Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins

These dairy free pumpkin muffins are moist and topped with a cinnamon and brown sugar streusel topped with a drizzle of maple icing.  They are the perfect touch to your fall morning.

After moving to Israel, I become terribly homesick every autumn. 

I become miserable knowing that I'm missing the leaves turning and the pumpkin spice season. 

Sometimes, I would open up my windows to let in the crisp air and wrap myself in a blanket while drinking a warm cup of tea just to pretend it's not totally gone.

When I lived in New York, I used to buy pumpkin muffins, pumpkin donuts, and pumpkin spice lattes until they no longer carried them.

On my first trip back, I think the first thing I bought was a pumpkin muffin.

So, I decided to make my own pumpkin foods.

Because butternut squash is easier to get in Israel than pumpkin puree, and the taste and texture is exactly the same, I often make these pumpkin muffins using homemade butternut squash puree.

This is also a great option for anyone who would like to have organic pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie or for anyone who'd like to avoid using things that come out of metal cans when making pumpkin muffins.

There is no cure to homesickness, but I discovered making pumpkin muffins are close to it. 

It was like bringing part of the pumpkin season to me even if I didn't have the rest of it.

It turns out I like my pumpkin muffins even better than the ones I used to buy!

In some ways, that did cure a little bit of my homesickness. It's one less thing to miss.

These dairy free pumpkin muffins can make a nice breakfast for Thanksgiving morning, in addition to or instead of cinnamon rolls.

If you like these dairy free pumpkin muffins, you may also like my dairy free pumpkin bread.

Jump to:

• what's the difference between muffins and Cupcakes?
• How to Measure Flour and Other Dry Ingredients
• Why Does This Recipe Use Oil?
• Which Type Of Oil should i use?
• Sugar
• Can I use honey instead of sugar?
• What kind of brown sugar should I use?
• What Kind of Vanilla Should I Use?
• Can I make maple glaze instead?
• Do Eggs Need to Be at Room Temperature?
• Can I Make This Without Using Eggs?
• Can I use baking soda and baking powder interchangeably?
• Can I Make This Gluten Free?
• BAKING AT HIGH ALTITUDES
• Baking with Humidity
• Adjusting for a Convection Oven
• Troubleshooting
• How to store
• How to Freeze
• Other recipes you may like:
• Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins

what's the difference between muffins and Cupcakes?

Muffins are a type of quick bread, and cupcakes are pretty much miniature cakes.

So, basically, banana chocolate chip muffins are made from the same batter as banana bread, and chocolate cupcakes are made from the same batter as chocolate cake.

Quick breads are denser than cakes, so muffins are not as light and fluffy as cupcakes.

Also, cupcakes are frosted like cakes, whereas muffins aren't. But sometimes muffins have a streusel topping, like my pumpkin muffins do, or sometimes they have sugar sprinkled on top before baking, like my blueberry muffins and chocolate chip muffins do.

Cupcakes are also generally sweeter than muffins, and muffins are more commonly made with fruit like, vegetables, nuts, or chocolate chips.

How to Measure Flour and Other Dry Ingredients

The best way to measure dry ingredients is with a scale, but in the United States, dry measuring cups are usually used instead.

Weighing ingredients is useful for home bakers, but it's especially important for professional bakers because they work with huge batches. 

I usually use dry measuring cups when baking too, because I didn't grow up in a country that generally weighs ingredients, so please don't feel like you can't use them.

To measure most dry ingredients, first spoon them into a dry measuring cup and then level off the measuring cup with an upside-down butter knife.

Make sure not to pack it down because this will cause you to use more of the ingredient than the recipe calls for.

Brown sugar is the exception to the rule, though. To measure brown sugar, pack it into the measuring cup and then level off any excess.

To measure chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruit, just pour them into the dry measuring cup and then level them off.

What are dry measuring cups?

Dry measuring cups are the set of cups that usually come with measuring spoons. Each cup is a different measurement, just like each spoon is a different measurement.

Liquid measuring cups, on the other hand, are the cups that usually hold more than one cup and have lines on the side that mark the measurements.

The problem with using liquid measuring cups to measure powdery dry ingredients, like flour and cocoa, is that you shake the cup to level them off. This causes the powder to settle, and you end up with more than you need.

I tested this with a friend who didn't believe me, and we ended up with a quarter cup more flour than the recipe called for.

Should I sift the flour and other dry ingredients?

It's usually recommended to sift your powdery ingredients, like flour and cocoa, before using them.

Sifting aerates the flour and removes any lumps, which helps make baked goods fluffier.

It also helps you get a more accurate measurement than when you use flour that's been packed tightly in a bag.

