Happy PUMPKIN season! Time to make vegan pumpkin blender muffins! Yes, my friends, the much-loved original vegan blender muffins got a fall makeover, and they even come with fancy new accessories (or ‘cessories’ as Vida says), in the form of a cinnamon cashew icing! These are good, folks.
This is now the third variation of the original recipe, and it certainly won’t be the last. I thought it would be hard to top the double chocolate hazelnut version, but these are a contender for sure. There are a few new ingredients, aside from the pumpkin, but the recipe is so forgiving that they can easily be swapped out for something similar. Let me explain…
One of the key features of the original vegan blender muffins is that they are oil-free, but still moist. This comes from using nuts as the fat along with oats which are the only “flour” used. And not only that, you don’t even have to grind the oats into flour first, you just blend it up with the rest of the ingredients. But not everyone can eat nuts, so I was inspired to try to find a way to substitute them for something else without compromising on the flavor or texture. Knowing I was going to do a pumpkin muffin, my wacky brain thought, could pumpkin seeds work? Is that just TOO CRAZY? Friends, they TOTALLY WORK. It’s like they were made to be in this muffin. But you can still use cashews if you like! Nearly any nut would work, I think, but I’ve only tested them with cashews, so try at your own tasty risk.
Of course, these are pumpkin muffins, so aside from the pumpkin seeds (raw pepitas), and the pumpkin puree, the only other changes I made to the original recipe were to add cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice (because OF COURSE), and, the secret weapon….apple cider! Instead of water, this recipe calls for 2 cups of apple cider. Which you would think would be too apple-y, but it’s not at all. It totally brings out the flavor of the pumpkin and the spices. But, don’t fret, you can make these with water instead and they would still taste awesome. Trust me, I tried them both ways. Many times. 🙂
To make these muffins, you literally just dump all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend the heck out of them. If you’re using a blender, you can then immediately pour the batter straight into the muffin cups. With a food processor, you’ll need to scoop out the batter, and it won’t be quite as smooth, but it still bakes up the same, if slightly heartier (you might spy a small piece of oat or pepita, but it won’t affect the overall texture).
Yes, you need to fill the muffin cups all the way to the top. Trust me on this. Have I steered you wrong before? Don’t answer that.
Bake at 375F for 22 minutes, and then wait the excruciating 10 minutes for the muffins to rest and cool. Your patience will be rewarded with a soft, tender, slightly chewy crumb and a flavor that just screams, FALL! PUMPKIN! GIVE ME ALL THE PUMPKIN THINGS!!!
Ok, maybe it doesn’t scream. But that would be a pretty funny prank. I know you’re googling “food that screams” right now. Please come back. I’m sorry I sent you down the rabbit hole. You’re not reading this anymore, are you?
Just when you thought these couldn’t get any better, cinnamon cashew icing is about to enter your life.
Wait a second, Beth. I thought you said these were nut-free? Are you a big tease?
Yes, I know. I’m terrible. I tried to make the icing with the pepitas, but it wasn’t a success. I might be able to get something passable with future testing, but for now, I at least wanted to give you the cashew icing option, but it’s totally fine to leave it off. The muffins are still crazy delicious without it. Also you can eat more of them if you don’t have the icing on them. That’s logic, right?
That icing though. Cashews, cinnamon, maple syrup and a tiny bit of coconut oil, pureed to creamy, silky, sweet perfection. Ready to be slathered on all the pumpkin baked goods.
If you give this recipe a go, please let me know! I didn’t mean for that to rhyme.
PUMPKINPUMKINPUMPKINPUMPKINPUMPKINPUMPKINPUMPKINPUMPKINPUMPKIN……
Pumpkin Blender Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats ((use certified gluten-free if GF))
- 3/4 cups raw cashews or pepitas
- 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or unrefined sugar (or a combination)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups apple cider, apple juice, or water (NOT apple cider vinegar) (or a combination)
For the Cashew Cream Drizzle
- 3/4 cups raw cashews (132g)
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Add all ingredients to a blender and puree mostly smooth and no large pieces of pepitas or cashews remain. Fill 12 muffin liners to the brim. Bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Remove muffins to a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before enjoying with the optional cashew cinnamon frosting, a pat of vegan butter, or simply plain.
