The BEST Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Pumpkin Protein Muffins are delicious and addictive, but healthy too! Made with whole ingredients and perfect for the fall season!
As a nutritionist, I am always looking for yummy recipes to make that not only taste good but fuel our bodies with the nutrients it needs.
What better way to get in some extra protein than with pumpkin muffins!
Once the temperature drops just a little I am all about the fall vibes. That means pumpkins, apples, baked goods, and comfort food.
Many people turn their nose up to healthy food around this time of year because they think good tasting food can’t be healthy.
That is so far from true!
Healthy cooking just takes trial and error, but lucky for you, I have taken all of the guesswork out of the kitchen.
All of my recipes are healthy and made with whole ingredients! So I challenge you to make these pumpkin protein muffins and serve them to guests!
They will never know the difference!
Looking for other healthy fall recipes?
- Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
- Healthier Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies
- 35 Creative Sweet Potato Recipes
Ingredients Needed For Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Oat Flour – Make sure you don’t pack the flour down, just measure and level. See how to make your own oat flour below.
Pumpkin Puree – Do not substitute for pumpkin pie filling, this is full of added sugar!
If you are using canned pumpkin (15oz) you should have extra pumpkin leftover, so be sure to scroll to the bottom for more pumpkin recipes!
Greek yogurt – My favorites are Chobani and Fage.
Protein Powder – Choose your favorite vanilla protein powder.
Chocolate Chips – Who doesn’t love chocolate?! Today I’m using dark chocolate chips!
Other Ingredients: eggs, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and baking powder.
Kitchen Gadgets Needed:
- Muffin liners – paper or silicon
- Muffin pan
- Mixing bowl
- Hand Mixer or Spoon
- Kitchen scale – to weigh protein powder
- Blender or food processor – if you are making your own oat flour
Head to my amazon page or shop my kitchen for my favorite kitchen gadgets and more!
How To Make Oat Flour for Pumpkin Protein Muffins
This is super simple to make! If you don’t have time to make your own, you can always grab some at your local grocery store.
Simply add oats to a blender or food processor and blend until they are powder, BOOM. Now you have oat flour!
Told you it was super simple 🙂
What Protein Powder Should I Use?
This is really a personal preference, but I do recommend a vanilla-flavored powder. One of my favorites is Orgain Protein Powder.
It’s a vegan blend that is super healthy; non-GMO, plant-based, 21g of protein per scoop, and tastes like dessert!
How To Store
After letting the muffins cool completely, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
What are the health benefits of pumpkin muffins?
These protein pumpkin muffins are high in protein thanks to the protein powder, greek yogurt, and eggs.
They also offer a good source of fiber because we are using oat flour instead of all purpose flour. Pumpkin puree also offers a good source of fiber.
These protein pumpkin muffins have no sugar added and get their sweetness solely from the vanilla protein powder and chocolate chips. I used no sugar-added chocolate chips as well!
I can’t wait to see how your pumpkin protein muffins turned out! Tag me @hellospoonful on Insta and tell me what you think!
Other Pumpkin Recipes That You Will Love:
- Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- No-Bake Pumpkin Protein Balls
- Peanut Butter Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
- Banana Pumpkin Smoothie Bowl
Why are my protein muffins dry?
Be sure you don’t swap out the oat flour for protein powder or your muffins will come out dry. You never want your batter to be over half protein, as this would make your muffins dry.
Other muffin mix ins
Chocolate is always my go-to, but you can also mix in chopped nuts or shredded coconut. I don’t know if fresh fruit would work, as it may result in the muffins being too wet.
Gluten Free Protein Pumpkin Muffins
These muffins are naturally gluten free, just be sure to grab certified gluten free oat flour.
Can I use cottage cheese instead of greek yogurt?
Yes! I recommend blending or whipping cottage cheese before adding it to the muffins.
You will use a 1:1 ratio for cottage cheese in place of greek yogurt. So, 3/4 cup.
Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners
- Mixing Bowl
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup oat flour do NOT pack… scoop into measuring cup and level
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup packed vanilla flavored protein powder (~50 grams)
- ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the oat flour, pumpkin, greek yogurt, eggs, protein powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda to a large mixing bowl and stir with a hand mixer or wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, saving some to sprinkle on top.
- Distribute into 12 greased muffin liners.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Enjoy!
I’m blown away that this recipe works so well! They just came out of the oven and are so moist and delicious, you wouldn’t even know that they are high protein muffins. Five stars for sure. How much protein is in each muffin?
So yummy!!! I added an extra egg- as my protein powder (Vega) is denser than most.