And sifting dry ingredients together, like flour, cocoa, and baking powder, helps make sure they're evenly distributed in the batter. Which honestly, I think is probably overrated, so I personally never bother with it.

Why Does This Recipe Use Oil?

Cakes, cupcakes, muffins, and quick breads made with oil usually bake up taller, have a better crumb, and a lighter texture than ones made with butter.

They also tend to stay moist and tender longer.

In fact, some recipes call for both oil and butter, instead of only butter, if they want a lighter and airier texture while still keeping the butter flavor.

I created a baking with oil - butter to oil conversion chart for you in case you want to convert some of your butter recipes to oil recipes.

Which Type Of Oil should i use?

I don't specify in the recipe which type of oil to use because it's mostly personal preference and I don't want anyone to feel they have to use specifically that type of oil. For the most part, you can use whatever oil you feel most comfortable using.

I use neutral oils like canola oil, safflower oil, and vegetable oil.

You can also use stronger oils like olive oil and coconut oil, but keep in mind that they may change the taste somewhat.

If you're going to use olive oil, use the one labeled pure olive oil because it has the mildest flavor. This should make the flavor a lot less noticeable.

Is It Better to Use Canola Oil or Olive Oil?

Canola oil is relatively cheap and, due to its lack of flavor and high smoke point, is very versatile.

Olive oil, on the other hand, is generally considered a healthier choice.

So, really, it's whatever you prefer.

Sugar

The primary role of sugar is to be a sweetener. However, sugar also contributes to the tenderness and moistness of the baked good by absorbing and retaining moisture and helps create the golden brown color when baking as it caramelizes.

Recipes with more sugar often result in softer, moister textures. However, I learned the hard way that too much sugar leads to a sticky mess.

When it's heated, sugar caramelizes, resulting in a rich, complex flavor and a brown color. This adds both flavor and color to baked goods and is also the process in which caramel sauce, dulce de leche, caramel candies, and regular candies are made.

When used in recipes containing yeast, the sugar is eaten by the yeast, producing carbon dioxide and causing the dough to rise.

Sugar also acts as a preservative in jams, jellies, and fruit preserves by reducing water activity and preventing microbial growth.

There are many different types of sugar, including white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, powdered sugar, turbinado sugar, and demerara sugar.

When a recipe calls for "sugar" without specifying anything else, it's referring to regular white sugar.

White Sugar

White sugar (sometimes called granulated sugar, table sugar, or white granulated sugar) is made of either beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process.

It is the easiest to find and most commonly used.

Brown Sugar

Brown sugar is white sugar with molasses added to it.

It is commonly used in chocolate chip cookie recipes, and it's rare for a recipe that calls for brown sugar not to also call for white sugar as well.

When a recipe calls for "brown sugar" but doesn't specify what type (light or dark), it is referring to light brown sugar.

In my recipes, you can use whatever type of brown sugar you have on hand, whether it is dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, or demerara sugar - which is very common in Israel.

Just keep in mind that the flavor and color will be slightly different, depending on what you choose to use.

Turbinado Sugar

Turbinado sugar is better known as "raw sugar." But, despite this name, the sugar is not really "raw."

Instead, it's partially refined sugar that retains some of the original molasses.

The term "raw sugar" may also give off the impression that it is somehow healthier.

In reality, turbinado sugar is nutritionally similar to white sugar.

Demerara Sugar

Demerara sugar is very popular in Israel and is especially delicious in tea, but is also used for baking.

Unlike white sugar, demerara sugar undergoes minimal processing and retains some vitamins and minerals.

However, it is still not much healthier than white sugar.

Vanilla Sugar

Vanilla sugar is not very common in the States. However, it is common in Israel and parts of Europe.

This is sugar that sat for an extended period of time with vanilla beans, giving it a vanilla flavor.

Caster Sugar

This type of sugar is common in the United Kingdom.

It has a grain finer than white (granulated) sugar and larger than powdered sugar.

Caster sugar is often called for in recipes for delicate baked goods like meringues, souffles, and sponge cakes.

You can use a 1:1 conversion rate between caster sugar and white (granulated) sugar.

Powdered sugar

Powdered sugar, sometimes known as confectioners' sugar, is a sugar with a powdered texture.

This sugar is rarely used for baking. Instead, it is used for dusting desserts and making frosting, icing, and glazes.

In some countries, you can also find powdered vanilla sugar.

It is made the exact same way regular vanilla sugar is made. However, the sugar used is powdered instead of granulated.

Can I use honey instead of sugar?

If you'd prefer to use honey instead of sugar, like I do in my honey challah recipe, you can. However, it may change the taste and texture somewhat.

Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you don't need as much of it. As a general rule, use ¾ cup of honey for every 1 cup of sugar.

• 1 cup sugar → ¾ cup honey
• ¾ cup sugar → ⅔ cup honey
• ½ cup sugar → 6 tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup sugar → 3 tablespoons honey

Honey also adds liquid to the recipe, so you'll need to reduce the other liquid. For every cup of sugar you replace with honey, reduce the other liquid by about 3 to 4 tablespoons.

• 1 cup honey → remove 3 to 4 tablespoons liquid
• ¾ cup honey → remove about 2¼ to 3 tablespoons liquid
• ½ cup honey → remove about 1½ to 2 tablespoons liquid
• ¼ cup honey → remove about 1 tablespoon liquid

If there isn't enough liquid in the recipe to remove, you can remove it from the egg whites instead, but NEVER remove it from the oil.

Honey also causes baked goods to brown more quickly. For this reason, avoid using honey in recipes that need to be baked at temperatures above 350°F or 175°C.

What kind of brown sugar should I use?

You should use light brown sugar.

When a recipe calls for "brown sugar" without specifying whether it should be light or dark, it is referring to light brown sugar.

Can I substitute light brown sugar for dark brown sugar?

You can use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar in most recipes, but it will change the flavor somewhat.

Instead, I'd recommend combining equal parts dark brown sugar and white granulated sugar.

For example, use ½ cup of white granulated sugar and ½ cup of dark brown sugar to replace 1 cup of light brown sugar.

Can I make brown sugar at home?

Yes.

Brown sugar is white granulated sugar with molasses added to it, and light and dark brown sugar differ in the amount of molasses they contain, so it's actually easy to make brown sugar at home.

To make light brown sugar, combine 1 cup of white granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses.

For dark brown sugar, use 2 tablespoons of molasses instead. Add the sugar and molasses to a bowl and mix with a fork until completely combined.

You can also make dark brown sugar from light brown sugar by combining 1 cup of light brown sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses and mixing until completely combined.

Can I use raw sugar or demerara instead of brown sugar?

Demerara sugar and raw sugar are not the same as brown sugar, but you can use them instead of brown sugar if you need to.

What Kind of Vanilla Should I Use?

There are several types of vanilla you can use in baking, including vanilla extract, imitation vanilla, vanilla paste, and vanilla beans.

For everyday baked goods like muffins, cakes, cookies, and quick breads, some options are more practical than others.

Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol, which extracts the compounds responsible for their flavor. It is the most common type of vanilla used in baking.

When a recipe-including mine-calls for vanilla extract or simply says "vanilla," this is the type of vanilla that is generally being referred to.

Can I use imitation vanilla?

Imitation vanilla, also called artificial vanilla or vanilla essence, is considerably less expensive than pure vanilla extract and works well in everyday baked goods.

Since vanilla extract can be expensive, you can use imitation vanilla in my recipes without a problem.

Imitation vanilla can be used spoon for spoon in place of pure vanilla extract.

Though, keep in mind that some imitation vanillas are better than others, so if you can, try to use a good one.

Can I make maple glaze instead?

Yes actually. My brother really likes this version, but I like the vanilla better.

Replace the vanilla extract with ½ tablespoon maple syrup.

Do Eggs Need to Be at Room Temperature?

The short answer is "no."

While a lot of recipes call for room-temperature eggs, the difference is only noticeable if you do a side-by-side comparison, and even then, the difference is very slight.

Are Eggs Dairy?

No, eggs are not dairy.

Dairy is milk and any food products made from milk, including cheese, cream, butter, and yogurt.

So, while eggs are an animal product, they are not dairy.

Recipes like scrambled eggs made without milk are dairy free even though they contain eggs, since they do not use milk or butter.

If this sounds like a silly question to you, you'd be surprised how many people think eggs are dairy because they're in the refrigerated section of the supermarket.

How Can I Tell if My Eggs Are Still Good?

Fill a glass with cool water and submerge the eggs.

If the eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their side, they're still fresh.

If they sink but stand on one end at the bottom of the glass, the eggs are older but still good to use.

If an egg floats to the top, it's very old and should be checked carefully for signs of spoilage before using.

Can I Make This Without Using Eggs?

Yes. All you have to do is replace each egg with ¼ cup of water.

Or try my eggless pumpkin muffins.

How Do I Replace Eggs in Recipes?

After being asked by a mother how she could make one of my dairy free recipes for her child who is allergic to eggs, I did a lot of research into it and started making egg free recipes too. I'm here to help you know 🙂

So, if you want to make pretty much any recipe eggless, here's how you do it:

Eggs do three things in most recipes: they help bind the ingredients together, help them rise, and add moisture.

