I hope you’re ready for some nourishing almond butter chocolate pumpkin muffins that seriously taste like a slice of your favorite chocolate cake! They have the perfect moist, cake-like texture thanks to creamy almond butter, pumpkin puree and oat flour, and pack plenty of nutrients you can feel good about. Watch me make them on my latest episode of Good Mood Comfort Food!
Cake for breakfast? I won’t say no. The kiddos will love these incredible muffins and might just even want them for dessert. Plus, you can get extra fudge factor by storing them right in the fridge! Cold or warm they’re seriously going to be your new favorite chocolate pumpkin combo. Remember to scroll through the post for answers to all of your muffin baking Q’s!
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Everything you’ll need to make almond butter chocolate pumpkin muffins
These wonderful double chocolate pumpkin muffins are filled with plenty of nutrients from natural almond butter, flaxseed meal and pumpkin puree, but they seriously taste like a decadent slice of cake. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Pumpkin puree: be sure to use real deal pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, to give these muffins that true pumpkin flavor and boost of vitamins. You can also easily make homemade pumpkin puree with this tutorial!
- Egg: you’ll need 1 egg in this muffin recipe.
- Almond butter: I love the boost of healthy fats and texture that natural, creamy almond butter gives these pumpkin muffins. See below for notes on other nut & seed butters.
- Sweeteners: we’re using coconut sugar and pure maple syrup to naturally sweeten these chocolate almond butter pumpkin muffins.
- Flaxseed meal: these muffins are made extra nutritious with fiber and omega-3s from flaxseed meal. The combo of flaxseed meal and oat flour makes them great for nursing mamas, too!
- Oat flour: feel free to use regular or gluten free oat flour in these muffins. You can easily make your own with this simple tutorial.
- Cacao powder: that double chocolate, cake-like flavor is thanks to wonderful cacao powder! It gives the muffins a rich chocolatey flavor and also provides a boost of iron.
- Baking staples: don’t forget to add both baking powder and baking soda, plus some salt.
- Mix-ins: make these muffins double chocolate with your fav chocolate chips mixed right into the batter and sprinkled on top!
Recommended ingredient swaps
The recipe is meant to be nutritious and perfect for a ‘healthy’ snack or treat for kids or adults. Using replacements or subs for the ingredients will change the texture and consistency of the muffins. Do so at your own risk. However, there are a few ingredient swaps in this recipe that will still make the muffins delicious and perfectly fluffy. Here’s what I can recommend:
- For the almond butter: as I mentioned, chocolate almond butter is absolutely delicious and gives these muffins even more chocolate flavor! Any nut butter should work okay, but I do think that almond butter gives them the best flavor and texture. Using 1/3 cup tahini or chocolate tahini would also be great and keep the recipe nut free. Use the code ‘ambitiouskitchen’ to get 10% Soom Tahini, our fav brand!
- For the coconut sugar: feel free to use brown sugar instead if you’d like.
- For the cacao powder: unsweetened cocoa powder will also work well!
Can I use a different flour?
I have not tested this recipe using any other flours. Please know that you can easily make your own oat flour using this tutorial, just be sure to grind it very finely.
Looking for extra fall flavor?
Feel free to add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for that extra boost of coziness!
One bowl almond butter chocolate pumpkin muffins
That’s right, these nourishing and delicious muffins come together in just one bowl! Here’s how to make them:
- Prep your pan. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Trust me, they’ll come out much easier this way!
- Mix the wet ingredients. Mix together all of the wet ingredients until they’re nice and smooth.
- Add the dry. Mix in those dry ingredients until well combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide & bake. Evenly divide the batter into your muffin tin and sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of the remaining chocolate chips. Then bake!
- Cool & enjoy. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack and then devour!
Store & freeze them for later
- To store: feel free to keep these almond butter chocolate pumpkin muffins at room temp for one day, then I recommend storing them in the refrigerator. They seriously taste like fudge brownies when they’re stored in the fridge! Feel free to warm them up in the microwave.
- To freeze: allow the muffins to cool completely then put in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, you can thaw at room temperature, or heat up in the microwave in 30 second intervals.
Our go-to muffin baking tools
Check out our fav kitchen essentials here.
More pumpkin recipes you’ll love
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Blow Ya Mind Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (gluten free!)
- Oh So Good Chicken Meatballs in Pumpkin Coconut Curry Sauce
- Brown Butter Orange Pumpkin Muffins with Orange Glaze
- Healthy Soft Pumpkin Cookies (gluten free)
Get all of our delicious pumpkin recipes here!
I hope you love these nourishing almond butter chocolate pumpkin muffins! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Good Mood Comfort Food
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Nourishing Almond Butter Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup (244g) pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- ½ cup (128g) creamy natural almond butter*
- ¼ cup (39g) coconut sugar
- ¼ cup (78g) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (30g) flaxseed meal
- ½ cup (120g) dairy free milk of choice
- ¼ cup (56g) melted and cooled coconut oil
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (92g) oat flour, gluten free if desired (I used store-bought)
- ½ cup (40g) cacao powder (or sub unsweetened cocoa powder)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Mix-ins:
- ⅓ cup (60g) chocolate chips (dairy free if desired), plus 2-3 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray. This is just so they come out easier!
- In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, vanilla, egg, almond butter, melted and cooled coconut oil, coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, flaxseed meal, and milk until smooth and creamy.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients: oat flour, cacao powder, baking powder, baking soda, optional cinnamon and salt. Mix batter until well combined. Fold in ⅓ cup chocolate chips into the batter.
