Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Soft, tender, fluffy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are the name of the game today. Ones that taste like fall with an extra punch of sweetness. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take pumpkin any way I can get it, whether it’s pumpkin quinoa overnight oats, a pumpkin spinach smoothie, or super tasty pumpkin peanut butter cookies. BUT…

There's almost nothing more satisfying than pumpkin baked goods. I know that it's not technically the pumpkin flavor that I love and more than pumpkin spice blend, but still. It's just heavenly. These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are the perfect texture, they're gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and also banana-free! 

What You’ll Need

Here are all of the ingredients you’ll need when making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Make sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of the page to see the exact quantities for each ingredient. 

Wet Ingredients:

• Flax egg – Here's how to make a flax egg if you don't already know! (You can also sub a chicken egg here)
• Pumpkin puree – Just regular canned pumpkin works perfectly!
• Almond milk – This is replaceable with any other type of milk you want to use.
• Maple syrup 
• Apple cider vinegar – Apple cider vinegar helps create an airy, light texture and gives these muffins lift.

Dry Ingredients:

• Oat flour – You'll see oat flour in a lot of my muffin recipes. I love the chewy texture it has, I love the health benefits (hello, fiber!), and I think it has a really mellow flavor. You can either make your own oat flour or you can purchase it.
• Quinoa flour – It's high in protein, it's full of minerals and it also has a really nice texture. If you find that your quinoa flour has a little bitterness, here's how to toast it!
• Almond flour – The perfect way to round out this flour blend. It's full of healthy fats and protein, but also adds a really nice texture to baked goods—kind of a mix between cakey and fluffy.
• Coconut sugar – Or use 2 more tablespoons of maple syrup.
• Baking powder & Baking soda
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Salt
• Dark chocolate chips – Semisweet is fine too.

What Can I Use Instead of Pumpkin?

Once in a while, there are canned pumpkin puree shortages and you might need to find an alternative! Luckily, canned butternut squash puree is a simple swap that’s unnoticeable in these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Get ready for your kitchen to smell like fall! Here’s how you make these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

• Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
• Mix the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, beat together the flax egg, pumpkin, milk, syrup, and vinegar. (Or use the blender option described above.)
• Finish the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Fill the muffin cups. Divide the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 of the way. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes before baking.
• Bake. Place the muffin pan in the oven and bake on the center rack for 24 to 26 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Cool. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Tips for Success

• Don’t use pumpkin pie mix. It’s usually sold alongside canned pumpkin puree, so it’s easy to grab the wrong can! But pumpkin pie mix is already sweetened and spiced, so your muffins will be overly sweet.
• Drain the puree if you use fresh. I usually use canned pumpkin, but if you opt to make your own, place it in a colander lined with a cheesecloth or flour sack towel and let the excess liquid drain off before measuring the puree and using it in this recipe.
• Stick with the original recipe. Gluten-free and vegan baking is tricky, and swapping out too many ingredients will guarantee that these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins won’t turn out.
• Let them cool. It’s hard to resist piping hot pumpkin muffins, but they really need the cooling time to set!

How to Store

Gluten-free baked goods can get a little dried out on the counter, so I like to pop them in the fridge to prolong their shelf life; they'll last up to a week this way. You can keep them in a sealed container and simply reheat them in the microwave!

Can I Freeze Them?

Yes, you can freeze your pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for up to 3 months. Wrap them up in some foil and pop them in a ziplock bag. I like to write the recipe name and date on the bag so I remember what they are and when I made them. Then to reheat, just pop them in the microwave.

More Vegan Gluten-Free Muffins to try

• Healthy Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
• Chocolate Raspberry Muffins
• Healthy Blueberry Muffins
• Skinny Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Chai Spiced Oat & Quinoa Flour Muffins
• Skinny Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins