Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

A delicious and nutritious way to get your pumpkin spice fix without all of the added sugar found in most October-y treats!

Okay so I have a bit of a confession to make. I’m a PSN (that stands for Pumpkin Spice Nerd). And hey, that may sound cliché, but I have the history to back it up for sure.

Case in point: I always have pumpkin pie on my birthday — not cake. That’s been a standard tradition since I was old enough to appreciate it. In fact, I only remember ever having pumpkin pie on my birthday.

So as you can imagine, I love this time of year. The world has finally caught on to the fact that pumpkin and pumpkin spice are some of the best flavors to exist in the entire world. They’re now found in almost every kind of food and edible product. (And I mean that. CVS even came out with pumpkin spice cough drops last year. No, I didn’t try them, but yes, I was intrigued.)

But even with all of those pumpkin-y items out on the shelves, you really can’t beat a good, homemade pumpkin something. And why is that? Because then your apartment will smell like pumpkin from all the baking!

Cue these Paleo Pumpkin Muffins. Although I don’t follow a paleo diet all of the time, I still love experimenting with gluten-free flours. There’s a ton of research being done about the gluten and its effects on gut health. And I have to say, it isn’t looking too good.

But hey, that’s a topic for another post.

Anyways, these muffins use coconut flour as a thickener, and boy does it do its job well. I use the brand pictured below and have had success with this recipe time and time again. However, if you don’t use the Nutiva brand, you may have to adjust a little. Coconut flour is SUPER absorbent, but each brand tends to have its own quirks. You have to be willing to experiment a little in the kitchen to get some yummy results.

A common complaint I have about pumpkin spice desserts is that a lot of the time, there really isn’t enough spice! And trust me, I love spice. Just look at the size of my cinnamon container!

(For the record, I have two more pounds of cinnamon in flat containers up in my cabinets so that I can refill my giant shaker whenever I need it. Pro tip: get cinnamon at Amish markets in bulk!)

I pumped up the spices for these muffins because that’s how I like them best, but if you’re searching for a more mild pumpkin spice flavor, feel free to reduce the amounts.

Another complaint about your everyday store-bought pumpkin dessert: they have so much sugar.

Honestly! Have you ever checked the amount of sugar found in these desserts? For reference, a grande PSL at Starbucks (with 2% milk and whipped cream) contains a whopping 50 grams of the stuff. To envision that, imagine getting out a ¼ cup measuring cup and filling it up with sugar and eating it.

Yup. Yikes.

I sweetened these muffins the paleo way, substituting refined sugar for a low dose of maple syrup. And since there’s only ¼ cup of it split between the nine muffins — approximately 6.2 grams of sugar per muffin — you can eat them for breakfast without a care in the world.

After you mix up all the ingredients and spoon them into the liners, don’t forget to top each muffin off with some pumpkin seeds! These are totally optional, but they give such a great crunch that they really should be required.

And after what seems like an eternity (but is really only about a half hour or so) you’ll have some warming pumpkin-y goodness!

This recipe has become such a breakfast staple to me over the last few weeks. To make it a little more filling, I like to mix up a bowl of some pumpkin purée with some plain Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of the same spices found in the muffins themselves. Next I add some frozen blueberries, crumble up one of these muffins, and top it all off with some nut butter.

Now come on, that’s a great autumn breakfast! Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think!

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Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

Because you can get your pumpkin spice fix without all of the added sugar found in most October-y treats!

Course Breakfast

Keyword pumpkin

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 9

Author Paige Harris

Ingredients

Dry

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of sea salt

Wet

• 4 eggs room-temperature
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie filling!

Toppings

• pumpkin seeds optional, but highly recommended for the crunch!

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare your muffin tin with 9 liners. Personally, I like using my silicone muffin liners for easy clean up, but you could also use paper liners or simply spray the pan with some nonstick spray (either coconut, avocado, or olive oil base).
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine your coconut flour, baking soda, and spices.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat your eggs until foamy. Next, add in the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Add pumpkin and mix until fully combined.
5. Dump in your dry ingredients; it’s okay to do this all at once! Mix thoroughly until no lumps are left.
6. Spoon dough equally into the muffin liners and smooth the tops down. They won’t flatten out during baking, so be sure to make them look their best!
7. Sprinkle each muffin with pumpkin seeds.
8. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.