These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins come together in a snap. No one would guess they are made with whole-grain flour and honey-sweetened. Not only are they easy to make, but incredibly delicious.
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Happy fall, my friends! Or do you say, happy autumn?
Either way pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are a great way to enjoy the season, don’t you think?
The combination of pumpkin and chocolate must be found in heaven because it really is divine. And the smell as they are cooking.
Well…let me put it this way.
You know those candles that people melt this time of year to make their house smell all…well, you know…fall-like?
Well let’s just say no chemically produced pumpkin spice candle can hold a candle (pardon the pun) to the smells coming out of your house when these pumpkin muffins are cooking.
The smells and tastes of fall. Don’t you just love them?
But… who made up the unspoken rule that pumpkin is ONLY for the fall?
Definitely not I.
Pumpkin is one of those flavors that we love all year round. And these muffins are a pumpkin chocolate chip lover’s dream.
What I love about these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
A tender, lightly spiced pumpkin muffin with bites of ooey gooey chocolate (the Ghiradelli brand of dark chocolate chips is my preference for this recipe, aff. link).
Who would ever know they are made with whole wheat flour? They are so incredibly delicious. When warm, these muffins literally melt in your mouth. But you can serve them at room temperature or re-heated.
Speaking of re-heating, these muffins freeze beautifully well. But good luck getting them to last that long. Usually I have to make them while the kids are at school and carefully hide them away in the depths of the freezer before they get home. And even then my kids can sniff them out. They seem to have a magic ability for sniffing out anything I’ve made while they are at school. Sometimes I wonder if they are part bloodhound.
I can’t say that I really blame them, because these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins do make the perfect after school snack. Or mid-morning snack. Or hey, even mid-night snack. I have even had my kids ask me if they can have these for dessert.
I gladly comply with that last request because compared to another dessert they could choose, these muffins are actually a pretty good option. Whole-grain flour, honey-sweetened, with applesauce and pumpkin? Well yeah. There’s a lot of worse things out there for you than that.
Fiber and vegetables?
Sure have another one.
Better yet, have two.
The recipe for these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins originated from my dear sister-in-law Lisa who told me about them. Then she kindly shared the recipe with me after I twisted her arm and threatened to…
No, not really.
She actually gave it to me on my birthday. And believe me, this was just about the best birthday present a girl could get. She must know that my love language is spelled F-O-O-D (and it better be good).
I’ve changed the recipe up a bit to give my own twist on it, but it has become a staple recipe in our house for several years now.
I like to make my own pumpkin puree when I’ve got pumpkins around. We grow pumpkins in our garden and this is a great recipe to use them in. I’ve made these with all kinds of winter squash from our garden (Hubbard, Butternut) and even sweet potato puree and they all work great! But never fear, the store bought canned pumpkin will work fine too. Libby’s brand is what I’ve tried. Make sure it’s not pumpkin pie filling. Read the recipe notes carefully for the extra water you will need to add if you are using canned pumpkin. Usually canned pumpkin tends to be slightly drier than homemade pureed pumpkin.
Well whether it is your birthday or not, I’m giving this recipe to you today as a gift from this food-loving-girl’s heart. ‘Cause who says we don’t all deserve a little un-birthday love once and a while, huh?
So here you go, happy un-birthday to you.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins come together in a snap. No one would guess they are made with whole-grain flour and honey-sweetened. Not only are they easy to make, but incredibly delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup (6.25 ounces) wheat flour see note
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup (6.25 ounces) pumpkin puree see note
- ¼ cup (2.25 ounces) applesauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons (0.8 ounces) canola oil
- ½ cup (6 ounces) raw honey
- ½ cup (4 ounces) buttermilk
- ½ cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips + more for sprinkling optional
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together egg, pumpkin puree, applesauce, oil, honey, and buttermilk. If using pumpkin puree from a can add an additional 2 tablespoons of warm water. No need to add the additional water for homemade pumpkin or other winter squash puree.
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Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and chocolate chips on the very top. Mix together just until no flour streaks remain, being careful not to overmix.
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Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin tins. A #20 cookie scoop makes it really easy. Sprinkle tops with additional chocolate chips, if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until muffin tops spring back and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Recipe Notes
1. I’ve made this recipe with white wheat flour as well as a other whole-grain flours. Including a combination of spelt, brown rice, and barley flour. I’ve not tried with regular wheat flour, but I’m guessing it should work just fine.
2. All pumpkin purees are not the same, even canned pumpkin purees. That makes pumpkin a tricky ingredient to use in recipes. I’ve based this recipe off of homemade pumpkin puree which is usually more runny than store-bought canned pumpkin puree. I have tested it with canned purees as well and I’ve found that it comes out equally delicious as long as the canned puree gets “watered” down a bit. Using Libby’s as a standard for the canned varieties, I’ve found that if you add 2 tablespoons of warm water along with the canned pumpkin puree, the texture came out similar to when I made this recipe with homemade pumpkin puree. When the batter is fully mixed it should resemble a cake batter consistency. If it is too thick (due to your pumpkin puree being thicker than Libby’s) add additional water, if needed.
3. My preferred chocolate chips in this recipe are the Ghirardelli brand of dark chips but you can try any kind you like.
4. You can make this dairy free but substituting water for the buttermilk and using dairy free chocolate chips. I’m also fairly certain you could make this gluten free using gluten free flour, but I haven’t actually tried it. Report back, friends, if you do. I’d love to hear.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat, adapted from a recipe shared with me by my sister-in-law Lisa M.
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
This is an excellent recipe. I was looking for healthy alternative to satisfy my husband’s sweet tooth especially in relation to his morning coffee. This was probably my 4rth or 5th attempt at a recipe and wasn’t expecting much, but I liked the ingredients. They were very easy and tasted delicious. Even better husband really liked them also. They’re even good without the chocolate chips. Of course they’re better and sweeter with the chocolate, but then what isn’t. I have used spelt flout and freshly milled soft white wheat with great success. Thank you so much for a fantastic and almost guiltless recipe.
Thanks Denise! I’m glad you liked the recipe and thanks for the review. 😀