I taught a vegan baking class at Ovenly last week, which was a lot of fun. We made brownies and muffins (these ones). The former were of course richer and more decadent and in many ways the star of the class. But at the end of the night, when I was on my way home, it was the muffin I reached for as a late evening snack, and then reached for again the following morning.
I love muffins. There are more elaborate and exciting baking projects, for sure, but there’s nothing like a good muffin. They can be breakfast, snack, or dessert, they’re low-key and easy to make, and there’s never an end to the combinations and possibilities of a fresh batch. I look forward to the start baking season (i.e. autumn) every year, and muffins are often the first thing I make.
This weekend, I decided to celebrate baking season and pumpkin season simultaneously with these vegan pumpkin cranberry walnut muffins.
It was a spontaneous baking urge to make them, and I didn’t plan to post them this week, but they’re too good not to share. They’re tender, sweet, spiced, and they scream “fall.” Here’s the recipe.
The only downside of muffins, at least as a breakfast option, is that they rarely fill me up unless I have two, pair one with fruit, or slather one with almond or peanut butter. You could do any of that with this batch. You could also enjoy them as an afternoon snack with a glass of tea or non-dairy milk. I’ve had them in my home for a few days, and I’ve savored them in all of those ways.
If you’re dying to make these and have different nuts or dried fruit at home—raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, dates, or whatnot—you can definitely make substitutions as needed.
It was a surprisingly warm weekend, but the baking ritual still felt really good: a culinary welcome to the change of seasons. Hope you’ll enjoy these sweet treats as much as I have. And before I go, a big thank you all for the supportive and generous words on becoming an RD. I’m grateful and looking forward to what’s next!
xo
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Absolutely delicious. Thank you very much.
For spices, we used star anise, cloves and cinnamon and for sugar, coconut sugar. They came out great and both, my little girl and me enjoyed them!
I thought they were good. I used fresh cranberries instead of dried ones, whole wheat flour, and cut the sugar way back. I have loads of pumpkins to use up this winter, so I’ve been adding pumpkin to everything.
These are awesome, I’ve made them several times, using applesauce in place of the oil.
Thanks for a lovely recipe!!
I make these muffins EVERY week (they are in the oven right now) and I keep forgetting to thank you. Many thanks! My 11-year old especially loves them. I have scaled up the recipe so that I use the entire can of pumpkin, and we substitute a generous handful of mini chocolate chips for the cranberries and walnuts. Here is my ingredient list:
3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup + 2 T non-dairy milk
1 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 15-oz can pumpkin purée
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
handful mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
This yields 18 muffins using a large muffin scoop. I usually freeze half of the batch and pull them out a few days later after the first half has disappeared 🙂
Thank you, Gena!
These are amazing, I made them on many occasions, using applesauce instead of oil. Thanks for sharing.
These are awesome, I’ve made them several times, using applesauce in place of the oil.
Thanks for a lovely recipe!!
Hi Gena,
I always read your recipes when I need to try new taste and I love cakes and cookies.
thanks, I love to have these cupcakes at home.
Hey I though only I loved pumpkin muffins : ) Glad to see I was wrong! I have a variation of these in which I use actual raw pumpkin (grated) instead of pumpkin puree. I don’t cook it beforehand, just remove seeds and peel it, then grate it and mix it in the pumpkin batter. It provides great results.
I will try your version too, but I have to find pumpkin puree (I suppose you buy it canned from somewhere?) or make it myself.
Here’s my recipe if you wish to check it out: https://vegancheapneasy.com/no-frosting-vegan-pumpkin-spice-cupcakes/
These are very good, I’ve made them several times, using applesauce in place of the oil.
Thanks for a great recipe!!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them!
These are delicious! Will definitely be making them again. Thank you.
Yay!
Can’t use oil, especially coconut oil.
Would subbing applesauce work in this recipe?
Hi LouAnn,
I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t completely vouch for the results. But I do think substituting applesauce (and adjusting the amount if the batter feels very thick) is worth a try! Hope it works.
G
These are perfect!
I’m so glad!
Made these on Friday and have been enjoying them all weekend. Thank you so much for posting!!
I’m so glad!
Made these tonight to celebrate Fall! I love them! Moist and just sweet enough, tart sweet cranberries and walnuts add flavor and texture.
Aw, so glad—I love them, too. After I posted them I made an extra batch to freeze, and I’m still making my way through those! 🙂
We will for sure be making these again. Very easy and delicious. Wish we doubled the recipe!
We subbed some of the sugar for hemp seeds to make them a bit heartier. Worked well!
Yum! Sounds great.
Thank you for all these perfect recipes.
I’ll try it definitely.
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. This is the perfect fall recipe :). Cant wait to try them
I hope you enjoy them!
Muffins are my all-time favorite. Thank you for sharing. I am surely going to try this on the weekend. 🙂
It’s autumn and pumpkins are perfect for this time of the year! Can I replace sugar with maple syrup?
Hi Joshua,
You can! The muffins may be a little denser, but it’ll work just fine 🙂
Gena
What is the nutritional content of the muffins? thanks!
Hi Linda,
I haven’t calculated it. You can definitely try to use a program like MyFitnessPal to input the ingredients and get the nutrition facts.
G
What luck!I have cranberries, pumpkin purée and walnuts that were looking for something to do…with your recipe, they will drop into my muffin tin, that’s what!
Hooray!