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Pumpkin muffins are one of the best recipes for fall. These diabetes-friendly pumpkin muffins are the best introduction to fall!
They make a great breakfast or snack and can be made with either fresh pumpkin or canned pumpkin puree.
The recipe is quick and easy to put together, taking about an hour from start to finish. It riffs a little bit on my Keto Pumpkin Bread recipe, just a smaller version, with the nice crumble topping.
While they come in at almost 24g of carbs, 9 of that is fiber – which means you’ll stay fuller, longer, and the blood sugar spike might not be as severe. In fact, I stayed pretty steady eating one of these for breakfast with a cup of espresso.
What I also appreciate about these muffins is that they’re so tender. You don’t even realize there’s no flour.
For being a gluten-free option, you honestly couldn’t tell that there’s no flour, or white sugar in them.
What kind of pumpkin is best to use for these muffins?
I always find that using fresh pumpkins in baked goods can be challenging. Sometimes it’s too fibrous, or watery, and canned pumpkin is always more consistent.
I use Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin. There are no preservatives, and no added sugar.
As a note – you want to use pure pumpkin, or pumpkin puree, never canned pumpkin pie filling. Canned pumpkin pie filling has a ton of sugar, and you want to be able to control the sweetness of the muffins.
Which ingredients are in pumpkin muffins?
These muffins are gluten-free and made without any white flour. They also use staple ingredients.
For the Muffins
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 1/2 cup Truvia Brown Sugar Blend
- 4 large, Grade A eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree, canned
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the Crumble
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup Truvia Brown Sugar blend
- 1 teaspoon, pumpkin pie spice
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Buy Now → Are these pumpkin muffins sugar-free?
These muffins are not completely sugar-free, or carb-free, but they definitely have an advantage.
- 1/2 cup of Truvía Brown Sugar Blend (210 calories) provides the same sweetness as one cup of brown sugar (830 calories).
- Baked goods made with Truvía Brown Sugar Blend will have brown sugar-like texture and moistness. Plus that little bit of molasses flavor.
- Bakes and browns like brown sugar, with 75% fewer calories per serving than brown sugar.
- It contains sugar-alcohols, which reduce the overall glycemic impact of the sweetener.
Why add the crumble topping?
The crumble topping adds nice texture, and some additional sweetness to the muffin. This step is optional, but I personally wouldn’t skip it!
How to make diabetes-friendly pumpkin muffins from scratch
Start by preheating your oven to 350ºF.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Cream your butter and Truvia Brown Sugar Blend on medium speed, until combined thoroughly.
Add in your eggs one at a time on medium speed until each one is incorporated into the batter. The batter will be a liquid and lumpy consistency.
Add vanilla and pumpkin puree, continuing to beat the mixture on medium speed until combined.
Add in almond flour, baking powder and salt, mixing the batter until it’s thick and smooth without lumps.
Set aside the batter.
To make the crumble topping:
Melt butter in a heat-safe bowl, add almond flour, Truvia Brown Sugar Blend and spices. Whisk until it forms a paste-like consistency.
To assemble the muffins:
Fill muffin liner to the top with mixture – about 1/3 cup per muffin. These don’t rise much, so you don’t have to worry about overfilling the tins.
Sprinkle 2 heaping teaspoons of the crumble mixture on top, and pat down on top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean. If they still need more time to cook, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top to prevent them from browning too much.
Let the muffins come to room temperature before enjoying.
Once the muffins come to room temperature, you’ll notice the crumble on the top has hardened, you can peel it from the top of the muffin, and crumble it with your fingers to get that nice, crumbly texture on top. They look a little strange coming out of the oven, but once you let them cool and put the crumble on top, they’re perfect!
This mixture makes about 9 regular-sized muffins.
Pumpkin muffins are a delicious and easy-to-make snack or breakfast. They’re perfect for lunchboxes, too!
This recipe includes gluten-free almond flour and Truvia Brown Sugar Blend which provides the same sweetness of brown sugar without all the calories. You’ll also find additional ingredients like pumpkin spice blend, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract.
