I have a touch of holiday magic for you today in the form of Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins! Marvelously moist with tender centers and crunchy sugar tops, these splendid muffins offer the best of two all-star holiday flavors.

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This recipe is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
Pumpkin is a celebrity flavor whose tenure starts earlier and earlier each year, and for good reason. Its familiar cozy flavor and natural moisture make it a versatile gem in wholesome baking recipes ranging from Healthy Pumpkin Cookies to Healthy Pumpkin Muffins to Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting.
Gingerbread, however, is a late bloomer. It’s not until December that I see recipes like these Gingerbread Muffins and my all-time favorite Chocolate Ginger Cookies pop into popularity.
A lover of gingerbread’s intensity—there’s something refreshing about a flavor that’s up-front and there’s certainly nothing subtle about gingerbread’s spiciness and warmth—I always find the delay a bit of a shame.
Perhaps, I thought, pumpkin can ease us all into it.

Pumpkin + Gingerbread – A Match Made in Holiday Heaven
Combining pumpkin and gingerbread turned out to be one of the very best baking decisions I’ve made!
The innate subtly of pumpkin (pumpkin is actually pretty bland until you add the spices) is the ideal counterpoint to the spicy intensity of gingerbread. If there were a flavor dating app, surely these two would have been a swipe right.
I shared these muffins with a friend, and her feedback was that the balance was exactly 50/50 between pumpkin and gingerbread and she wouldn’t change a thing; not a fraction of a teaspoon of spice is misplaced.
Whether straight-up gingerbread hasn’t been your thing, you happen to love both pumpkin AND gingerbread, and the idea of not having to choose appeals to you, or you are looking for a stellar holiday breakfast recipe, these pumpkin gingerbread muffins will be a holiday gift to you!

How to Make Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins
These muffins are made with simple, wholesome ingredients including whole grains and pure maple syrup.
The batter is easy going – you won’t even need to bust out the mixer!
The Ingredients
- Pumpkin. The first half of our holiday flavor tango. While it may not be a flavor powerhouse on its own, once combined with the molasses and spices, it shines.
- Molasses. The key to the signature gingerbread flavor. Molasses adds a rich, sweet warmth that’s full of flavor. Make sure to use regular molasses here (usually labeled “unsulphered”), as blackstrap will be too bitter.
- . My favorite butter for its quality, taste, and value for the price. I stock the convenient half-stick size most often. It’s ideal for smaller batch cooking and recipes like these muffins, where a lesser amount of butter is needed.

In addition to loving the way the butter tastes and its simple ingredient list, I appreciate that Land O’Lakes is a co-op, meaning the company is owned by its dairy farmers (more than 1,700 of them!). I also think it’s fantastic that the company has made highlighting female farmers a priority (fun fact: 30% of dairy farming in the U.S. is done by women). You can learn more about their farmer-owners here.
- Flour. I found that a mixture of all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour worked perfectly here. You are getting whole grain benefits, and the muffins stay nice and fluffy.
- Spices. A combination of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves adds cozy spice to these muffins. The spices truly take their flavor to the next level.
- Maple Syrup. Wonderful in its natural sweetness and the way it pairs with molasses.
- Sparkling Sugar. A beautiful way to finish these muffins! The crunchy tops are worth devouring all on their own.
The Directions

- Stir the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.

- Combine the dry and wet ingredients.

- Stir until the flour disappears.

- Pour the batter into the wells of a muffin pan, then sprinkle sparkling sugar over the tops.

- Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then DIG IN!

Storage Tips
- To Store. Store muffins at room temperature for up to 5 days in an airtight storage container lined with paper towels.
- To Freeze. Freeze muffins in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Thaw and enjoy as desired.
Tip!
For additional muffin storage tips and tricks, check out my post on How to Store Muffins.

