Gluten-Free Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Muffins

Today is Day 5 of sharing gluten-free muffin recipes for March Muffin Madness (MMM) and this recipe for gluten-free Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Muffins comes to us from Gena Hamshaw of The Full Helping.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Muffins from Gena Hamshaw of The Full Helping

Okay, technically, it’s already Day 6 because I’m a little bit behind but sometimes that happens during MMM and I will catch up. After I make and eat some of these muffins. No, I am not kidding!

Gena says: “These pumpkin gingerbread spice muffins are a hybrid of two of my favorite things: pumpkin bread and gingerbread. All that goodness is baked into a muffin form! They’re also vegan and gluten-free!” (If you’re not vegan, don’t panic. With muffins, that simply means they are made without eggs and dairy, which is terrific for those who can’t eat either.)

She adds: “We’ve all had pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins before, and for the most part, these muffins are a fairly traditional spin on that recipe. What I love about them, though, is the addition of blackstrap molasses, which turns them into a pumpkin and gingerbread hybrid of sorts.

It adds a beautiful, deep color, both before and after baking, and it also adds an unmistakable flavor and rich sweetness to the muffins. Coupled with the cinnamon and cloves, it screams all things autumn.”

Or simply comfort food for the rest of the year when it’s not Fall, like right now, folks.

I applaud Gena for her brilliant idea to “insert” gingerbread into pumpkin spice muffins because pumpkin spice and gingerbread are also two of my favorite things!   

More from Gena: “Muffins are always a delightful treat in the morning, but lately I’ve been turning them into a treasured mid-afternoon snack–especially when I’m on campus between classes. I think I ate so many dried fruit/nut bars as a student that I got a little weary of them. I still like to make them at home (my Lemon-Kissed Cashew Hemp Bars are a favorite), but I’ve also been branching out into other snacks that can satisfy a sweet craving and be easily transported. These vegan, gluten-free pumpkin muffins fit the bill!”

I also believe that a good muffin deserves to be eaten at other times besides breakfast. Breakfast, brunch, lunch treat, afternoon snack, after-dinner dessert, late-night snack, travel sustenance, etc. Muffins work deliciously for all those times!

Note that Gena’s site is not strictly gluten free as she doesn’t have a medical need to eat GF but she has so many recipes that are naturally GF or have an easy gluten-free option.

A Little More on Gena and The Full Helping

Gena is a registered dietitian and is considered to be one of the food world’s experts on vegan living. She is and does much more than that though. So please take a moment to learn more about her on The Full Helping. (You can also follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.)

You’ll find her work in many places, including Food52 (she even wrote a Food52 cookbook). She also has a brand new cookbook but today she’s sponsoring a giveaway of her first two cookbooks, Choosing Raw and Power Plates.

Like Gena’s blog, none of her cookbooks are 100% gluten free but many of the recipes are naturally gluten free or Gena provides a gluten-free option.

There are some recipes that you’ll have to figure out a gluten-free substitute on your own but it’s not that difficult (more on that later). Or you can simply skip them.

Gena Hamshaw of The Full Helping

I was first “introduced” to Gena through a recipe from her first cookbook, Choosing Raw: Making Raw Foods Part of The Way You Eat. Our mutual friend Valerie (some of you may remember Valerie from her City | Life | Eats blog) made Gena’s No-Bake Tartlets with Raw Vegan Chocolate Ganache Filling for our gluten-free girlfriends’ retreat.

A quick photo of No-Bake Tartlets with Raw Vegan Chocolate Ganache Filling that I snapped from Gena’s Choosing Raw cookbook.

As you can see, these tartlets are a gorgeous and elegant dessert. They also taste absolutely amazing and are easy to make. A little goes a long way with this dessert (and most other raw, naturally rich desserts).

Valerie later gave me my own copy of that cookbook of Gena’s plus the Wilton mini tart pans. Just in case I wanted to make these divine desserts again! And I did and we have, at several later girlfriends’ retreats.

It’s a recipe that works for all of my gluten-free girlfriends as we have multiple food intolerances, not just gluten. Recipes and foods that are both gluten free and vegan are an ideal solution for those who also don’t eat dairy or eggs.

When I shared how amazing these tartlets were on Twitter, Gena quickly and graciously responded to thank me for sharing and to offer me a copy of her newest cookbook at the time, Power Plates. I happily accepted!

You’ll get a chance to win a copy of both Choosing Raw and Power Plates so be sure to read on beyond Gena’s gluten-free Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Muffins recipe.