If you want to take your pumpkin muffin game one step further, try adding the optional crumble topping before popping them into the oven. I hope you love my diabetes-friendly pumpkin muffins! Let me know if you give them a try.
Diabetes-Friendly Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 Muffins 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
This recipe includes gluten-free almond flour and Truvia Brown Sugar Blend which provides the same sweetness of brown sugar without all the calories. You’ll also find additional ingredients like pumpkin spice blend, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract.
Ingredients
For the Muffins
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 1/2 cup Truvia Brown Sugar Blend
- 4 large, Grade A eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree, canned
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the Crumble
- 1/4 cup (1/ stick) melted butter
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup Truvia Brown Sugar blend
- 1 teaspoon, pumpkin pie spice
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Cream your butter and Truvia Brown Sugar Blend on medium speed, until combined thoroughly.
- Add in your eggs one at a time on medium speed until each one is incorporated into the batter. The batter will be a liquid and lumpy consistency.
- Add vanilla and pumpkin puree, continuing to beat the mixture on medium speed until combined.
- Add in almond flour, spices, baking powder and salt, mixing the batter until it’s thick and smooth, and just combined.
- Set aside the batter.
- To make the crumble topping: Melt butter in a heat-safe bowl by microwaving for 20-30 seconds. Add almond flour, Truvia Brown Sugar Blend and spices. Whisk until it forms a paste-like consistency.
- To assemble the muffins: Fill muffin liner to the top with mixture – about 1/3 cup per muffin. These don’t rise much, so you don’t have to worry about overfilling the tins.
- Sprinkle 2 heaping teaspoons of the crumble mixture on top, and pat down on top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean. If they still need more time to cook, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top to prevent them from browning too much, while they still cook.
- Remove from the oven, and let the muffins come to room temperature before enjoying.
- Once the muffins come to room temperature, you’ll notice the crumble on the top has hardened, you can peel it from the top of the muffin, and crumble it with your fingers to get that nice, crumbly texture on top. They look a little strange coming out of the oven, but once you let them cool and put the crumble on top, they’re perfect! This step is important, since almond flour doesn’t cook like regular flour and is a bit softer.
Notes
- Let these come to room temperature before slicing. Almond flour needs some time to firm up after baking them in baked goods. As good as they look, don’t skip the cooling stage.
- Once they’re cool, you can hand crumble the crumbly top to get that nice texture on top. Since almond flour doesn’t bake like all purpose flour, the crumble step is just slightly different.
- Almond flour burns easily. Be sure your oven rack is set to the middle, and if you notice the muffins browning quickly, put a sheet of aluminum foil over the top so they’ll still cook, but won’t brown any further.
- Enjoy with coffee, or espresso!
- These will store for one week in the fridge. You can warm them in the microwave for 30 seconds, if you prefer a warm muffin.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Baked Goods
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Muffin
- Calories: 333
- Sugar: 10.2 g
- Sodium: 175.3 mg
- Fat: 21.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.7 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 6.2 g
- Cholesterol: 123.3 mg
18 Responses
I have never given a recipe a 1 before, but as almond flour is expensive I wanted to provide some feedback on this recipe.
From the start I thought a whole can of pumpkin puree seemed like too much, and with testing I found that it certainly is. All of the pumpkin muffin recipes I have ever made use about about a cup or so of pumpkin puree. I am an accomplished baker who has made thousands of muffins in my time and after numerous attempts at this recipe I have determined it is not feasible. A whole can of pumpkin puree is way to much moisture content to bake off. You just end up with soggy muffins. Theoretically, you could use paper towel to wick some of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree before mixing it, but that it a lot of effort if you are dealing with 15oz. Lastly, the main muffin recipe calls for pumpkin spice, but there is no mention of it in the step by step directions.
I thought this seemed like an interesting twist on some more common pumpkin recipes with almond flour and Truvia brown sugar, but it just does not work as listed.