- Add all ingredients to a blender and puree mostly smooth and no large pieces of pepitas or cashews remain.
- Fill 12 muffin liners to the brim. Bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Remove muffins to a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before enjoying with the optional cashew cinnamon frosting, a pat of vegan butter, or simply plain.
For the Cinnamon Cashew Frosting
- Melt coconut oil and add to remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy, then drizzle over cooled muffins.
These look amazing and so easy I’m definitely going to give them a go I’m pinning for later x
Looks YUMMY!
do you have nutritional values?
Beth in Brazil blender recipes are such a thing and have never really seen ones here. They are so easy to make (and the clean up after is so minimal) so love seeing a blender recipe for pumpkin muffins!! (and vegan too)
I can’t believe these muffins don’t have any flour in them!! You did an amazing job with the oats and pepitas. 🙂 Also that cashew cinnamon icing – to die for!! 😀
Thank you so much, Sarah! These muffins were one of those “I wonder if it would work” moments that were a success straight out of the gate. If only all recipe testing was that easy, right? 😉
Fantastic recipe. The icing sounds divine, but pumpkin muffins are so wonderful on their own as well!
Thank you so much, Ashley! I agree, the muffins are such a nice treat on their own, the icing is well, the icing on the muffin. 😉
I am so excited about these muffins! Vegan is lovely BUT gluten free is a biggie at my house and these muffins are going to make my gluten free pumpkin lovers very happy! Not only pinned, but old-school printed out to make these muffins asap!
My vegan son was in town, so I made these Christmas morning as directed using 2 cups apple cider vinegar even though it seemed like way too much. The vinegar overpowered everything. The vinegar muffins will be the butt of family jokes for years to come. They were inedible and ended up in the garbage. PLEASE change the recipe or take it down. Maybe a tablespoon of cider vinegar would be ok but these were awful with 2 cups. Might be ok if you are doing some sort of vinegar cleanse but not as breakfast for the family.
Hi Jackie, I’m so sorry the muffins turned out badly, but there is no mention of apple cider vinegar at all. The recipe calls for apple cider (the drink made from pressed apples), or water, or a combination of the two. I triple-checked just to make sure. I hope once your family recovers from the trauma you will give these a try again with apple cider or water, as they really are delicious. 🙂
When I first read the recipe, I thought, “2 CUPS of apple cider vinegar???” Then I read again and realized it was simply apple cider, or you could use apple juice. What made me realize the difference was that she said water could be used instead. Yes, there is a huge difference. Always read carefully!
It is a lot more soda than I usually use though. I wondered about that. I plan to try them tomorrow on my birthday!
Hi Toni! Just to note, it’s 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, not tablespoons. How much do you usually use? I use this same amount for all my blender muffin recipes, and it’s not detectable in flavor but I find it’s necessary for lift because the oats and seeds are heavier than traditional flour. Happy Birthday to you!!! 🙂
Omgosh!!!! I wish I read comments before making!! I just did the same thing. They are in oven now smelling of apple cider vinegar……have to throw out and start over!!
Hi Laurie, that’s such a bummer! I have triple-checked the recipe and the post and never use the word vinegar anywhere. I’m so confused as to how people are reading the word vinegar when it isn’t there, but perhaps it’s some strange phenomenon. I will update the recipe to make it crystal clear that it’s the drink apple cider, not vinegar, to hopefully block this weird word association thing from happening again. Hope you like the muffins when they’re vinegar-free! 😉
So good! I used organic pumpkin apple cider and topped with cranberries. Then I ate with almond butter. Thank you for a delicious and easy recipe 🙂
I love these muffins, but my icing never comes out looking like the picture! I’ve tried soaking the cashews first, using an immersion blender instead of the regular one, I still can’t get rid of the lumps. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Kerri! That’s a bummer, I’m sorry! I have used my Vitamix for so long that I sometimes forget that it’s trickier to get the smooth consistency with something else. I’m going to give it a go with my immersion blender and see what happens, because I want to solve it for you if I can! Thanks for letting me know. Glad you love the muffins though!