Now back to her muffin recipe …

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Muffins Recipe

Yield: 12 muffins

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Gingerbread Spice Muffins (Vegan)

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Gena says: “We’ve all had pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins before, and for the most part, these muffins are a fairly traditional spin on that recipe. What I love about them, though, is the addition of blackstrap molasses, which turns them into a pumpkin and gingerbread hybrid of sorts. It adds a beautiful, deep color, both before and after baking, and it also adds an unmistakable flavor and rich sweetness to the muffins."

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 43 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour mix
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup raisins (optional; see notes for substitution options)
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (see notes for substitution options)
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup almond or soy milk
• 1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or grapeseed oil

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a 12-muffin baking sheet with liners, or lightly oil and flour the muffin cups.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, raisins, and walnuts together in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar and almond or soy milk till frothy. Whisk in the pumpkin, molasses, and oil. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine well.
4. Pour the batter into liners by the heaping 1/3 cup and bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin emerges clean. Allow the muffins to cool, and dig in!
   
   

Notes

Once cool, muffins should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. They can be frozen for up to 3 weeks.

If you’d like to make this recipe your own, try folding in different nuts or seeds or dried fruit (in place of raisins, for example, chopped dates or dried cranberries; in place of walnuts, pumpkin seeds). 

I love to top these with a little apple or pumpkin butter, jam, almond or cashew butter, or---for a traditional treat---some Earth Balance or homemade vegan buttery spread. (Shirley here: there are so many raved-over recipes for homemade vegan butter online now as well as new and popular vegan butter products.)

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Today’s MMM Prizes

All giveaways are now closed. Thanks to all who participated!

~ Cookbooks

~ Choosing Raw: Making Raw Foods Part of The Way You Eat (one winner; sponsored by Gena Hamshaw)

In Gena’s own words: “Choosing Raw is an ode to the simple, imaginative, and appealing, raw and cooked recipes that helped me to fall in love with a plant-based diet over a decade ago. In the book, you’ll find 125 recipes and 21 days of wholesome, innovative plant-based meal plans. If you’re new to plant-based eating, the book will offer you a well-researched perspective on healthy living (including tons of frequently asked questions), and it will make vegan and raw food feel accessible.”

As you all know, I don’t eat totally plant-based myself but I still love and enjoy so many plant-based recpes and meals, including ones made from recipes in this cookbook. And not just the desserts, although raw desserts are amazing.

If you’ve not yet tried them, it’s time! I recommend starting with the tarts I mentioned earlier or the Raw Key Lime Pie or maybe the Blueberry Cheesecake.

Raw desserts are phenomenal but there are plenty of other wonderful recipes in this cookbook, including some non-raw recipes, that can help you eat gluten free and vegan.

~ Power Plates: 100 Nutritionally Balanced, One-Dish Vegan Meals (two winners; sponsored by Gena Hamshaw and gfe)

There are many beautifully worded (and accurate) descriptions for this cookbook—including on Gena’s site—but to me, it’s the reader reviews that really convey how this cookbook delivers. Here’s a great one:

“After a lifetime of feeling like a failure as a cook, I’m finally able to enjoy the entire process of prepping, cooking, and entertaining, knowing with confidence that by sticking to Gena Hamshaw’s straightforward instructions, my efforts will result in something truly delicious, attractive and very likely unique for most folks. I’ve gifted this cookbook to several friends and family members, having cooked over a dozen of its recipes multiple times (just counted 20 bookmarked pages for recipes I’ve made) and entertained multiple rounds of house guests for days feeling serenely confident in my ability to nourish and please them. This is the first cookbook I’ve ever felt compelled to sing the praises for, and I’ve got shelves full of others that never “took.” A giant “thumbs up”—recommend without reservation.”

Verify the GF status of ingredients for recipes and make any adjustments needed. For example, I was drawn to the Sweet Potato Falafel Bowls in this cookbook. The Freekeh Pilaf that is a component of this recipe is not gluten free as written because freekeh comes from green durum wheat. But you can easily sub in a rice pilaf for this part of the recipe or even sub in quinoa for the freekeh.

~ Ingredients 

I want you to have the ingredients for Gena’s muffins and you may need to restock these ingredients in your spice cabinet anyway.

~ Simply Organic Ground Ginger (1.64 ounces) (one winner gets all three ingredients; sponsored by gfe)

~ Simply Organic Ground Cloves (2.82 ounces) (one winner gets all three ingredients; sponsored by gfe)

~ McCormick Ground Cinnamon (7.16 ounces) (one winner gets all three ingredients; sponsored by gfe)

Grand Prize Giveaway

All giveaways are now closed. Thanks to all who participated!

Originally published March 17, 2023; updated September 5, 2023.

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