This whole wheat pumpkin spice latte muffin recipe is reminiscent of your favorite fall drink. Great for an on-the-go breakfast or enjoy it as an afternoon snack.
Inspiration can come in the strangest places. Such as the drive-thru line at Starbucks. Okay, that’s not quite as romantic or whimsical as a wildflower-strewn meadow or the foot of the Eiffel Tower. But hey, this is real life. So, when I’m rushing between work and the kids’ school, stopping en route for a quick afternoon pick-me-up, the Starbucks menu is all I’ve got.
It’s hard to ignore a 3-foot tall picture of a steaming pumpkin spice latte, so I did what any logical person would do (ahem). I stole those flavors and turned them into a muffin recipe.
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and, of course, pumpkin and espresso. That’s a lot to stuff into one little pumpkin spice latte muffin. The spices were easy enough and, for once, I was thankful for the multitude of spice bottles, lying askew in my pantry. The pumpkin? Well, I cheated and used the canned version. Just plain pumpkin, please – not pumpkin pie mix.
As for the espresso…well, I could easily have asked for an extra shot at Starbucks, but decided to save my wallet $2.05 by using some of the instant espresso powder in my stash of baking supplies. It’s also fantastic for chocolate cakes, adding a depth of flavor with just a couple of teaspoons, without turning it into a mocha cake.
In keeping with all-things-healthy-and-light (you remember the blasphemy I wreaked on the Light(er) No-Bake Cookies with Dulce de Leche & Sea Salt, right? Hey, those were darn good.), I used whole wheat pastry flour in place of all-purpose flour.
Gratuitous fall photo. I just can’t resist those leaves.
Instead of the large glugs of oil typically found in muffins (cakes masquerading as breakfast fare), I used just 2 tablespoons of hearty-healthy canola oil, along with some fat-free plain Greek yogurt for moisture.
My kids adored this pumpkin spice latte muffin recipe. If you want to make them even more enticing to the younger crew, add some dark chocolate chips as a treat.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffin:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place 12 liners in a muffin tin and spray the liners with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
Whole wheat pastry flour produces a much lighter muffin than one made with regular whole wheat flour. (Um, nope – this is not an ad for the product in the picture…just an example of a pastry flour you can use.)
In a small bowl, stir together espresso powder and hot water until espresso powder dissolves. Let it cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), combine pumpkin, yogurt, brown sugar, canola oil, egg and espresso powder mixture. Mix on medium speed until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Remove muffins from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve.
Other whole wheat muffins:
Whole Wheat Apple Spice Muffins
Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins
Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see it on Instagram! Just use the hashtag #COOKINCANUCK and I’ll be sure to find it.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins
From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com
Ingredients
The muffins
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp espresso powder
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 large egg
The topping
- 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions
The muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place 12 liners in a muffin tin and spray the liners with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- In a small bowl, stir together espresso powder and hot water until espresso powder dissolves. Let it cool to room temperature.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), combine pumpkin, yogurt, brown sugar, canola oil, egg and espresso powder mixture. Mix on medium speed until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the batter.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
- Remove muffins from the pan and allow to cool. Serve.
Recipe Notes
Disclosure: This post contains links to my Amazon affiliate page. Any revenue made from sales through these links helps to support this blog. Thank you!
Maria says
Sep 26, 2012 at 7:26 amYay for fall and pumpkin! Love these muffins!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:43 amThanks, Maria. Oh yes, I love fall and anything involving pumpkin.
marla says
Sep 26, 2012 at 7:27 amI am definitely baking these Dara!! Love these fall flavored muffins ~ now I can dream that we will have fall in the OC…
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:43 amLOL. Thanks, Marla. You’ll just need to come for a visit to get that true fall feeling.
Lina says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:24 amI am definitely making these! I can’t resist a good pumpkin spice latte… Question– if I don’t have whole wheat pastry flour on hand and will use regular whole wheat flour, do the measurements change?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:45 amHi Lina, you could use regular whole wheat flour. However, the texture of the muffins will be MUCH denser than if you used the ww pastry flour. An alternative would be replacing about half of the ww flour with all-purpose flour. I hope you enjoy them!
Jean (Lemons and Anchovies) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:28 amI’m making these, too. They look and sound so good. Even better is that I have all the ingredients in my kitchen already. Isn’t espresso powder great? I wholeheartedly agree about adding it in chocolate cakes. And, yes, canned pumpkin, too. Nothing wrong with it at all. 🙂
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:45 amThanks, Jean! Oh yes, that espresso powder has come in handy on many occasions. I hope you enjoy the muffins as much as we did.
Cookin' Cowgirl says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:56 amOh lordy! These sound fantastic!! Mouth….watering!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:19 amThanks, Cowgirl! They were gobbled up quickly, that’s for certain.
Alyssa | Queen of Quinoa says
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:10 amSo happy it’s finally pumpkin season! I’m totally getting obsessed. I went through three pumpkins this weekend and have jars upon jars in my fridge. Might just have to make some muffins when I get home 🙂
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:19 amAlyssa, that’s great! I have to start making my own pumpkin puree.
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:11 amthese look amazing Dara. My mouth is watering!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:20 amThanks, Alison. I’m having a hard to resisting eating 4 of them today.
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:22 amLook amazing!!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:20 amThanks, Elizabeth.
Stacey S says
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:36 amYum! I keep eyeing the Pumpkin latte signage every time I pull into Starbuck’s drive-thru lol. These sound wonderful!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:20 amThanks, Stacey! I was happy to be able to incorporate all of the flavors into one muffin.
