Low carb pumpkin recipes are one of the best things about fall! Especially healthy, low carb keto pumpkin muffins. These are deceptively simple, but taste so rich and cozy — most people won’t believe they’re coconut and almond flour pumpkin muffins! They’re made with real food ingredients and no sugar whatsoever… and taste perfect with a hot cup of keto butter coffee for a satisfying breakfast. If you love pumpkin recipes this time of year, be sure to also try pumpkin pie cupcakes and keto pumpkin roll.
Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for keto pumpkin spice muffins, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below. Making the low carb pumpkin muffins with coconut flour and almond flour helps create the best texture, better than one or the other alone. The coconut flour also helps keep them lighter. Low carb coconut flour recipes tend to be less heavy than almond flour ones. In particular, I use a blend of Wholesome Yum Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, and Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend for the batter — the allulose keeps them super soft and moist, while the mix of flours keeps them cake-like. They make the ultimate pumpkin keto muffins that anyone can enjoy, whether or not they’re keeping track of carbs.
Wholesome Yum Almond Flour – This flour creates naturally gluten free pumpkin muffins, and it’s finely milled for a more authentic texture. Wholesome Yum Coconut Flour – This flour is made from one ingredient (pure organic coconuts!) and helps absorb the extra moisture from the pumpkin. Don’t skip it!Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – This sweetener helps the muffins bake up soft, all with 0g net carbs. You may be able to substitute erythritol or another sugar replacement here (use the sweetener conversion chart), but the taste and texture will be different.Baking PowderPumpkin Pie Spice – This is a blend of spices, including ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. You can get it pre-mixed or make homemade pumpkin pie spice instead.Sea SaltEggs – Use whole, large eggs.Pumpkin Puree – You can make your own or get it canned. Avoid getting canned pumpkin pie filling, which contains added sugar.Almond Milk – Either plain or vanilla is fine, but make sure it’s unsweetened. You can order it online, get it at the grocery store, or make homemade almond milk. Other types of keto friendly milk would also work fine here.Ghee – Ghee makes these paleo pumpkin muffins, but you can also use butter or coconut oil instead. I admit I usually use butter when I make these.Vanilla ExtractPumpkin Seeds – These are pepitas, the hull-less seeds from specific varieties of pumpkins. Avoid seeds with the hull, which can be tough to chew in this recipe. You could easily swap these with walnuts, pecans, or sugar free chocolate chips, or top with a layer of cream cheese frosting after baking.
See the variations section below if you want to make these nut-free, dairy-free, paleo, or with cream cheese filling.
How To Make Low Carb Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins
This section shows how to make keto friendly pumpkin muffins with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, sweetener, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and sea salt. Whisk well to ensure no clumps.
Add wet ingredients. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, almond milk (or keto milk of choice), ghee (or fat of choice), and vanilla. Mix until completely incorporated. (It will be thicker than a traditional muffin batter — this is normal.)
Scoop. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin lined with paper liners. Smooth the tops and sprinkle with pepitas.
Bake. Bake in a 350 degree F oven until golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Tips For The Best Low Carb Pumpkin Muffins
Making keto pumpkin muffins with almond flour and coconut flour looks a little different than using traditional white flour, so keep these tips in mind.
Choose the right fat. Go with ghee, butter, or solid coconut oil (melted). Avoid fats that are liquid at room temperature (i.e. olive or avocado oil), since the muffins will take on a different texture.Expect a thick batter. These keto pumpkin muffins need a thicker batter than most muffin recipes, even low carb muffin recipes. (For example, low carb keto blueberry muffins have a thinner batter.) But, because of the way the pumpkin and coconut flour interact with each other, this one starts out thicker. Don’t worry, the muffins won’t be dry!Fill muffin liners close to the top. Almond flour and coconut flour don’t rise as much as wheat flour, so the muffin liners should be pretty full. If you only fill them 1/2 or 3/4 of the way, you won’t get much of the best part – the muffin tops!Ensure doneness. An inserted toothpick should come out clean. Underbaking the muffins can cause them to fall (deflate) or be too wet inside. If muffins are browning too quickly, you can tent the pan with foil until they’re done.Cool if possible. This is not required, but cooling improves the inner texture. I do usually reheat them in the microwave or the oven when ready to eat. Adding a pat of butter to a warm muffin is just perfect!
Variations
One of my favorite things about this low carb pumpkin muffin recipe is that it’s easy to customize to make additions or fit any dietary restrictions. Below are the most common ones people ask me for.
Nut-free variation:
Sub the almond flour: When I first published this low carb pumpkin muffins recipe, I said that golden flaxseed meal is a great almond flour replacement if you are nut-free due to allergies, or need to send these muffins to a nut-free school with your kid. However, I have since revised my recommendation and much prefer sunflower seed meal instead. It is also nut-free, but creates a much better texture than the flaxseed meal. That being said, almond flour still makes the best keto pumpkin muffins in terms of texture and flavor.Sub the almond milk: Replace it with coconut milk beverage — the liquid kind in the dairy section, not the thick kind in a can.
Dairy-free or paleo variation:
Although I make lots of paleo recipes, I wasn’t really planning to make paleo pumpkin muffins in this case. Fortunately, I was pleased that they turned out that way. Virtually all the ingredients are already paleo friendly!
For the sweetener: Allulose is a natural sweetener, but some people prefer not to use it while following a paleo lifestyle. If that’s you, no problem. You can easily use another granulated sweetener in your paleo pumpkin muffins, like coconut sugar. That would not be sugar-free, but is natural and paleo friendly.For the fat: This recipe uses ghee as the fat, which is often okay for most dairy sensitivities, but coconut oil works fine if you need to be more strict. I personally am not dairy-free, so I often use butter. Both ghee and coconut oil would be paleo friendly as well.
If your version of healthy pumpkin muffins needs to be vegan, that’s not really my thing so I highly recommend these vegan pumpkin muffins instead. She has a gluten-free variation, and you can swap the sugars with sugar-free sweeteners if you’d like.
Keto Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins:
These almond flour pumpkin muffins go perfectly with the cream cheese filling I made for my keto cinnamon cream cheese muffins recipe. Simply follow the recipe below to make the batter, then click the link for instructions on assembling with the cream cheese filling. (You’ll get a few extra muffins if you add filling, compared to the ones without filling.)
Storage Instructions
Store: Store this keto pumpkin spice muffin recipe in a covered container on the counter for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to one week.Freeze: Store in a freezer-safe container. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
More Low Carb Pumpkin Recipes
If you like keto coconut flour pumpkin muffins, you’ll love these other low carb ways you can use pumpkin:
Healthy Pumpkin BarsKeto Pumpkin BreadClassic Keto Pumpkin PieFrosted Keto Pumpkin Cookies
Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram, or in our Facebook support group, too – I’d love to see it!
This recipe was updated to make more moist muffins. The original version had 1/3 cup ghee, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, and no almond milk. The ingredient list above and photos show the updated version. I originally made these low carb pumpkin muffins with erythritol sweetener, but updated the recipe to use Besti instead, because it makes them more moist and gives them a much better texture. The sweetener amount was also reduced from 2/3 cup sweetener to 1/2 cup, based on reader feedback.
