If you’re in search of a low carb breakfast OR a sweet treat to increase your protein intake, these low carb pumpkin protein muffins will do the trick. Each pumpkin muffin has 11 grams of protein with just 5 grams of carbs, though you’d never know it. They’re light and fluffy with just the right amount of moisture.
And to top things off, you’ll only need 7 ingredients and a mixing bowl to make these low carb pumpkin muffins!
What You’ll Need to Make These Low Carb Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Like I mentioned above, there are only 6 ingredients on the list. I’ll quickly run through the primary ingredients and touch on any potential substitution questions.
Almond Flour
As one of two primary structural ingredients, the almond flour is tough to substitute for. You could try using other low carb flour options like coconut flour, but the coconut flavor may be hard to mask.
If you have an almond allergy or simply don’t have almond flour on hand, you could substitute with all purpose flour or maybe even something like the graham cracker crumbs I used in my pumpkin banana bread protein muffins recipe.
With these options, I’d start with a gram for gram substitution and add as needed. I’ve provided a couple photos of what the pumpkin protein muffins batter will look like before baking for comparison.
Protein Powder
Our second structural ingredient is protein powder. I used PEScience Select which is a blend of whey and casein protein. It’s a bit thicker than a whey-only protein so if you’re using another protein powder, you may need to adjust slightly.
I originally developed this recipe with a pumpkin spice flavored whey concentrate and used an extra scoop of protein powder and half the canned pumpkin.
You can get an idea of the batter’s consistency from the photos in the recipe card below. As long as you’re pretty close, your protein muffins should be just fine.
Wet Ingredients
Canned pumpkin and eggs—that’s all you need in this department. The only thing I could think of in terms of ingredient substitutions here is if you had an egg allergy or used a vegan protein powder and needed to ditch the eggs.
In that case, you could probably get away with using more canned pumpkin and maybe a bit of unsweetened apple sauce to make up for the 150-200 grams of egg in this recipe.
Final Notes for These Low Carb Pumpkin Protein Muffins
In the recipe notes below, I dropped a link to my Amazon product list where you’ll find silicone baking cups. I can’t recommend these things enough. Nothing sticks to them, meaning no macro goes wasted on the side of paper baking cups or in the muffin tin.
Okay, that’s about it! If you make these low carb pumpkin muffins, I’d love to see ’em. Snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @mason_woodruff or join my free Facebook group and share it with the Proton Party.
Low Carb Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Ingredients
- 3/4 C 84g Almond Flour
- 2 scoops, 62g PEScience Protein Powder, vanilla
- 1/2 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 C 240g Canned Pumpkin
- 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract, optional
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350F and spray 8 slots in a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or place 8 silicone muffin molds on a baking sheet.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Gradually stir in the eggs, canned pumpkin, and vanilla extract. Stir until you have an evenly mixed batter.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin tin or molds, filling each mold about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 23-26 minutes or until the muffins are cooked through and the tops are golden brown.
- Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!
Notes
- Each muffin has 2 Smart Points.
- You can find the silicone baking cups I use on my Amazon tools and products list.
- The original recipe with Bowmar Nutrition pumpkin spice protein used 3 scoops (84g) protein powder and 1/2 cup (120g) canned pumpkin.
Love these protein muffins! I like to use UMP protein powder and I add dark chocolate chips to them!
One of my favorites for breakfast meal prep! I love to use UMP protein powder and add dark chocolate chips for a little extra sweetness!
I have made these twice now using jocko vanilla protein powder and they came out perfect. It’s a great quick breakfast for myself.
I have made these twice now using vanilla jocko protein powder. Excellent and a great quick breakfast for me.
I made the recipe exactly as written, except I made mini muffins. I cooked them for 15 minutes and they were perfect. So delicious!
Looks like a great recipe! Just curious why it doesn’t include any kind of sweetener- brown sugar or maple syrup, etc.? Does the sweetness come from the protein powder? Thank you!
The protein powder tends to add enough sweetness for my taste. No harm in adding a little extra, though.
Ok not to be one of those guys who reviews a recipe like “oh I changed everything about this but it was great” but that’s what I did.
I wanted the high protein part but couldn’t care less about low carbs so I used AP flour, Hemp Yeah vanilla protein powder, added chocolate chips, salt and ~3tbsp of honey. I also doubled the pumpkin pie seasoning.
I also cooked them at 300F for ~22min and that was perfect but I imagine that’s because of my meddling + weird oven rather than any issue with the recipe.
Theyre great! My boyfriend and I need more protein and they are a good way to sneak it in there. For other people who didn’t know what carbs are: there is no sugar and this recipe is not sweet!! Add your own if you want that! 😅
I’ve been making these almost every weekend. When pumpkin puree became hard to find, I tried substituting other purees including applesauce (works great!) and some of the veggie and fruit baby food my sister-in-law made when they visited and left in the freezer (mixed results but still ate them all). Today I’m trying PE science chocolate peanut butter protein powder with applesauce. It’s a nice grab and go breakfast and a good base for a healthy evening treat.
I’ve made these twice now and love them so much. The only thing I change is adding 2 Tbsp of avocado oil. Delicious, easy, and no blood sugar spikes.
The type of protein powder must be a major factor. I used a vegan vanilla powder and the mixture was dry compared to the posted picture. I added a bit of almond milk for moisture. They didn’t rise, and they tasted sooo bad.