Healthy Pumpkin Donut Muffins topped with vanilla bean glaze are sure to become a fall favorite in your home!
These healthy pumpkin donut muffins are so moist and flavorful, you’d never guess that they are full of healthy, wholesome ingredients! Perfect for breakfast or dessert! Speaking of muffins, try Perfect Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Biscoff Coffee Cake Muffins, and Banana Oatmeal Muffins for more perfect grab-and-go breakfast goodness!
It wouldn’t be Fall without pumpkin muffins
They’re my favorite! You’ve probably noticed that I already have quite a few recipes for pumpkin muffins in my index. This time however, I thought we’d lighten things up, make them a little bit healthier.
Sure, they’re topped with a maple vanilla bean glaze, but that’s totally optional—the muffins themselves are pretty hearty and wholesome.
I like to call these my “feel good about eating 5 of them in one sitting donut muffins.” They’re that delicious and good for you. I call them “donut muffin” because of their rough and bumpy tops and dense texture. They’re sort of like baked donuts.
After baked, they look like little mountains begging for snow. That’s where the maple vanilla bean glaze comes in. It’s divine. Don’t skip out on it. Not only will they look gorgeous but they’ll taste AMAZING too, I promise.
When you give these Healthy Pumpkin Donut Muffins to your friends and family to try they’ll never know how healthy they are!
Making pumpkin donut muffins
PREP. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a standard size muffin tin with baking spray (I like coconut oil spray), set aside.
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.
WET INGREDIENTS. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin, oil, maple syrup, orange juice and eggs. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the the dry and wet ingredients, stirring together until just combined.
BAKE. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin (I like to use my large scoop or a #20 which is approximately 3.5 tablespoons) and place into the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
GLAZE. Meanwhile, to make the glaze, heat the butter and maple syrup in a microwave safe bowl until the butter has melted. Add powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste, adding 1 tbsp. of milk or more until a smooth glaze forms. Dip the tops of the cooled muffins into the glaze, swirl to remove any excess.
Tips + SToring Info
Use pumpkin puree or pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling which already has spices added to it.
Making your own Homemade Pumpkin Puree is a great addition to this recipe.
Make your own pumpkin pie spice by combining 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp allspice, and ¼ tsp nutmeg for the 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice called for in this recipe.
Substitute ½ tsp of vanilla extract for the vanilla paste.
Instead of the glaze you could also brush the tops of the muffins with melted butter and then dip them in some cinnamon sugar.
Additions:
- chopped walnuts
- pecans
- hazelnuts
- dried cranberries
- raisins
STORE muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
REHEAT muffins for about 10 seconds in the microwave.
To FREEZE, wait until muffins are cooled and the icing has set, then flash freeze for about 20 minutes on a baking pan. The flash freezing will keep the muffins from sticking to each other if they have been glazed. Then store in an airtight container or ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months.
for More pumpkin treats, check out:
- Classic Pumpkin Roll
- Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars
- Pumpkin Bread Pudding
- Nutella Stuffed Pumpkin Donut Holes
- Pumpkin Praline Skillet Cake
Healthy Pumpkin Donut Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 2 eggs
Vanilla Bean Glaze
- 1 tbsp butter - melted
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 ½ tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a standard size muffin tin with baking spray (I like coconut oil spray), set aside.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin, oil, maple syrup, orange juice and eggs. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the the dry and wet ingredients, stirring together until just combined.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin (I like to use my large scoop or a #20 which is approximately 3.5 tablespoons) and place into the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, to make the glaze, heat the butter and maple syrup in a microwave safe bowl until the butter has melted. Add powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste, adding 1 tbsp. of milk or more until a smooth glaze forms. Dip the tops of the cooled muffins into the glaze, swirl to remove any excess.
Notes
-Nuts, chips and fruit make great additions to these muffins. About ¾ c. of one or a mix will do!
Nutrition
Recipe source: adapted from Pinch of Yum
I love Zulka’s brown pure cane sugar– it’s less processed and more flavorful
I made these tonight with a few changes since I didn’t have any maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, nor did I have orange juice, I substituted honey for the maple syrup in the muffins and brown sugar for the maple syrup in the glaze, I used extra cinnamon and nutmeg instead of pumpkin pie spice and milk instead of orange juice, they were still amazing!!!!!! The only difference I noticed was the glaze was a bit darker but still tasted wonderful!
I’m glad you loved them! Thanks for giving them a try 🙂
They look delicious! Pinned it and definitely on my list to make them:)
Thanks! Hope you love them!
These look really good and I want to make them, but I definitely would not call them healthy. Maple syrup and brown sugar are just sugar.
Just healthier than most pumpkin muffins 🙂
Yum! These look so scrumptious!
where do u get vanilla bean paste from?
At restaurant supply stores, some grocery stores and online. I use the brand Nielsen-Massey. You can also use a combination of vanilla bean and extract or vanilla bean powder and extract.