible. You can easily substitute any of these ingredients(read the variations below) and even make sweet potato cornmeal muffins.
• They freeze well.

About The Ingredients

Pumpkin puree: We use real homemade pumpkin puree for these pumpkin cornbread muffins. You can also buy store-bought puree, just make sure it’s not the pumpkin pie filling – these are not the same thing! You can also substitute the pumpkin purée with pureed sweet potatoes in equal parts.

Cornmeal: It is coarse ground flour made from dried corn. It helps add texture and structure to the muffins. You should know the difference between cornmeal and corn flour before starting to bake these muffins. Don’t use corn flour! It acts as a thickening agent and will make your pumpkin cornmeal muffins dense.

We use cornmeal very often, especially to make cornbread without flour, which is great to pair with soups. Also, we use it in several other savory gluten free recipes like fried zucchini chips.

Sugar: We love to use a mixture of white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. The latter adds a caramel-like flavor to the muffins. It pairs wonderfully with the pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice flavors, especially when serving these as Thanksgiving muffins.

Pumpkin pie spice: If you can't find it, you can make yours by combining the fall spices like ground cinnamon (½ teaspoon), ginger(¼ teaspoon) and nutmeg(¼ teaspoon).

Oil: We decided to use olive oil in this pumpkin cornbread muffin recipe, but you can use melted butter instead. It will make the pumpkin cornbread mix much richer.

Optional topping: We use pumpkin seeds for topping, but it is totally optional. You can leave them out or sprinkle brown sugar instead.

How to Make

These are the best corn pumpkin muffins you will ever make! They don’t take a ton of time to make, the steps are all very easy, and you can also substitute any of these ingredients to make a variation that meets your needs!

1. Preheat the oven. Set the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line it with non-stick paper muffin cups.

2. Make the dry mixture. In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients including the cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda, the salt, and the pumpkin pie spice. Whisk them together so that the ingredients are evenly distributed.

3. Make the wet mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and oil until you get a creamy mixture.

4. Whisk in the smooth pumpkin puree.

5. Combine dry and wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet pumpkin mixture.

6. Mix until all the ingredients just come together.

7. Use an ice cream scoop and share the batter between the 12 lined muffin cups, about ¾ full.

8. Make the optional topping and bake: Sprinkle pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas over each. Bake them for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow your freshly baked cornmeal pumpkin muffins to rest for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Tips

• You have to combine the wet and dry ingredients separately before mixing them. This way you will ensure that all of the ingredients are well combined and that they form a smooth, lump-free batter.
• If you want to make a slight variation on this recipe, you can substitute the pumpkin puree for pureed sweet potato.
• If you don’t have brown sugar on hand, just use the same amount of granulated sugar instead.
• Be careful not to over mix the batter. This will remove any air inside the batter and create flat muffins, not nice fluffy ones as we want. 
• For the same reason, you should also not use an electric mixer.
• Do not overfill the cups. Not only will this create a mess, but it will ruin the look of your beautiful snacks.

How to Store

• These easy pumpkin cornbread muffins can be placed in an airtight container and kept at room temperature for a day.
• Alternatively, you can store them in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Again, make sure that they are sealed in airtight containers or bags.
• And if you thought it couldn’t get any better, these muffins can be wrapped individually and frozen for up to a month!

Variations

• Pumpkin cornmeal bread: Use this recipe and pour the batter in a loaf cake pan. You will end up with a fluffy pumpkin cornbread loaf cake. Alternatively, you can make it in a cake pan too and get a sweeter version of pumpkin cornbread.
• Cornbread in a cast iron pan: Pour the batter in a cast iron pan and bake. Follow these tips on baking in cast iron to prevent the batter from sticking to the pan.
• Healthy pumpkin cornbread muffins: You can make this recipe much healthier by substituting sugar with honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar.
• Vegan pumpkin cornbread muffins: You can make this recipe completely vegan using flaxseed egg or another vegan egg substitute. And if you want to make other vegan pumpkin recipes, have a look at our Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.
• Dairy free cornbread muffins: This recipe is already dairy-free and we use pumpkin puree, but if you are not in a pumpkin season or want to make it without the pumpkin flavor, substitute it with one of the non-dairy milks like full fat coconut milk, soy milk, oat milk or almond milk (½ cup).
• Mini muffins: We use a 12-cup muffin pan for this recipe, but you can use a mini muffin pan so that you can increase the amount of portions for a crowd. 

Frequently Asked Questions

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