- Divide batter evenly into the prepared muffin liners. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with 2-3 tablespoons of the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool and enjoy! Makes 12 muffins. Store these in the fridge for muffins that taste like fudge brownies. Feel free to warm up for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on October 7th, 2021, and republished on October 12th, 2024.
can you make this into a cake ? using a cake pan perhaps ? would anything change ?
I haven’t tested it, but I suspect you’d be able to bake the batter as written in an 8-inch square cake pan or 9-inch round cake pan for about 30 minutes. Let me know if you experiment!
AMAZING! I call these magic muffins because they don’t have any flour and they literally taste exactly like chocolate cake. And so nourishing!!
Love it! Magical indeed 🙂
These were soo good! I was not expecting them to be so fudgy but they truly tasted like cake. And I love how they’re gluten free and so healthy too. Totally recommend making these!
Chocolate cake in muffin form! Glad you loved them!
This recipe is delicious! We have to cook GF for celiac in my family and it was my first baking success after the change to GF. They are filling, moist, normal muffin texture and DELICIOUS!!!
Amazing! I’m glad you gave these a try!
I am excited to try this recipe but have run out of coconut oil, what would you advise for a good substitute? Would melted butter work? or Olive oil? Appreciate your suggestions. Thank you.
Hi! Melted butter would work well!
I followed the recipe to a T and the result was very disappointing. While the flavor was good, they were extremely dry and did not mix into a thick batter consistency. They are crumbly and dry–not cake like at all. I used all ingredent portions stated (used unsweetened cocoa powder). I feel like 1/4 cup of cocoa and less oat flour may have made a less dense product. I would welcome any feedback as I have made many of your recipes to my liking.
Sorry to hear that! I have made these many times and yes they are supposed to be very dense. I haven’t had an issue. Did you weigh your ingredients?
These are so delicious! I saw a comment that said they weren’t sweet enough…. I thought they were perfect! I followed the recipe, but I did let my batter sit for 20 minutes before putting them in the muffin papers. I have found it makes the oat flour and the wet ingredients absorb more. This is a wonderful muffin!
Amazing! Glad you loved these!
Hi,
Can I replace pumpkin puree with banana puree or mashed bananas? I don’t get pumpkin puree in India, If it might work, I’ll try it!
I haven’t tried it, but let me know if you do! Pumpkin puree does tend to have more moisture than banana, though. Otherwise, try any of my banana muffins here.
I usually love everyone of these recipes, but this one isn’t as good to me. The texture is cake-like, but it needs more sweetener. I’d double the amount if I made these again.
Sorry to hear you didn’t love these! I’ve always found the combination of coconut sugar, maple syrup & chocolate chips to give them the right sweetness. You could try adding a bit more coconut sugar, and these will get more “fudgy” after storing in the fridge. Be sure to not overbake them, too!
Hi, what could I use as an alternative to flaxseed meal? Thanks
Hi! Feel free to leave it out, or add in another ground seed like hemp!
I was able to grab all these ingredients and throw the muffins together before my 3 toddlers woke up. They’re so easy and delicious. I love that they’re gluten free and you cannot tell. I might try throwing some chocolate protein powder in here to make them closer to 10 grams per muffin. i will be making them
Again!!
Amazing! Such a great snack!
These are fantastic! Very cakey and fudgy. You cannot taste the pumpkin (if that’s a concern). I made these into mini muffins and baked for about 13-14 minutes, and it made 3 dozen minis. Thanks Monique!
Love that! Such a great fall snack 🙂
Omg so good and fudgey!! I feel good eating 2 as a dessert because of the healthier nutrient dense ingredients in here, i love how you cant even taste the pumpkin, 10/10 will definitely make again!!
One of my favs, too!!
I made them 2-3,weeks ago and just found the last one in the back of my fridge. Just as moist and delicious as they were on day one! So happy I found the recipe and I’ll make them again and again.
These are so good!! I love how they have nutrient dense ingredients, perfect snack or even dessert, definitely keep in the fridge they do taste like a fudge brownie !
Absolutely! Perfect snack, breakfast, or dessert 🙂
My husband and I love these muffins. The texture is to die for. They are perfectly sweet & chocolatey enough to have as a dessert, but nutritious enough that we’ve also been eating them for breakfast with yogurt on the side.
The best!!
Made this tonight, they’re delicious! My kids loved them and said they taste like brownies. I appreciate you including the gram measurements, it made it super easy to use the scale and dirty less dishes.
Quick question – the video includes vanilla extract but I don’t see that listed in the recipe. Do you recommend including that as well?
So happy to hear that! And thank you for the catch – just added it to the recipe (you’ll add it in with your wet ingredients.)
I have made these over and over and over exactly like recipe written and they are BOMB !!!!!
So happy to hear that!
Has anyone tried making these with regular dairy milk? I can’t have nuts, so I will probably use the chocolate tahini but wanted to know if regular 2% milk would be fine…if nobody else has tried it, I will report back lol!
Hi! Regular milk should work just fine. Let me know how you like these 🙂
Can i add protein powder to this or any of your baked recipes for added protein? If so, would it substitute the flour or in addition to?
When adding in protein powder you’ll need to be aware that it’ll change the consistency of the batter for any baked goods so you’ll most likely have to adjust the liquid. It could also change the texture of the baked good itself. I wouldn’t suggest substituting it for the flour. Hope this helps.
These were soooo delicious!! My kids love them too. I also had to bake for 30-35 min for a clean toothpick to come out, but other than that – perfection!
Perfect, as always! I think I make one of your muffin recipes about once a week 🙂
Yay! I am so glad you are loving this recipe, Mindy ❤️