Double Chocolate Pumpkin Blender Muffins
Double Chocolate Pumpkin Blender Muffins- made with whole grain oats, these rich and chocolatey muffins come together easy in a blender. Each muffin packs 7 grams of protein and 3 mg of iron! (vegan, gluten-free and oil-free)
We have an obsession with chocolate muffins in our house. And by “we” I mean my 2-year old little boy who tells me I make the best chocolate muffins EVER. Obviously I have no choice but to continue making him more chocolate muffins.
This version is a marriage of my vegan double chocolate banana blender muffins and my vegan pumpkin blender muffins. I thought it would be good to have a chocolate muffin option that doesn’t call for bananas because not everyone does well digesting bananas. Or maybe you just have some leftover pumpkin puree you need to use up. Whatever the case may be, these muffins are packed with nutritious goodness and are sure to be devoured.
Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffin Ingredients
- Pumpkin Puree- My go-to brand for pumpkin puree is Farmers Market because I like that it’s organic and comes in BPA-free packaging. That said, based on reviews of prior pumpkin recipes on my site, it seems like the water content in this brand tends to be higher than others. If you’re using a different brand you may need to add a few tablespoons of milk to the recipe. I recommend doing this prior to blending because once the batter has formed it is very easy to add too much milk which will result in an under-baked and gummy texture. It’s normal for the batter to be thick but not too thick for your blender to blend everything together properly.
- Non-Dairy Milk- With my vegan baking recipes I always opt for a high protein plant milk. Soy milk, milks that have pea protein added, or oat milk are all good options. The high protein content is important because it reacts with the vinegar to create lactic acid which activates the leavening agents to allow for proper lift. This is key for preventing gumminess.
- Apple Cider Vinegar- I like apple cider vinegar because I always have some on hand but white vinegar should work the same if that’s all you have.
- Vanilla Extract- While this isn’t entirely necessary it really does wonders for the depth of flavor so I don’t recommend skipping it.
- Pure Maple Syrup- You want to make sure you’re using pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup, because it has a much deeper flavor profile in addition to antioxidants. If you want to use honey in place of syrup just keep in mind it’s much thicker and will likely require more milk which can affect the resulting texture.
- Peanut Butter- I personally love the combo of chocolate and peanut butter so I opted for creamy peanut butter here. You can also you use equal amounts almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter, tahini, or melted coconut oil.
- Rolled Oats- You’ll need a high speed blender to properly break down the rolled oats. I recommend regular rolled oats over thick cut since they will be easier for your blender to process.
- Cocoa Powder- As much as I love cacao powder, it is more bitter and requires extra sweetener so we’re sticking with cocoa powder instead.
- Baking Soda, Powder and Salt- The combination of baking soda and baking powder is necessary to give these muffins a nice lift, and salt balances out the sweet.
- Chocolate Chips- Dark chocolate chips are my go-to as they are often dairy-free.
How to Make Chocolate Pumpkin Blender Muffins
The reason why you can find so many blender muffin recipes on my site is because I love the minimal clean up. Just combine everything in the blender and blend until smooth!
Please note: In order to properly break down the oats you will need a high speed blender such as a Vitamix.
If you don’t have a high speed blender you can easily make these by using equal amounts oat flour and combining the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. For best results, I recommend blending or beating the wet ingredients together as this step incorporates air and will help lighten the texture. Then you just pour the wet ingredients in a large bowl, add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
The batter will be thick so using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup is ideal to help transfer it from the blender to the muffin tin.
Looking for more pumpkin recipes?
- Pumpkin Chia Pudding
- Vegan Pumpkin Blender Muffins
- How to Make Pumpkin Butter
- Vegan Thai Pumpkin Curry
- Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
- Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Spice Granola
Double Chocolate Pumpkin Blender Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter, see notes in body of blog post for subs
- 2 cups rolled oats, certified GF for allergies
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F then line or grease a muffin tin for 9 muffins.
- In the bowl of a high speed blender, add the wet ingredients first. Layer the dry ingredients on top then blend on high until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.The batter will be thick so you will need a spoon or ideally an ice cream scooper to transfer it to the muffin pan. Fill all 9 muffins about 3/4 of the way full then top with additional chocolate chips.
- Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes, until tops are round and golden on the edges. Allow to cool completely before serving. Muffins are best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. They can also be frozen for up to several months when properly sealed. Just make sure to allow them to cool entirely before freezing because excess moisture in the container will cause freezer burn.
Nutrition
What the toddler wants, the toddler gets… Chocolate muffins for the win! :)
These are now on my list to make this fall! We love muffins -and chocolate!- over here too.
So delicious! Camryn and I just finished these and taste tested. The only change I made was I used honey since it’s all we had on hand. I used a little less but it worked great! I’ll probably make these for Camryn’s birthday party this coming week.
These did the trick for my sweet craving….but they aren’t TOO sweet so I still felt like I wasn’t blowing it. They make about 10 and I froze some so I can pull them out when I feel the urge for chocolate. Great way to make these healthier without using oil (pumpkin & peanut butter) yet the chocolate is what I taste the most. Nice!
These did the trick for my sweet craving….but they aren’t TOO sweet so I still felt like I wasn’t blowing it. They make about 10 and I froze some so I can pull them out when I feel the urge for chocolate. Great way to make these healthier without using oil (pumpkin & peanut butter) yet the chocolate is what I taste the most. Nice!
Hi Sarah I made these for the first time in my Vitamix and while I am an experienced AIP baker and VitaMix user these did not work in the Vitamix it was too thick, so I transferred The batter to the bowl of my food processor which finished the job and the muffins were delicious. My question is, is there any reason why I can’t make this in a traditional mixer? thanks very much for your great recipes Andrea
Hey Andrea! Sorry the batter was too thick. Did you layer the wet ingredients in the bottom and dry on top? Also, depending on the brand of pumpkin puree and peanut butter, that could change the consistency. My go-to pumpkin puree (Farmers Market brand) tends to be thinner than other brands and I only use natural peanut butter without oil added so it tends to be much runnier.
The Vitamix is ideal because it is able to break down the oats so fine that it looks like you used flour. A traditional mixer would result in something more like an oatmeal cup in which you might as well just combine everything in a bowl and stir it by hand. Hopefully that makes sense!
Amazing as usual! Alas, I have been struggling to find good recipes that are ‘school safe’ (nut free) for my kinder to bring in her lunch. I am hopeful you have some new recipes up your sleeve that would fit the bill, because you are my go to source for yummy healthy food! I would also love if you could incorporate some light buckwheat flour. Thanks for all your hard work!! you are amazing!!
Thanks for the feedback, Crishy! Many of my recipes can be adapted be nut-free. You can swap out the nut butter for sunflower butter or tahini in this recipe! The tahini will make them taste a little bitter so you might want to add more sweetener to offset that. I will keep that in mind for future recipe development though! :)
I thought these were delicious! I used slightly less ACV and they were perfect. I’m craving one now! Thank you for such a great recipe.