My two favorite desserts are “anything with chocolate” and “anything with pumpkin.” This recipe includes both – although with its relatively low sugar content, you don’t have to save it for dessert.
This muffin does not have the cake-level of sweetness that you’ll usually fine in prepackaged muffins or the ones they sell at coffee shops. I use just enough sweetener to balance the pumpkin flavor. If you want a more cake-like muffin, you can double the sugar and replace half the whole-wheat flour with white flour, and you’ll still have a healthier pumpkin muffin recipe than most.
The recipe is fairly low in fat, but you can cut the fat even further (and make the muffins vegan) by using baking powder and a little water in place of eggs, as indicated in the recipe. You can also replace the oil with an equal measure of applesauce or pumpkin purée, and the chocolate chips with raisins.
Supplies
- measuring cups and spoons
- 2 mixing bowls
- mixing spoon or electric mixer
- muffin tin with 12 2½-inch cups
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ cup sugar or xylitol
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1¼ cups pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin works great)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs, beaten OR 4 teaspoons baking powder with 5 Tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
- ½ cup chocolate chips or chopped bittersweet baking chocolate
Directions
- Mix wet ingredients (pumpkin, applesauce, oil, and eggs or water/baking powder mixture) together.
- Mix together flour, sweetener, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Mix in an optional ½ teaspoon salt, then gradually stir in the wet ingredients. Batter should be somewhat lumpy.
- Stir in chocolate pieces.
- Spoon batter into muffin tin.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until tops are firm and inserted toothpick comes out clean.