Pumpin Spice Muffins

Name: Pumpkin Cake Mix Muffin Recipe
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 box spice cake mix; 15 ounce can pumpkin puree; ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; ½ teaspoon cinnamon; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; ¾ cup all-purpose flour, (spoon and leveled); ¼ cup granulated sugar; ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar, (or dark brown sugar); 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, (melted); 1 cup confectioner's sugar; 1 tablespoon whole milk

close up shot of Pumpkin Spice Muffins drizzled with icing stacked on top of each other

These pumpkin spice muffins use cake mix and canned pumpkin to create tasty fall treats with that scrumptious pumpkin flavor that the whole family will love.

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Table of Contents

Pumpkin Spice Muffins Ingredients
Substitutions And Additions
How To Make This Pumpkin Spice Muffins Recipe
How To Serve These Easy Pumpkin Muffins
Storage
Why We Love This Recipe
You Will Love These Spice Cake Pumpkin Muffins!
Frequently Asked Questions
More Recipes You’ll Love
JUMP TO RECIPE
Even More Recipes You’ll Love

Pumpkin spice muffins are delicious fall treats that taste so good you’ll want to make them all year round! This pumpkin spice muffin recipe is super easy to make because it uses cake mix and canned pumpkin (but you don’t need to tell anyone that!).

Pumpkin Spice Muffins Ingredients

Pumpkin Spice Muffins raw ingredients that are labeled

These muffins are a blend of spiced flavors, combining a moist texture from the spice cake and pumpkin puree with the aroma of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.

The crumb topping adds a sweet, buttery crunch, and the icing drizzle provides a creamy, sugary finish.

You’ll need:

For The Muffins:

1 box of spice cake mix
1 (15-ounce) can of pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

PRO TIP:

Watch when you are at the grocery store that you buy pure pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling.

For The Crumb Topping:

¾ cup of all-purpose flour
¼ cup of granulated sugar
⅓ cup of light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

For The Icing:

1 cup of confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon of whole milk

Substitutions And Additions

SPICE CAKE MIX: If you can’t get spice cake mix, you could use a regular box of cake mix and add a half teaspoon of ground ginger and two extra teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

PUMPKIN PUREE: You could swap this for canned pumpkin pie filling.

If you do, you’ll want to skip the spices as pumpkin pie filling is already flavored, whereas pumpkin puree is not.

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE: If you don’t have this, you can make your own pumpkin spice blend with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.

CONFECTIONER’S SUGAR: Other names for this finely ground sugar are powdered sugar, icing sugar, and 10X sugar.

MIX-INS: Pumpkin muffins taste delicious with chocolate chips, nuts, or pumpkin seeds mixed in.

FROSTING: You could make these muffins extra fancy by topping them with cream cheese frosting on top instead of the icing drizzle.

ICING: Add a splash of maple syrup to your icing for a delicious hint of maple.

How To Make This Pumpkin Spice Muffins Recipe

Let’s have a look at how to make this muffin recipe. The cake mix makes it easy to mix up the batter, then all you need to do is whip up the crumb topping and glaze.

STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 14 muffin liners in a muffin pan.

STEP TWO: In a large bowl, combine the dry cake mix, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and vegetable oil. Stir together with a large spoon.

OUR RECIPE DEVELOPER SAYS

Do not over stir the batter otherwise, the muffins will be too dense and tough.

cake mix, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, oil, and pumpkin puree stirred together

STEP THREE: Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each one until three-quarters full. Set aside.

PRO TIP:

A measuring cup, cookie scoop, or ice cream scoop makes portioning muffins into muffin cups an easy task.

STEP FOUR: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and melted butter. Stir to combine.

flour, sugar, light brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and melted utter stirred

STEP FIVE: Spoon a generous amount of the crumb topping over each muffin. Use the back of your spoon to push the crumbs into the batter.

streusel crumb topping spooned over batter in a muffin pan

STEP SIX: Place the muffins into the oven and bake them for 23 to 25 minutes.

STEP SEVEN: Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for at least five minutes.

STEP EIGHT: In a small mixing bowl, place the confectioner’s sugar and milk. Whisk until combined.

STEP NINE: Drizzle the icing onto each muffin. Serve warm or at room temperature.

icing being drizzled on muffins on a cooling rack

How To Serve These Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Serve these delicious muffins with a cup of coffee or, if you are like me and love all things pumpkin, a homemade pumpkin spice latte.