Serve Your Muffins With

With pumpkin, deep gingerbread spice, and everything nice, these do-it-all muffins are the total (holiday) package!
Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup white whole wheat flour or additional all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup pumpkin purée not pumpkin pie filling
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses do not use blackstrap; it will be too bitter
- ¼ cup Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter in Half-Sticks melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar or turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In a separate, larger mixing bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, molasses, melted butter, and eggs until well blended.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir very gently to combine; stop as soon as the flour disappears. The batter will seem loose and a little lumpy.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them no more than 3/4 of the way to the top. Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon sparkling sugar.
- Bake the muffins for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Place the muffin pan on a wire rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer to the rack to cool completely. These taste even better as they rest. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- TO STORE: Store muffins at room temperature for up to 5 days in an airtight storage container lined with paper towels.
- TO FREEZE: Freeze muffins in an airtight, freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Thaw and enjoy as desired.
Nutrition
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I am sharing this post in partnership with Land O’Lakes. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands and companies that make it possible for me to continue to create quality content for you!
Yum, yum, yum! These were the best. My very picky eater ate two, and I didn’t even have to push! You go, girl!
YAY, so so pleased to hear this Rachel! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe couldn’t have come at a better time as I just baked and pureed my “porch pumpkin”. Every year I get one that will bake well (fit in my oven!) and just freeze the puree. I’m also a huge lover of ginger so this combination should be wonderful. I love cake in general while my husband is more of a pie person. Muffins are a way for me to have my cake fix and he’ll eat them as well. Have a great day.
What great timing, Chris! I hope you enjoy them!
Could you use all whole wheat flour with this recipe?
Sarah, you can but the muffins will be heavier and more dense. If you do decide to use all whole wheat, I’d suggest adding a tablespoon of milk to the recipe to keep them from being too dry. I hope you enjoy them!
I tried it with all wheat flour, fresh ground white wheat berries and it turned out great! I added the milk and they were very moist. I feel like the texture was like you would have with a pumpkin bread, so I didn’t really feel it was all that sense. Maybe more sense than normal for a muffin but it worked for me! Thanks!!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Sarah! Thank you for reporting back!
So delicious! My two kiddos love them too! Will make these again for sure. :)
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Patricia! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Made this muffin recipe using a gluten free baking flour which worked well. Super moist with a rich gingerbread flavor. Marking this recipe as a “favorite”
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Betty! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
I haven’t made these yet, but they sound amazing! However, my daughter needs gluten free. Do you have a recommendation for what gluten free flour mix might work best?
Jennifer, I have good luck with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. I hope you enjoy them!
The muffins were moist and delicious. The whole family loved them!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Liz! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
These are AMAZING! Definitely one of my favorite recipes of yours :) thank you!
YAY, so glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing!
I made these with my 8 year old daughter. They were quick, easy, and best of all SO MOIST. Delicious!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe, Krystal! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Planning in making these muffins. I noticed the 15 ounce can of puréed pumpkin has about 1 3/4 cup of pumpkin. Is there a conversion for this recipe that uses the entire can?
Hi Cindy, I have only tested this recipe as is but if you use the slider button in the recipe card for servings and slide to 21 muffins (which is close to the 2x amount) it will show you how to make them using the whole can. It does change the ingredient amounts into decimals (that’s a plugin feature and not something I can change) so you’d have to calculate what those are in teaspoons/cups etc. but it would help you use that whole can. Hope this helps!
Delicious muffins and healthier than my go to gingerbread recipe. I made these with all whole wheat flour and forgot the milk and they turned out great. I added. about 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts but didn’t have any sparkling sugar so left them plain. Gotta buy more molasses to make another batch. Great recipe.
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Marilyn! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
This looks fantastic! Can you make a loaf out of the dough instead?
Hi Joanne! I’ve only tested the recipe as written, but I think you could experiment with it. If you decide to try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
I made it into a loaf by lowering the oven temperature to 350 degrees and cooking for 45 minutes. He worked great!
YAY! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe, Joanne!
Can I substitute ground oatmeal for the flour? If so… how much?
Hi Bonnie! Since oat flour and regular flour react very differently in baking, I actually wouldn’t recommend this swap. If you’d like to make an oat flour recipe, I’d suggest checking out some of these options. I hope this helps!
Thank you so much for the recipe! It turned out that we didn’t have any real maple syrup on hand at the moment, so I substituted pancake syrup for it and it worked out fine.
Hi Salma! So glad it turned out for you!
These are delicious! Will make again for sure.
Hi Kim! So glad you enjoyed the muffins! Thank you for this kind review!
Made these last night for dinner and they were really good – loved all the various spices! Thanks…
Hi Chris! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
These look amazing! Your site is my favourite “go to” for great recipes!
I’m baking these for a family brunch gathering, and one of our family cannot have butter. Could I sub with coconut oil?
Hi Linda, I’ve only tested these with butter. If you decide to experiment with coconut oil, let me know how it goes!
I had left over pumpkin from making my smoothie so I thought I would try these. I used Heritage Grain white whole wheat flour only and they came out so moist and soft! I love the fact that there is no sugar in the recipe. This is a definite keeper Erin!
Hi Glenna! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Delicious! Light, fluffy and full of my favorite flavors. I added some cardamom to the spice mix and used whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour. Wasn’t dense at all, even without adding a little milk. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Amanda! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Beyond perfect! Made as directed and trying to give them away quick before I pig out!
Hi Cheryl! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
OH WOW!!!! What a tasty muffin! Fluffy, moist and bursting with flavor. I initially thought, “Yikes, that’s a lot of molasses!” But not at all. I tweaked the recipe to my dietary needs by: substituting egg whites for whole eggs, and used gluten free flour only. No whole grain flours. I did use the butter since it was only a small amount ( I thought). OH, and I didn’t have enough ground ginger so I grated fresh ginger -about 1 healthy tsp- as well as about 1/2 tsp ground ginger. And I sprinkled a little turbinado sugar on the tops. They were darker than yours pictured. But they are gorgeous as well! What an excellent muffin! Thank you so much!
Just reviewed these and I accidentally misspelled my email! :-((
Hi Susie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Didn’t have whole wheat flour. Considered using Rye flour as an alternative, but wound up going with 1.5 cups of All-purpose in the end.
These are incredible! Flavor, texture…, Exactly what I hoped it would be.
Hi Mathew! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
I loved how filling yet still light and full of nutrition this soup was!!
Super great:) I will recommend it to others for sure!
Yay, thank you Cecelia!
I love pumpkin muffins and I adore gingerbread. These muffins are a match made in heaven! I made them today, my house smells amazing ! My husband took one bite and put his stamp of approval on these muffins! Adding to my rotation of muffin recipes!
Thanks El!!
Wow. I make a lot of various muffin/sweet bread recipes & this truly exceeded my expectations. I prefer less sweet muffins so did decrease the maple syrup to 1/3 cup & can likely reduce to 1/4; however, these turned out incredibly flavorful & tender. Thank you!!
Great to hear! Thank you Nancy!
It’s only September 1st, but I had a craving gingerbread. I also try to find healthy recipes so I can make mini-muffins – these work out wonderfully to include in my son’s lunchbox or for a snack.
These have a wonderful gingerbread “bite” to them. The only change I made was using a mini-muffin pan, and baked them for 14 minutes at a little bit above 350. I may also cut the maple syrup a tad (any idea how much of the syrup can be cut without changing the recipe too much?).
Thanks for the recipe – it’s a keeper!
So glad to hear you enjoyed the muffins, Aliya! Thanks for the feedback on making them mini. As far as the syrup, you’d have to play around with it, I’ve only tested the recipe as is!
Loved these. Made exactly as stated. Very moist and flavorful
Thank you Judy!