Pumpkin mini muffins are a tiny version of everyone’s favorite fall treat. These are flavorful and bite sized and the perfect snack for the whole family.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Pumpkin Mini Muffins
One, because they’re mini. Everyone loves miniature versions of their favorite foods. These are full of fall flavor and such a great afterschool snack. When I make these in my house, they don’t last more than a couple of days because they can be enjoyed for breakfast, they fit perfectly in a lunchbox, or even an after-dinner treat. They are versatile and delicious.
🍲 Ingredients
Sourdough Discard – Unfed, inactive sourdough starter that’s been stored in the fridge or has been sitting on the counter.
Pumpkin Puree- Use pure pumpkin puree, preferably canned, as it’s more consistent than fresh pumpkin. Avoid pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugars and spices.
Milk – My family likes whole milk, but you can use whatever substitution is best for your family.
Butter – This brings more moisture to the muffin, but you can use coconut oil as well.
Flour – We use Kirkland’s organic, unbleached flour for our recipes. Use what you have on hand, and while organic isn’t always necessary, I do always recommend using unbleached flour.
Sugar – This uses a bit of granulated and brown sugar, but I have also substituted for honey, or all brown sugar.
Cinnamon – It just simply is not a fall recipe without ground cinnamon.
👩🍳 How to Make Pumpkin Mini Muffins
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon) set aside.
- Melt your butter and add to a large mixing bowl. Whisk together your butter, eggs, and sugar together. Add milk, sourdough discard, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until everything is dissolved together and there are no streaks.
- Whisk your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients until fully combined and there are no dry bits of flour.
- OPTIONAL: let your batter rest for 15 minutes, you can do this while preheating your oven.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into a well greased mini muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops with a light dusting of cinnamon sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 18 minutes.
- Let rest for 5 minutes in the pan before removing and letting cool.
- Enjoy as an after-school snack or with an autumn brunch!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- When combining wet and dry ingredients, mix just until they are combined. Overmixing can lead to dense muffins.
- Every oven is different, and because these are mini muffins they can easily be overbaked so keep an eye on them while baking to make sure they are cooked through but not brown.
- Letting your muffin batter rest for 10 – 15 minutes after mixing relaxes the gluten and results in a fluffier mini muffin.
- Fill each mini muffin cup about 2/3 to 3/4 full for the best rise.
🗒 Variations
Mini muffins were inspired by the necessity for my family to eat cleaner at home, and they loved those little bite muffins, so I set out to create some of my own. Eventually I created multiple variations of these mini muffins that you’ll have to check out!
🗒 Substitutions
There are many substations that you can make to this recipe to fit your families’ dietary restrictions. Especially with the milk, sugar, or butter.
- consider folding in chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries for added texture and flavor.
- Boost the flavor by adding ginger, or cloves, or experimenting with different spices.
- For a twist, consider adding ingredients like cheese or herbs to create a savory mini muffin option.
🗒 Best served with
- Autumn brunch
- Fall lunch spread
- October after school snacks
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days (I like to use a large mason jar) or freeze them for longer storage. They freeze really well!
🤔 Common Questions
If you have active sourdough starter, stir it down so there are no more air bubbles before adding to the recipe. Or if you don’t have any starter at all, add 1/4 cup more of flour + 1/4 cup of milk as a substitution in the recipe.
Pumpkin Mini Muffins
Equipment
- spoon
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbs melted butter half of 1 stick
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon) set aside.
- Melt your butter and add to a large mixing bowl. Whisk together your butter, eggs, and sugar together. Add milk, sourdough discard, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until everything is dissolved together and there are no streaks.
- Whisk your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients until fully combined and there are no dry bits of flour.
- OPTIONAL: let your batter rest for 15 minutes, you can do this while preheating your oven.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into a well greased mini muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops with a light dusting of cinnamon sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 18 minutes.
- Let rest for 5 minutes in the pan before removing and letting cool.
- Enjoy as an after-school snack or with an autumn brunch!
Notes
Nutrition
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These are so good. I made them for an after school snack. It was hard not to eat them all;)
100% approved by me, my husband, our 13yo grandson, and my customers who were here for class. Printed and filed in my recipe box! Thanks so much for this!
These are so tasty! My toddler absolutely devoured them. Will definitely be going in our rotation.