Spiced Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Can you believe how close we are to the holidays? I’m so not prepared, and it’s stressing me out… so instead, I’m going to bake and pretend I still have plenty of time lol.

These pumpkin muffins have a perfect crumbly streusel topping, and have quickly become one of our favorites!

And they’re SO much better than any muffins you could make from a mix/box.

Once you start making homemade muffins you’ll realize how easy they are, and how much better they taste, and you won’t be buying anymore pre-made mixes.

Plus, muffins are great to freeze, so you can have fresh muffins anytime you want them!

How to make pumpkin streusel muffins?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Stir dry ingredients. This is helpful to make sure everything blends well into the batter later.
2. Mix wet ingredients. For this recipe, that includes the oil, both sugars, pumpkin puree, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.
3. Combine dry and wet. This is best done with a rubber spatula so you don’t over-mix.
4. Scoop batter. I love using a cookie scoop to do this, but you can use anything you’d like.
5. Make streusel. This recipe uses melted butter for the topping, so you just need to stir it together with a fork. The fork helps it crumble up.
6. Top batter with streusel.
7. Bake. This muffin recipe has a two-stage bake. The first stage is for a short time at a higher temperature, and the second is for longer at a lower temperature. This creates the bakery style tops!
8. Cool and serve.

Variations of this recipe

• Buttermilk substitute – if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own!  Add 3/4 tsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup.  Pour in enough whole milk to reach 1/4 cup.  Stir and let it sit about 5-10 minutes.  It may look a bit curdled, but that’s okay.  Stir and use in the recipe.
• Regular milk – alternately, you could just use regular whole milk, although we really prefer the flavor and texture of the buttermilk.
• Vanilla – for a more robust vanilla flavor, try using vanilla bean paste instead. Use an equal amount.
• Streusel – the streusel can be made with cold butter instead of melted, if you prefer it that way. Just cut the butter into small cubes, or grate it, then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients of the streusel.
• Mini – if you’d prefer to make mini muffins, bake at 350°F for 11-12 minutes.

Making pumpkin muffins ahead of time

We think these muffins taste just as good the next day… so you can make them a day ahead of time, but I wouldn’t do much more than that.

But my favorite way to enjoy these muffins is nice and warm from the oven!

Storage

Leftover muffins should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container and eaten within 3-4 days.

For best taste, enjoy within 1-2 days.

Freezing

For longer storage, you can freeze these muffins!

I like to wrap each muffin in plastic wrap (or whatever you like to use instead of plastic wrap), then add to a freezer-safe container, label it, and freeze.

Thaw overnight in the refrigerator (or on the counter for an hour or so), then reheat at 325°F for 10 minutes or so to warm them up and give them that “just baked” taste.