Hi Sean, I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t work for you.
Almond flour doesn’t absorb moisture like white flour, so this level of moisture is necessary — you need the extra moisture and fat so that you won’t get dry or gritty muffins.
For some ovens (because as we know, ovens are not always consistent from home to home), you may need a slightly longer bake time to let things set.
Extremely important, and as noted in the recipe notes, these MUST cool completely before you slice into them to firm up. Almond Flour doesn’t have gluten, so the muffins don’t build the same strength that grain-based flour would. If you skip that step, they will fall apart.
Hello Mila,
All your other recipes are great, and I appreciate your creativity and I believe you are a great source for diabetic recipes if not maybe the best source. Since being diagnosed I and facing a complete change in my diet I have leaned heavily on your knowledge.
I have considerable experience baking with almond flour. It’s gluten free and super rich in nutrients so it is my go to for baking for gluten free requests. Almond flour is actually way more absorbent than wheat flour, but as it has no gluten, the absorption process is done in a different way. Also almonds are super high in fat which helps in keeping baked goods moist. So adding extra moisture and fat does not makes sense. I have found extra egg whites for increased binding can be beneficial when subbing in almond flour. Lastly, due to the high fat content of almonds it is very easy to overbake when using it as it browns faster that wheat flour.
I ran numerous tests for this recipe. 1st test attempt baked for 30 min and the muffins top were mostly baked through, but the insides were moist. I attempted to bake 10 minutes longer, but as expected the tops started to burn. So even after 40 minutes they were still soggy. I then verified my oven temp with a manual and digital thermometer to make sure there was not an issue as I have rarely has a recipe not work.
2nd and 3rd attempts at this also did not work out. I removed 1 egg in those attempts and this did improve the results, but they were still too soggy to serve. I am sorry to say but as constructed I just don’t believe this recipe can work.
Hi Sean,
I appreciate your comment back, and sharing what you tried, it means so much to me. And I again apologize that the alternative attempts didn’t work for you. The photos of these were taken straight out of the oven after multiple tests on my end. I’m happy to do some troubleshooting to figure out where things might have gone haywire, and make some adjustments. My only goal here ever is a reliable, and satisfying recipe that keeps blood sugars in check. When I miss the mark, I’m obsessed with fixing it.
While I developed these a while back, I don’t remember this being a very fussy recipe, so I want to do my best to make it right.
Just diagnosed and wanted to try some new recipes out. Do you have any times or recommendations or warnings if I wanted to try this recipe as a loaf instead of muffins (I don’t have a muffin tin).
Yes! My Pumpkin bread recipe is a loaf version: https://hangrywoman.com/keto-pumpkin-bread/. This post has everything you need to know to make it a loaf.
Thank you for this blog. I am just diagnosed and u r relieving some stress. I am dairy free do u know if the recipe will work with margarine?
Absolutely! It’s a 1:1 substitution, so just use the same amount in place of the butter.
I knew I had to make these when I saw that crumble topping! They were so delicious! we just ate them all up!
The almond flour made these muffins so fluffy!! I also love the warm pumpkin flavor. Thanks for the recipe!
I was sold on these muffins just from the gorgeous pictures alone and then I made them and fell further in love. Thank you for this recipe!
This was such a delicious baking recipe! The muffins were so soft and fluffy and perfectly spiced with just the right amount of pumpkin spice. I had another one for breakfast this morning – so good!
I am always on the search for delicious pumpkin recipes in fall and these muffins did not disappoint! The texture was perfect. I can’t wait to make them again.
It is time for all things pumpkin and these were first on my list to make! They were so good and so moist — and the crumble topping was a major hit!
I loved starting my morning with these pumpkin muffins! They were delicious, and the texture was perfect! Thank you
These pumpkin muffins was the right abut of low carb spice I needed to maintain my workout goals.
These muffins were so good my friends didn’t realize they were diabetes-friendly until I said so.
I loved the crumb on these muffins! And, their tasted compared to the traditional version is on point! Thanks for sharing.