July 2024

Below you will find tips and tricks to help achieve the best results possible!

How to Make Pumpkin Muffins Using a Cake Mix?

Easy! Start with a box spice cake mix and add pumpkin and egg. The muffin batter can be made in one bowl. Mix all the batter ingredients together, add it to a muffin pan, and then straight to the oven.

Ingredients

Pumpkin – use canned pumpkin puree for this recipe. This is pure canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.  

Spice Cake Mix – any brand of spice cake mix can be used. I used Duncan Hines spice cake for this recipe.

Supplies Needed

Large mixing bowl

Mixing spoon or spatula

12-cup muffin pan and muffin liners

Tips and Tricks

The best way I have found to mix the streusel topping is by hand. Rub the flour, sugar, and butter between your fingers until combined. The streusel should be crumbly but will hold shape if you press it together. If the streusel is not crumbling, you can add some extra flour to get the right consistency.

I like the streusel in this recipe because it prevents the tops of the muffins from being super sticky. Baked goods with pumpkin tend to be very moist and when stored in an airtight container the moisture can cause items to get sticky and soggy.  Cover the muffin batter well when adding the streusel and it will help to prevent stickiness.

Don’t over mix the muffin batter. Mix all the muffin ingredients together until just combined and no visible streaks of dry cake mix remain. At that point stop mixing.

Muffin liners make cleanup easier, but they are optional. If you do not have any muffin liners then spray your muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray before adding the batter.

Variations

If you cannot find spice cake mix, you can use yellow cake mix. Add a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the muffin batter.

You can omit the pecans from the streusel if you want to make these muffins nut free. You can also omit the streusel altogether.

Baking chips are optional for this recipe. I like cinnamon chip but you could also substitute them with mini chocolate chips or butterscotch chips.

You can also top the pumpkin spice muffins with cream cheese frosting and that would be delicious. 

You could also bake mini pumpkin muffins using this recipe. Adjust the baking time down to 15 minutes or when the muffin tops spring back when touched in the center.

How to Store Pumpkin Muffins?

Allow muffins to cool completely before storing them in an airtight container. Store muffins at room temperature for four to five days.