Yummy! I’m always looking for high protein recipes that call for oat flour. We gave up white flour and sugar and these are surely to be added to our weekly rotation. Thanks!
These are amazing thank you so much for the recipe! I added about 3/4 cup raisins and used whole wheat flour – so good! First protein baked good that my husband actually really liked 🙂 And me too! It’s good with some fresh banana as well. Thank you!
Hello!
Just made these and they are delicious! My daughter has an oat allergy so we used almond flour instead and a non dairy Greek yogurt!
Has anyone tried pumpkin spice protein powder instead of vanilla protein powder?
Delicious. I subbed out the chocolate chips for pecans. Perfect amount of sweetness and moisture even without the chocolate. Macros are around 1200 kcals, 120 carbs, 42 grams of fat and 91 grams of protein for the entire batch (subbed chocolate chips for 1/4 cup chopped pecans). Divide according to how small or large you end up making your muffins.
I made these with a combo of gf blend/rice flour and coconut flour and added a 1/4 cup of coconut sugar (first batch wasn’t sweet and kind of bland). I did not have protein powder and don’t use erythritol (that’s the sweetener in the protein powder you noted) – it can cause digestive issues and I have a sensitive stomach. Otherwise these came out good! Next time will try with oat flour, I was out of it and didn’t want to make it. Love all the yogurt in it! Might add more pumpkin pie spice next time 🙂
These are delicious! I used Semit sweet mini chocolate chips and they turned out amazing.
I have a question however: I forgot to put them in the fridge after cooling down however, how long are they good for when left on the counter? Is it still safe to move them to the fridge after a day and eat them?
Loved them! Easy to make and tasty.
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed them!
Best healthy protein muffin recipe ever! I literally have been looking for years and tried so many protein muffin recipes because my kids and I love muffins, but traditional muffins are obviously not that healthy. Most of the recipes I tried were okay but my kids didnt like them, but this is soo good, i can eat this everyday and would honestly prefer these over a regular muffin, its that good. Also, I don’t feel like i need to eat more than 1 or 2 because these muffins are very filling! ** delicioius ** healthy ** easy to make ** kid- friendly ** perfect. Note: the first time i made these, all i had was zensweet baking mix, I then made sure I had oats to make oat flour and made a few times with that, when i ran out of oats, I used the kodiak pancake mix (because thats all i had) but even with having to swap out the oats it was just as delicious as with using the oats.. so if you dont have an ingredient try swapping because these muffins will still taste amazing! Thank you soo much for sharing Elizabeth!
Hi Alaina! Thank you so so much for the awesome review and kind words! It means so much to me and I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe!! Definitely helpful to know all those swaps worked – I’m sure others will find it helpful as well. Thanks again! 🙂
Here’s the nutritional info for my batch (I used Icelandic skyr instead of Greek yogurt and whey protein powder, but the macros should be very similar):
Per muffin: 137 calories, 5g fat, 16g carbs, 8g protein
Next time, I’m going to add 1/4 tsp salt (I think it needs it) and a small amount of low calorie sweetener for the bites without a chocolate chip.
Hi! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, however, I only have unflavoured protein powder. Would you recommend adding a sweetener (e.g. maple syrup) and perhaps some vanilla extract to compensate for the absence of sweetness from the protein powder? Or would this make the mixture too wet? Having browsed around at a few similar recipes on other sites, 1/2 cup maple syrup seems to be quite common for a batch this size. Do you have any suggestions? Bearing in mind I have a hyper-sensitive sweet tooth and too much sweetness makes me wince! Thanks!
Hi! I have only made the recipe as written but I would definitely add a sweetener if you use unflavored protein powder. I would probably add some kind of granulated sweetener. Do you like coconut sugar? You could try that and some vanilla extract. If you are looking for a sugar alternative, maybe give monk fruit a try? Let me know how it goes if you do!
My parents aren’t pumpkin fans, but I told them about these delicious muffins and they are wondering if you can sub banana for the pumpkin. I think it would work, but banana seems more “moist”. Anyone tried this?
Hi! I haven’t tested it to know, but I think that would work well. It will make them sweeter, but texture-wise you should be in the clear! Le me know how they turn out if you give it a try!
I can’t say enough great things about this muffin! If I wanted a banana muffin, would I just sub a cup of mashed banana for the cup of pumpkin?
Thank you so much! I think that would work fine but I haven’t tested it to know for sure. The banana will definitely be sweeter so I would consider that but as far as texture goes, you should be good!
Hi!