For example, eggs are the primary binder in a pumpkin pie, creating a sliceable custard, but in my chewy brownies they mostly just help them rise.

So, to replace eggs in fluffy things like eggless chocolate cakes and eggless cornbread, use ¼ cup of water per egg called for.

For cookies like my eggless chocolate chip cookies, use 2 tablespoons of water in place of each egg.

In pies like eggless pumpkin pie or in recipes like eggless meatloaf, and really anything that uses eggs as a binder, use 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and ⅓ cup of water per egg. Though don't try this with matzo balls, because it doesn't work-believe me, I've tested it and ended up with a big mess.

Can I use baking soda and baking powder interchangeably?

No. Even though baking soda and baking powder are both leavening agents that make things rise, they work differently and aren't generally interchangeable.

When baking soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate) is combined with acidic ingredients, it makes carbon dioxide. This helps batter or dough rise and gives baked goods a light, fluffy texture.

That's why baking soda is commonly used in recipes have acidic ingredients, like buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, or natural cocoa powder.

Baking soda is also roughly four times as powerful as baking powder, so you don't need a lot of it. Using too much can actually give your baked goods a bitter or metallic taste.

Baking soda needs enough acid to react with it, so substituting it for baking powder can leave things flat and tasting off.

Baking powder, on the other hand, is a combination of both baking soda and an acid, so it doesn't need an acidic ingredient in the recipe to create carbon dioxide.

This makes baking powder useful in recipes that don't have enough acidic ingredients to activate baking soda. For example, it's commonly used in recipes like matzo balls and biscuits.

Because baking powder is less powerful than baking soda, recipes generally call for more of it. So, if you try to use baking soda instead of baking powder, the texture won't come out right and the flavor will probably taste disgusting.

Why do some recipes call for both?

Some recipes use both baking soda and baking powder because they do slightly different things.

For example, my chocolate cake has enough acid for baking soda to react with it, but if you'd use enough baking soda to give the cake the lift it need, it would ruin the flavor and you'd have to throw the cake out.

So, instead of adding more baking soda, the recipe uses baking powder to give additional rise.

How can I tell if baking soda and baking powder are still good?

Both baking powder and baking soda can continue to be used well past their best by dates, but they become less potent over time and can eventually stop working altogether.

To test baking soda, pour 3 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar into a small bowl, add ½ teaspoon of baking soda, and stir. The mixture should rapidly bubble if the baking soda is still active.

To test baking powder, pour 3 tablespoons of warm water into a small bowl, add ½ teaspoon of baking powder, and stir. If the baking powder is still active, it should fizz.

Can I Make This Gluten Free?

Yes.

There are gluten-free all-purpose flour blends you can use that replace all-purpose flour cup for cup.

You can also use oat flour, which is made from whole oats that have been ground into a powder. You can easily make it yourself using a food processor. To make 1 cup of oat flour, blend 1 ¼ cups of oats in a food processor until finely ground.

To substitute all-purpose flour with oat flour, use 1 ⅓ cups of oat flour for each cup of all-purpose flour called for in the recipe.

Or try my oat flour pumpkin muffins.

Note: Oats must be marked gluten-free because they can be cross-contaminated at the factory.

BAKING AT HIGH ALTITUDES

The higher the altitude, the lower the air pressure and the more difficult it is to bake recipes.

Increase by 15 to 25°F or 8 to 14°C. Since leavening and evaporation happen more quickly, the higher temperature helps set the structure of baked goods before they over-expand and dry out.

However, baking at higher temperatures means products are done sooner, so decrease by 5-8 minutes per 30 minutes of baking time.

Adjustment for 3000 feet

• Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease ⅛ teaspoon.
• Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 0 to 1 tablespoon.
• Increase liquid: for each cup, add 1 to 2 tablespoons.

Adjustment for 5000 feet

• Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon.
• Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 0 to 2 tablespoons.
• Increase liquid: for each cup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons.

Adjustment for 7000+ feet

• Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease ¼ teaspoon.
• Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 1 to 3 tablespoons.
• Increase liquid: for each cup, add 3 to 4 tablespoons.

Baking with Humidity

Humidity can have a big impact on how your baked goods come out.

This is because when humidity is extremely high (think 70 percent or more), baking ingredients like flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda soak up moisture from the air.

This can negatively impact the outcome of your cakes, cookies, yeast breads, and quick breads.

There are some things you can do to try to save your baking.

Try to counterbalance the additional moisture

To help counterbalance the additional moisture your dry ingredients soak up from the air, try reducing the amount of liquid in the recipe by about one quarter.

