These pumpkin crumb muffins are the perfect combination of pumpkin bread and crumb cake. Incredibly moist, with crumb in the middle AND on top, and maple icing, these are the ideal fall treat.
These pumpkin crumb muffins are my new favorite fall baked good (check out the TikTok for this recipe here!). They’re incredibly moist, filled with warm fall spices and topped with a crispy crumb and maple icing. They’re quite easy to pull together but look and taste like they’re straight out of a bakery.
The recipe for pumpkin crumb muffins is adapted from one of my all-time favorites — my grandma’s pumpkin bread. As a kid, I always looked forward to fall just so I could eat a warm slice when my mom pulled it from the oven.
For these pumpkin crumb muffins, I adapted my grandma’s perfect pumpkin bread into muffin form. They have all the nostalgia of pumpkin bread, but with gooey crumb in the middle and crispy crumb and maple icing on top. I had friends asking for the recipe after taking one bite and a random guy asking me where I bought these. Bottom line, I can’t wait for you to try them!
Get ready for pumpkin crumb muffins.
Pumpkin Crumb Muffins
What y’all are saying
You guys are LOVING these pumpkin crumb muffins. Here are just a few of the reviews from two years of this recipe being live. You can also watch the TikTok for them here. Thank you so much <3
Ingredients
- Pumpkin puree (I’m a fan of Libby’s. Make sure it’s puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.)
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Eggs
- Unsalted butter (if you only have salted butter, omit the salt in the crumb recipe)
- All-purpose flour
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ground cloves
- Coarse salt (if you only have fine table salt, use slightly less than the recipe calls for)
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- For the optional maple icing: powdered sugar, real maple syrup, milk or plant-based milk
How to make pumpkin crumb muffins
These pumpkin crumb muffins are a really achievable recipe. The batter and crumb are straightforward to make, and then you just layer them and bake! You can also watch the short video for this recipe here if you’re confused about any methods.
To make the batter, you’ll whisk together the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls and then fold the dry into the wet.
If you aren’t sure what “folding” is, this is a great video describing it. Essentially, with baked goods that aren’t yeasted (like bread or cinnamon rolls), you want to mix the flour gently and just until you don’t see any more streaks. When you over-mix, the batter will develop gluten, which are protein structures that can make a baked good tough instead of tender.
Once the batter is ready, you’ll make the crumb by mixing together the melted butter and sugar and then adding the rest of the ingredients. You’ll then layer batter and crumb in the muffin tins so that you have crumb in the middle and on top of the muffins. Bake the muffins until they spring back when you press the center of the muffin top with your finger (this is a good way of telling most cakes and quick breads are ready). Don’t worry too much about over-baking — these muffins are so moist even if you keep them in a few minutes too long.
You can add the optional maple icing by mixing together the ingredients and drizzling it over the cooled muffins. And you’ve got pumpkin crumb muffins!
Tips for the best pumpkin crumb muffins
- Make sure you get pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie filling. They’re often near each other on grocery store shelves, so make sure you read the labels carefully.
- Properly measure your flour. I include this tip in every recipe for a reason 🙂 I always measure by weight and included both the cups and grams below so you can, too. You can get a pretty cheap scale on Amazon (I used a $12 scale for years and now use a $28 KitchenAid scale). If you’re using a cup measure, first fluff the flour in its bag, then spoon it into your measuring cup. Scrape the flat edge of a knife across the top of the cup to remove any excess flour.
- To get taller muffins, fill the muffin cups almost to the top and use only every other cup. I got these great tips from Broma Bakery. Filling the cups almost to the top instead of just over halfway will let the muffins dome beautifully over the tin. Using every other cup will also let more hot air surround each muffin top, helping them to get nice and tall.
- Use a cookie scoop to fill the muffins. Cookie scoops make it much easier to scoop batter into muffin tins and help ensure you get uniform sized muffins. I love this trio of scoops from Amazon. In this recipe, I use the medium-sized scoop (3 TBS.) to scoop the batter in between each layer of crumb.
How to store pumpkin crumb muffins
You can keep these on the counter sealed for three days and then move them to the fridge and eat within one week of baking. Feel free to also freeze the muffins once they’re at room temperature and pull one out whenever you have a hankering!
Looking for more recipes? Check out the TikTok viral birthday cake blondies, salty fudgy brownies and salted brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
If you make these pumpkin crumb muffins, please leave a rating and review below and tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such!
Pumpkin Crumb Muffins
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minutesThese pumpkin crumb muffins are the perfect combination of pumpkin bread and crumb cake. Incredibly moist, with crumb in the middle AND on top, and maple icing, these are the ideal fall treat.
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- For the Muffins
1 1/2 cup + 2 TBS. (200 grams) all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
Heaping 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Heaping 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Heaping 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie fililng)
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
- For the Crumb
6 TBS. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (107 grams) brown sugar
2/3 cup (80 grams) all purpose flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. coarse salt (omit if using salted butter)
- For the maple icing (optional)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk (alternative milks like oat work as well)
1 1/2 tsp. maple syrup
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Then mix in the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, oil and water until totally combined.
- Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet. The batter is done! Set aside.
- Next make the crumb. Make sure your melted butter is at room temperature or just slightly warm (if it’s too hot it will melt the sugar). Add the butter and brown sugar to a small bowl and mix until combined. Then stir in the flour, cinnamon and salt.
- Now we’re ready to assemble the muffins. You have two options – you can either use every single cup in the muffin tin or you can use every other cup (the latter will let the muffins rise higher). Choose one and either place a muffin liner or grease the cups you’re using.
Pour batter into each cup until it’s almost halfway full. Sprinkle a small layer of crumb, then add more batter until the cup is almost full. Generously top each muffin with more crumb. - Bake for 22-27 minutes. You’ll know the muffins are done when you press into the center of the muffin top and it bounces back, rather than sinking in. Let cool in the tray for 10 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack.
- While the muffins cool, make the optional maple icing by mixing together all the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Drizzle the icing on top of the muffins and enjoy! You can leave these sealed on the counter for three days and then move to the fridge and eat within one week of baking. You can also freeze the muffins once they’re at room temperature.