Muffins

October 8, 2022

Cake Mix Pumpkin Muffins

These easy pumpkin muffins from cake mix are tender, moist, and super flavorful. You will have muffins in the oven in no time. They also make your house smell great while baking!

This muffin recipe starts with a boxed cake mix and a few other simple ingredients. The recipe is quick and easy to make for breakfast or to satisfy your pumpkin spice craving any time of the day. This is not one of those recipes that you just make in September or October, it is great all year long.

Cake Mix Pumpkin Muffins

Make bakery-style muffins in no time with this easy cake mix pumpkin muffin recipe!

Prep:
15
min
cook:
18
min
total:
33
min
Author:

Anne Voss

Ingredients

Muffins

  • One box of spice cake mix (432g)
  • One can of pumpkin puree (425g)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup cinnamon chips (40g), optional

Streusel

  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened (44g)
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (36g)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (37g)
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans (63g)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by adding muffin liners or spraying with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl add all the streusel ingredients. Mix with a fork or by hand until the butter is incorporated with the flour and sugar. The streusel should have a crumbly texture. Set aside.
  4. In a separate mixing bowl add all the muffin ingredients at once. Mix until just combined and no dry cake mix remains. Do not over mix.
  5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and top with streusel. Press the streusel slightly into the muffin batter before baking.
  6. Bake the pumpkin muffins for 17-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  7. Remove muffins from the muffin pan and cool to room temperature.
  8. Repeat the process above with any remaining muffin batter and streusel.

Makes 16 muffins.

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Recipe Notes

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

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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.

spice cake pumpkin muffin batter in bowl

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

spice cake pumpkin muffin in muffin pan

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 spice cake pumpkin 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.

close up view of spice cake pumpkin muffin cut in half

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.

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