Yes, you read that right. Two ingredients -- no eggs, no oil, and no butter -- and about 5 minutes of prep! These easy Pumpkin Muffins are made with a box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin for a lighter way to satisfy your pumpkin spice cravings!
Pumpkin Muffin Recipe
I definitely cannot take credit for this easy pumpkin muffin recipe, since it seems to be a fairly well-known way of "hacking" a boxed cake mix. That said, I’m still excited about these sweet, tasty treats that my boys have been enjoying since they were toddlers!
The healthy pumpkin muffins are a perfect breakfast, snack, or side dish with dinner, since they taste great and still manage to sneak in some extra veggies. Keep these two ingredients on hand, because you never know when a baking -- or muffin -- mood will strike!
Ingredients for Easy Pumpkin Muffins
That's right -- these are just about the easiest muffins you will ever make. After all, you only need 2 ingredients:
How to Make Pumpkin Muffins with a Cake Mix
First, combine the dry cake mix with the pumpkin puree. Do not add any other ingredients called for on the box.
I like to fold the batter together with a spatula first, and then I use an electric mixer to make sure that it's fluffy and completely combined. You can do this all by hand -- it just takes a bit longer.
That batter is thick!
Divide the batter evenly among 12 standard muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
What to Serve with Pumpkin Spice Muffins
If you’re serving the pumpkin muffins for breakfast or brunch, try pairing them with any of these other dishes:
- Sausage Hash Brown Casserole
- Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Fresh fruit salad
- Sally’s Easy Overnight Breakfast Casserole
- Ham, Cheddar and Broccoli Quiche or Quiche Lorraine
- Biscuits and Gravy Casserole
- Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole
- Crustless Quiche with Spinach
At dinnertime, the muffins go well with any of these entrées:
- Fried Chicken
- Shrimp and Grits
- Crock Pot Chicken and Gravy
- Slow Cooker Cowboy Pork and Beans
- Cornflake Chicken
- Crock Pot Ribs
- Pulled BBQ Chicken in the Crock Pot
- Crab Cakes
- Shrimp Creole
- Beef Barbecue
- Chili con Carne or “Good Luck” Southern Chili
- Smothered Pork Chops
- Southern Fried Catfish
- Fried Chicken Tenders
- Dutch Oven Pot Roast
- Sour Cream Chicken
- Apple Cider Pulled Pork
Storage -- Homemade Pumpkin Muffins
Stored in an airtight container, the muffins will keep at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Freeze the extras! These 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins keep really well in the freezer, so stash some away for easy breakfasts or snacks throughout the fall. You can thaw them in the microwave or leave them to sit on the counter for an hour or so.
Tips for the Best Pumpkin Muffins
- To make pumpkin mini muffins, decrease the baking time to about 8-10 minutes.
- Use a box of yellow cake mix or chocolate cake mix instead of the spice cake mix. Since those flavors don't have spices, you may want to add a dash of pumpkin spice to the batter.
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins: Add 1-2 cups of chocolate chips to the batter.
- Mix-In's: Get creative and make these your own! In addition to chocolate chips, other great add-in's include chopped pecans or walnuts, raisins or dried cranberries.
- Want to make cupcakes? Just dollop these pumpkin spice muffins with a bit of cream cheese frosting, or cover chocolate pumpkin muffins with chocolate frosting. The combinations are endless!
- Be sure to spray your muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups. If using the paper cups, I suggest giving the paper cups a little spritz with nonstick spray as well. Otherwise, these muffins may stick since they don't have fat in them.
More Pumpkin Recipes You'll Love
- The Best Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Dip
- Pumpkin Chili
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Gingerbread
- Easy Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (just plain pumpkin -- NOT the canned pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 (15.25 ounce) box spice cake mix
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or line with baking cups. If using paper liners, I suggest that you give the paper liners a little spritz of nonstick spray as well, just to prevent any sticking.
- In a large bowl, use a spatula to fold together pumpkin and dry cake mix. Then I like to use an electric mixer to make sure that the batter is fluffy and completely combined. It will be thick!
- Use a scoop to fill prepared muffin tins with batter.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then remove muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- These freeze really well, so store in an airtight container or a zip-top bag in the freezer and just thaw as necessary.
Notes
- This is really just a method, which can be tailored any number of ways to suit your family’s tastes. My kids love the pumpkin spice flavor that you get with a spice cake mix, but you can also use a yellow cake mix or a chocolate cake mix instead.
- Want to make pumpkin mini muffins? Use the same instructions, but bake the batter in a mini muffin tin for about 8-10 minutes.
- Want to make cupcakes? Just dollop these pumpkin spice muffins with a bit of cream cheese frosting, or cover chocolate muffins with chocolate frosting. The combinations are endless!
- Be sure to spray your muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups. If using the paper cups, I suggest giving the paper cups a little spritz with nonstick spray as well. Otherwise, these muffins may stick since they don't have fat in them.
- Freeze the extras! These two ingredient pumpkin muffins keep really well in the freezer, so stash some away for easy breakfasts or snacks throughout the fall. You can thaw them in the microwave or leave them to sit on the counter for an hour or so.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in February, 2013. It was updated in September, 2018.
I'd like to add raisins but also some oatmeal would that work?
Hi, Janet! The raisins will definitely work well. I'm not sure about the oatmeal -- maybe just sprinkle some on top of the muffins before baking? I worry that adding extra dry ingredients may dry out the batter, but I haven't tested it to know for sure. 🙂
I added some liquefied Coconut oil to each paper cup and put the leftover partial Tbsp into the batter and stirred with the rubber spatula and baked the 12 muffins aT 375° for 18 minutes and the muffins came out beautifully so there is a bit of flexibility there and the mix I used was a Duncan Hines perfectly moist "Signature" spice cake and If I make this again I'll experiment by adding some Chocolate chips or dried Cranberries
Sounds great, Vinnie! Thanks for sharing your adjustments, too! I know you'll love them with the extra add-ins as well. 🙂
Can this recipe be made with Namaste gluten free Spice Cake Mix ??
Hi, Catharine! I'm not sure -- I'm not familiar with that brand, and I've never tried a gluten free cake mix. If it's otherwise comparable to a regular cake mix as far as the ingredients and baking instructions go, I would think it should work. 🙂
Brilliant blog...