Transform these muffins into a dessert sensation by warming them slightly and serving them à la mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Create a cozy autumn-inspired dessert platter by serving these muffins alongside a hot apple cider.

We have lots more pumpkin recipes for you to enjoy this fall. Take a look at our pumpkin dump cake and these baked pumpkin spice donuts.

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Desserts

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Pumpkin Delight

Storage

Whether you want to make them ahead of time, save leftovers, or prepare for future cravings, here’s what you need to know.

MAKE AHEAD: If you’d like to get a head start on your baking, you can prepare the muffin batter in advance.

Follow the recipe up to the point of filling the muffin cups, but instead of baking them, cover the muffin pan tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven and proceed with baking as directed.

This way, you can enjoy freshly baked pumpkin spice muffins without the early morning prep work.

IN THE FRIDGE: Muffins should never be stored in the fridge because the cold temperature makes them dry out.

Instead, you should store them in an airtight container with paper towels above and below the muffins to absorb any moisture. They will be good for up to three days.

IN THE FREEZER: These easy pumpkin muffins freeze well for up to two months.

Wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature.

Why We Love This Recipe

EFFORTLESS PREPARATION: This recipe is incredibly easy to make, thanks to the use of a cake mix as its base. It simplifies the baking process, making it accessible even for novice bakers.

MAKE-AHEAD: It’s perfect for planning ahead or for when you want to savor these delicious muffins over several days.

TEXTURE: The inclusion of pumpkin puree and vegetable oil ensures that these muffins turn out incredibly moist.

You Will Love These Spice Cake Pumpkin Muffins!

We believe that making pumpkin muffins with spice cake mix is the best way to do it because it’s just so easy with a handful of simple ingredients! These pumpkin spice muffins taste great for breakfast, a dessert, or a mid-day treat, and we hope that you love this perfect fall treat as much as we do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use homemade pumpkin puree in this recipe?

This simple recipe would work fine if you want to use homemade fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned pumpkin.

Should I keep these muffins in the fridge?

This perfect recipe should be kept on the counter so that they don’t dry out.

Can I freeze pumpkin muffins?

This easy pumpkin muffin recipe will freeze for up to 2 months stored in an airtight container.

Is pure pumpkin the same as pumpkin puree?

Pure pumpkin is the same as pumpkin puree. It is just cooked and mashed pumpkin without any spices.

Is pumpkin puree the same as canned pumpkin?

It depends on what the label says on the can. If the can contains 100% pumpkin, then you have pumpkin puree. If you have pumpkin pie filling, this is pumpkin puree with spices added.

What is pumpkin puree?

Pumpkin puree is simply pumpkin that has been cooked and mashed.

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Pumpkin Cake Mix Muffin Recipe

5 from 1 vote

These pumpkin spice muffins use cake mix and canned pumpkin to create tasty fall treats with that scrumptious pumpkin flavor that the whole family will love.

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 25

Total Time 50

Servings

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Ingredients

Muffins

1 box spice cake mix
15 ounce can pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Crumb Topping

¾ cup all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
¼ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup packed light brown sugar, or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Icing

1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vegetable oil, and pumpkin puree. Stir together with a large spoon.
Place paper liners in a muffin pan and fill about ¾ of the way with batter. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, light brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and melted butter. Stir to combine.
Spoon a generous amount of streusel crumb topping over the top of the muffins. Using the back of your spoon push the streusel down into the pumpkin cake mix a bit.
Place in the oven and bake at 350°F for 23 to 25 minutes.
In a separate bowl add powdered sugar and milk. Whisk to combine.
Remove muffins from the oven and allow to cool. Drizzle icing on the top and serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Watch when you are at the grocery store that you buy pure pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling.
A measuring cup, cookie scoop, or ice cream scoop makes portioning muffins into muffin cups an easy task.
Do not over-stir the batter. The muffins will be too dense and tough.

Nutrition

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Proudly Prepared by the Spaceships Kitchen

This recipe was developed, tested, cooked and photographed by the Spaceships Kitchen. From our dinner table to yours, we hope you think it's out of this world!

Stephanie Keeping Publisher
Layne Kangas Marketing
Rhadonda Sedgwick Creative Director
Lexus Monroe Editorial Assistant
Andra Willits Writer + Editor

Pumpkin Cake Mix Muffin