Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins
DAIRY-FREE PUMPKIN MUFFINS
Even when you don't eat dairy, you may want a quick, easy, and fall-themed baked good. The muffin presents the perfectly versatile treat for an afternoon snack or scrumptious breakfast. But if you do not eat dairy, it can be difficult to find an item in the bakery or recipe that meets dietary and convenience requirements.
However, pumpkin muffins remain desirable for all, including those who eat dairy free. I hypothesized that it could indeed be not only possible but also quite easy to make tasty and dairy-free pumpkin muffins.
Method
Recipe source:
Unfortunately, I was not able to find where I originally sourced this recipe online, as I only kept the print out. Therefore, I am typing the full ingredient list below. If you know to whom I should credit this recipe, please let me know! I believe strongly that I do owe my citations.
Ingredients:
1 15-oz can (1 3/4 cup) pumpkin puree
120 mL (1/2 cup, 115g) vegetable or other neutral cooking oil
3 large eggs
330g (1 2/3 cups) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp fine salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 heaping tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 heaping tsp ground ginger
2 pinches of ground cloves
295g (2 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
Equipment:
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Optional but highly encouraged: kitchen scale
Procedures and Baking Tips:
Mix the wet ingredients: pumpkin, eggs, oil, and sugar.
Add dry ingredients.
. 
Again, using the kitchen scale for the flour helped avoid the time and messiness of measuring out flour. For items of small quantities such as baking powder, baking soda, and salt, I still recommend using the measuring spoons. Instead of measuring out each spice individually, I added 1.5 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.
Mix together. As a reminder, once you have added the flour, you mix just until combined, being careful not to over-mix.
I filled my standard muffin tins 2/3 of the way to the top with pumpkin muffin batter.
Optional: sprinkle a cinnamon sugar topping (1 T sugar mixed with 1 t cinnamon).
Then... nothing left but to bake! For muffins, bake 20 minutes. For pumpkin bread, the instructions say to bake for 65-75 minutes, but I recommend checking at 45 minutes.
Test by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's ready. Let it sit in the pan for a few minutes before gently removing and letting cool on a wire rack for as long as you can be patient.
Results
Tender, soft, light, moist, mildly spiced, and absolutely delicious. Both pumpkin muffin lovers and those who are neutral on pumpkin went through these very quickly.
Discussion
This recipe indeed yielded 20 deliciously tender and flavorful pumpkin muffins. The recipe required no modifications to accommodate for dairy allergies, and yet did not lack in taste or texture. It was absolutely simple together in one bowl and bake. Using a kitchen scale will make the process even easier by reducing clean up.
There are a few reasons that this recipe may have worked so well (click for reference). Indeed, the use of oil in this recipe instead of butter may allow our pumpkin muffins (or bread) to remain soft and more moist for longer. Unlike butter or margarine, the oil will not solidify at room temperature. Oil is also lighter in weight than butter, so the texture of oil-based cakes and muffins may be lighter too. Finally, while oil is 100% fat, butter and margarine will be comprised of some water. This water can strengthen gluten in flour, resulting in more dense and less tender baked goods (this is why we were so careful to avoid overmixing once the flour is added). Alternatively, the softness and tenderness may be attributable to the high amount of pumpkin in this recipe. Using the whole can also means no chance of wasting the leftovers.
The pumpkin muffins freeze well. If you are baking and freezing a loaf of pumpkin bread, either freeze and defrost whole, or slice and place parchment paper pieces in between before freezing.
These muffins have many research and clinical implications. First, future research should certainly consider cake recipe showdowns to compare outcomes using different sources of dairy-free fats and dairy substitutes. Second, these pumpkin muffins would have significant impact on a frosty fall morning when you need a little extra motivation to get out of the door, or a somewhat healthy, somewhat decadent treat in the afternoon with your coffee or pumpkin spice latte.
The only limitation I can think of is that you have not tried these yet, and replication in science is recommended. What are you waiting for?