It’s me again about the banana. So! Instead of pumpkin, I added two puréed bananas. A little under a cup. The consistency was the same as if you made it with pumpkin. Next time I think I’d try taking a third banana and chunking it and putting the chunks in the mixture too. My boyfriend loves banana so the more they better. Loveeee this recipe. So versatile.
So awesome! Glad it worked out for you and you all could enjoy 🙂 Love the idea of adding another diced banana for texture! YUM!
If I don’t include the protein powder, will that ruin them?
Hi Ellie! I have only made the recipe as written so I can’t say for sure, but I would think they’ll be a little too mushy without the protein. I would add in a little flour as a replacement (not at a 1:1 ratio, though) Let me know how they turn out if you do!
SO GOOD. These taste great without any guilt! Thanks!
Thank you so so much! Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Plain Greek yogurt?!? Full fat or 0%? Recipe doesn’t say.. help!
I used nonfat, plain but you can use whatever you prefer!
Hi! I loved your recipe! Quick question, if you would like a little sweetness, what do you think of adding monkfruit? I’m just not sure how much lol
Hi! So happy to hear you loved them! Monkfruit sweetener is a lot sweeter than sugar, so I would just add a few tbsp and go from there. You can always drizzle a little honey on top if you add too little, but I’d hate for you to ruin the whole batch by adding too much! Hope that helps and please let me know how it turns out for you!
We all loved these, thank you. Question for you, can I use quick oats since it’s getting pulverized into flour anyway? I accidentally bought a big tub of quick cook rolled oats and need to use them up.
You can actually make your own oat flour by adding the quick oats to a blender! If you don’t have a blender, I’m not sure how they will turn out with just using quick oats. I think you would be OK, but I haven’t tested it myself to know the exact measurements, though.
How long would you recommend baking them if I put them in mini muffin pans instead of regular sized muffin pans?
Hi! I haven’t tested it myself, but I would say 7-12 minutes and keep an eye on them!
These turned out wonderful. Next time I’ll skip the liners as they stick to the paper. I’d like to know how many calories per muffin?
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I’m not sure about the calories. You can add all the ingredients to myfitness pal or an online calculator to determine that if you’d like 🙂
Really good muffins! I subbed out the yogurt for unsweetened apple sauce to make it dairy free and added a tablespoon of maple syrup and they were so good! So glad I found this recipe!
Thank you!! And yum! I love those swaps! So helpful for others to know they can use apple sauce if they’re dairy-free. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and rating 🙂
Your substitutes were helpful. Thank you!!
Where are the calories and number of servings break down ???
That’s what I’m looking for, calories, carbs, etc. are they listed anywhere?
It’s not. I had an eating disorder in college so I have chosen to not provide that information for my recipes. If you are curious about the nutrition info, you can add the ingredients to an online calculator. Thanks!
Can you use almond flour instead of oats??
Hi! I’ve never tried swapping the two. I would start with less almond flour and gradually add it in until you find the texture you like. Let me know how it goes!
I substituted almond flour and the muffins turned out great. Had to increase the baking time by a couple of minutes tho. Hope this helps!
Is added protein powder an issue for kids? Can I sub it for something else?
It’s not an issue for kids! I wouldn’t swap it for anything as it’s the base for the muffins. I have tons of other muffin recipes that are kid-friendly if you’re wanting to find something else! Just head to my recipe index and search “muffins” 🙂
These are AMAZING!!! So easy to make and have clean ingredients! You would never know how healthy they are based on the taste. They are great heated up with some peanut butter. Obsessed!!
Thank you so much, Amy! We love them with some peanut butter as well! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the comment 🙂
Your recipes look scrumptious ! I am new via IG to your website and am so excited to try all the deliciousness !
Yay! So happy to have you hear. I hope you find some recipes you love!
These muffins have the perfect amount of sweetness!! This is the best pumpkin muffin recipe I’ve tried, I’ve been eating them all week for an easy breakfast before teaching on top of some yogurt. Will be on repeat!
Thank you so much for the awesome review! So glad you’re loving them 🙂 I love them with yogurt as well! x
Hi is there something that can replace the Greek yogurt? Maybe smashed banana?
Banana should work! I haven’t tried it, though. You could maybe use more pumpkin. Pumpkin won’t be as sweet, so you’re probably better at a 1:1 trade by using banana 🙂
I used cottage cheese and they turned out great!
Love that! Huge cottage cheese lover myself 🙂 Thank you!
I came here to ask the same thing! I’m vegan and haven’t found a vegan greek yogurt I love yet, so banana or even applesauce might work. It feels like a lot of wet ingredients for so little oat flour, but I’ll give it a shot!