Jen says
Sep 26, 2012 at 10:15 amThese look great! Where can I find espresso powder? I am in the US. Is it the same thing as instant espresso?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:21 amHi Jen. Yes, it’s the same as instant espresso. I’m in the U.S. as well and typically buy the Medaglia D’Oro brand at a specialty store near my home.
Cathy @ Noble Pig says
Sep 26, 2012 at 10:17 amLove these! But using canned pumpkin is not cheating…it makes awesome muffins like these do-able every day!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:21 amSo true, Cathy. Thank you!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 10:43 amI love the espresso powder in these muffins! Scrumptious!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:22 amThanks, Laura. It brings a bit of that “latte” taste in the muffins.
MikeVFMK says
Sep 26, 2012 at 11:59 amI can only guess how much I’d love these muffins. A whole lot!! It’s like a taste of fall wrapped in a muffin tin. And the espresso powder is right up my alley. Yay.
Denise @ Creative Kitchen says
Sep 26, 2012 at 12:38 pmMmm….homemade muffins! I love how easy it is to get creative when muffin making. Pretty hard to mess them up. 😉 These look incredible!!
addie @ culicurious says
Sep 26, 2012 at 12:48 pmthese look so tasty, Dara. I love getting inspiration from daily life too. Paying attention can yield some fantastic ideas 😉 cheers!
Linda says
Sep 26, 2012 at 1:35 pmThese look great Dara; I will be making these this weekend! Thank you for lowering the oil and using whole grain; you’ve done the science for me and I thank you.
Julia {The Roasted Root} says
Sep 26, 2012 at 4:11 pmThere’s so much goodness going on here…your muffins look addicting! Wonderful fall baking recipe – can’t wait to whip up a batch once the pumpkins in my garden are ready for roasting! 🙂
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Sep 26, 2012 at 7:50 pmLOVE baking with whole wheat. This looks amazingly delicious, Dara 🙂
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
Sep 26, 2012 at 8:21 pmWhat a delicious flavor! I’m so insanely jealous of your fall. We don’t see that here!
carrian says
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:57 pmI so need to go hike the canyon with the fam. And maybe bring theses muffins
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
Sep 27, 2012 at 11:35 amGorgeous Dara, I love that pumpkin offers so much moisture, you barely need the oil!
Renee says
Sep 27, 2012 at 12:25 pmHave you ever considered adding nutritional stats for your recipes?
claire @ the realistic nutritionist says
Sep 27, 2012 at 1:42 pmBobs red MILL IS THE BEST. and pumpkin. and this recipe. Bookmarkkin!
Jeanette says
Sep 28, 2012 at 6:26 amI love the espresso in these fall muffins – such a nice touch!
Lindsay says
Sep 29, 2012 at 9:08 pmSuper pumped to make these when the sweet pumpkins are ready in the garden. Just wondering, has anyone passed this on to wheat-free eaters to get their thoughts on suitable flour replacement? I could experiment myself, but better not recreate the wheel.
kelley says
Oct 1, 2012 at 4:47 pmWow, these sound (and look) SO enticing. I don’t love pumpkin but I love the idea of a pumpkin latte and even more so, a pumpkin latte muffin! Nicely done on the recipe makeover- light and healthy and no one even knows!!
Kristen says
Oct 2, 2012 at 8:33 pmI love everything about this muffin!
Rachael says
Oct 4, 2012 at 8:52 amHey! These sound fantastic!! For us folk that are allergic to dairy…what would you substitute the yogurt for??
Thanks!
Laurie says
Oct 11, 2012 at 8:51 amThis is the second recipe I’ve made of yours and it’s another gem! These turned out great. The texture is perfect, the flavors are warm & wonderful. I think next time I’ll add even more cinnamon & nutmeg, but I really have no complaints. They look, smell, and taste fantastic. Thank you!
(I blogged it here: http://mybakingadventure.tumblr.com/post/33364195837/whole-wheat-pumpkin-spice-latte-muffins-ive-been)
amy says
Oct 15, 2012 at 2:41 pmI tried making these with 1/2 WW flour and 1/2 regular. They stuck to the paper muffin cup and weren’t done in the middle! My baking skills are not up to par but what went wrong, I followed the directions otherwise? Maybe try spraying the muffin tin? This has happened to me before! I like the flavor?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Oct 16, 2012 at 8:29 pmAmy, did you spray the muffin cups? I believe that is stated in the steps – I’ve had the same sticking problem in the past and find that spraying the paper cups really helps.
threeundertwo says
Oct 16, 2012 at 6:15 pmI made these today and they’re fantastic! The kitchen smells wonderful now too. Just a note – mine took a little less than 25 minutes and you left out the step of adding the topping.
Thank you so much! Found this via pinterest.
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Oct 16, 2012 at 8:28 pmI’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the heads-up about the missed step…it’s fixed now.
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
Nov 18, 2012 at 11:47 amI don’t know how I missed these. They sound and look amazing! I love the ingredients and that there isn’t too much fat in them, although I don’t mind healthy fat too much. I tried the pumpkin espresso combo for the first time yesterday and it was heavenly. Can’t wait to try these!
Robin Chesser says
Sep 8, 2013 at 11:47 amIs it dark brown sugar or light brown sugar…can’t wait to try these!
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Colleen says
Oct 6, 2018 at 3:09 pmSo good! Pumpkin, spices, espresso… you can’t go wrong. I made these awhile ago, but I remember they were super delicious. Love your blog!
Colleen says
Jan 18, 2019 at 2:01 pmHi Dara! I loved these muffins and I’d love to feature them in a Favorite Recipe Roundup I’m doing for my blog, Bakes and Blunders (www.bakesandblunders.com). I sent you an email about it last week and I’m just following up on it. Please let me know by Mon Jan 21 so that I have enough time to finish the post. Thanks and keep up the great baking!