Kerri I’m right there with you. The muffins are amazing, but my frosting is lumpy & not drizzly. I started in my vitamin, but it just went up the wall. Beth do you maybe make a larger batch of the icing at one time? The flavor is great, I just can’t get it creamy. Love the ease of all these recipes though.
I’m having the same problem ???? I’ve added some water to thin it out. Still blending though..
These muffins were AMAZING!! My non-vegan mom and mother-in-law both asked for the recipe. Thank you so much Beth, I can’t wait to try your other recipes!
This makes me so happy, Morgan!!! Yay! They’re a favorite here at our house too, so glad your family wanted the recipe. Big smile on my face today. 🙂
I just made these muffins with a combination of seeds and cashews. I think they are now my favourite muffin recipe and will definitely be making them again.
I’ve tried a lot of super healthy muffin recipes and this is by far the best recipe ever!!! I’m so in love with this texture and that it’s all in my vitamix!! Great excellent wonderful job on this recipe! If you come up with more variations I will be in even more bliss!!
Emily, you just made my day!! I had a little acorn squash on hand, so I roasted it today and subbed it for the pumpkin in this recipe. For fun, I used the seeds from the squash in combination with the pepitas, and it totally worked! I was pretty excited. More variations are coming! Any requests?
Hi Beth
Thank you for your blender muffin recipes, I cant wait to try them but I am in the UK and we have different abbreviations for spoon measuring!
Am I right in presuming T is tablespoon and t is teaspoon in the recipe?
Thanks X
Hi Tracey! Yes, T is tablespoon and t is teaspoon. I’m in the process of transitioning all of my recipes to spell out the measurements, to make things simpler. Thanks for the question and hope you love the muffins!
I wondered if anyone has tried folding in chocolate chips into the batter?
Yes! It works perfectly. If you search Blender Muffins on the site you’ll find three other flavors, including a chocolate hazelnut variety with chocolate chips. 🙂
My 2 year old and I made these together today. The taste of the muffin is great but the texture came out a bit odd for us. They were almost “eggy”, slightly rubbery? I do think I should have left them in the oven a few more minutes.. maybe that would have helped as they didn’t seem quite done once we finally ate one. Do you think maybe we over blended them (can that happen)? Any other suggestion for what might have happened? I also used water, all maple syrup, and 1/4 cup of pepitas (but they were roasted and not raw), with 1/2 cup cashews. I loved the flavor and we will try again!! I love that we can just eat the batter since it is egg free too yummm!
Hi Katy! So sorry it has taken me so long to reply. One thing I’ve found with these is that if I wait to bake them until after the batter has been in the muffin liners for a few minutes, it really improves the texture. It’s possible that the roasted pepitas contributed as well, I’ve never tried those, only the raw. Lots of variables. My mom recently made a batch and froze them, and she said the texture was really great after having been frozen. So now I have to try that, ha! I hope you’ll try again, and let me know how it goes. <3
Glad I read the comments to the eend. We love these muffins and I was wondering about freezing them. Glad to hear your mom tried it and like them after freezing. I’m making a batch now and will double it to have some to freeze!
I’m in love with your muffin recipes! Talk about easy since they are blender muffins! I love that aspect. But I really love that you have created a recipe that is refined sugar free AND vegan (and GF!) that actually tastes great that my toddler loves. THANK YOU! Can you post more that fit those parameters! 🙂
These are great BUT….. I would highly recommend adding a splash or two of water in the icing. It was a ball (even in my vitamix) until I read another comment and now it’s perfect!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! We did not do the frosting, but added chocolate chips and walnuts, instead. They are delicious — and so easy! The perfect Thanksgiving day breakfast. I made two batches — one for kids/grandkids, and one for us. Everyone loved them. You are a genius!