If the batter or dough looks too dry once all the ingredients are mixed together, add additional liquid a tablespoon at a time until you have the desired consistency.

This is not usually possible to do for cookies, but it does work for cakes and breads.

Store Ingredients in the Fridge

If flour and sugar are stored in the refrigerator or freezer rather than in a cupboard or pantry, they are better protected from humidity.

As an added benefit, keeping these ingredients cool also helps keep them fresher longer, in addition to helping them stay bug-free.

For the best results, let them warm to room temperature before using.

Bake for Longer

If you bake your goodies for a few extra minutes, it can help the liquid to cook off.

To avoid overbaking, continue testing for doneness every couple of minutes for breads, quick breads, cakes, cupcakes, and muffins.  Cookies, on the other hand, need to be checked every minute.

Use Air Conditioning

To help lower humidity levels on humid summer days, air condition the room for at least an hour before you start baking.

Cooler air isn't able to hold as much moisture as warm air.

Store your baked goods in an airtight container

Humidity can also ruin your fresh-baked goods because when they are left out, they can absorb moisture.

To avoid this, store them in an airtight container or resealable bag.

Adjusting for a Convection Oven

Convection ovens blow the hot air around, producing around 25 to 30 percent more heat.

Since convection ovens produce more heat, you need either lowering the temperature or shortening the cooking time to compensate.

When recipes specify temperatures and cooking times, it's for conventional ovens, unless specified otherwise.

A simple rule to follow is to lower the temperature by 25ºF or 14ºC when baking cookies and pies, and 50ºF or 28ºC when roasting meat and poultry. Some convection ovens offer separate settings for baking and for roasting.

You can also leave the temperature the same and instead, shorten the cooking time by 25 percent. For example, if your recipe calls for 60 minutes in the oven, check the food after 45 minutes instead.

However, keep in mind, some convection ovens actually make a heat adjustment for you. That is, if you set a convection oven for 350ºF, it might actually set itself to 325ºF to compensate. So, check your manual before making adjustments.

Troubleshooting

Even though this recipe is very easy to make, life happens and things sometimes don't go as expected.

Why is it taking longer than described to bake?

Over time, the thermostat on ovens gets a little off, causing some ovens to run hot and others to run cool. This is why recipes tend to say things like "10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown."

So, if it takes you longer than expected, that's fine. Don't worry about it. Just keep baking until ready.

Why did it come out dry?

Just like some ovens run cool, others run hot. If your oven runs hot, bake these at a lower temperature.

Ideally, you should get an oven thermometer to know what temperature you're really baking at.

Why did it burn?

If you baked it for the right amount of time, then burning is usually caused by two reasons.

The first is if you put them on the lower shelf in the oven.

The second is if the bottom of your oven has food particles that dripped onto it. Even a small bit of food that drips down could cause an oven to have problems heating properly and burn the cookies.

Why did it come out too wet?

Check your measuring cups. Sometimes measuring cups aren't accurate, and if you are using different sets of wet and dry measuring cups and measuring spoons from different brands, they may not match.

I've had sets that were a ¼ cup off.

To test your sets, fill your dry and wet measuring cups with 16 tablespoons. If 16 tablespoons doesn't fill a cup, your measuring cups are too big.

If it takes you less than 16 tablespoons to fill up a cup, your spoons are too big.

I've actually mixed and matched sets of spoons and cups that are too big because they matched each other, even if they weren't accurate.

Technically, it could also be that your cups or spoons are too small, but I haven't seen that happen before.

Something went wrong, I can't even explain it... what happened?

When this has happened to me, it's been because I overstuffed the oven.

Make sure to bake the recipe on the middle shelf in the oven, and only a normal amount at a time.

I once tried to make a bunch of brownie recipes all at once, and I think I may have had something on the bottom shelf too because I was in a rush, and it came out terrible.

I can't even describe what was wrong with it. It was just very, very wrong.

How to store

Let muffins cool fully. Transfer the muffins to an airtight container lined with a paper towel.  Place a second paper towel on top of the muffins before sealing. 

If using a zip-top plastic bag, line both sides of the bag with paper towels and remove as much air as possible before sealing the top of the bag. 

Store at room temperature for up to 4 days.

How to Freeze

Let muffins cool fully.  Wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap, then place them in a zip-top bag.

Freeze for up to 3 months.  They will still be safe to eat after two months, but their quality begins to degrade. 

For best results, thaw muffins in the refrigerator overnight. You can also thaw muffins at room temperature for a few hours.

Once thawed, they can be refreshed by warming them in the oven. Alternatively, you can warm them in the microwave, but the results are not as good as in the oven.

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