These double chocolate pumpkin muffins are rich, chocolatey, soft, and perfectly moist that bake up in just 30 minutes. They are the ultimate homemade bakery style muffins with high dome tops, a beautiful chocolate swirl on top with more chocolate chips studded throughout the interior. These are the perfect simple treat you’ll want to bake in these holidays. You can make them up for any occasion, or enjoy them with your evening tea or even to start your day by having a muffin for breakfast on a chilly fall morning.
Ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe:
- All-purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Leaveners: To ensure that these muffins rise to form high-domed tops and brown evenly, you will need to add both baking powder and baking soda.
- Ground Cinnamon: You will need ground cinnamon to add to these muffins. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for fall.
- Ground Nutmeg: A small amount of nutmeg along with cinnamon helps to bring out its flavours even more and add depth to them. I don’t recommend leaving this out.
- All-spice: You will need all-spice to add to these muffins. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for fall.
- Ground ginger: You will need ground ginger to add to these muffins. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for fall.
- Ground Cloves or Cardamom: A pinch of ground cloves or ground cardamom helps to enhance the flavour of all these spices and goes very well with these muffins.
- Sugars: ugar acts as a binding agent to your muffins along with adding sweetness. You will need both granulated and brown sugar to make these muffins. Dark brown sugar has a higher amount of molasses in them and thus help to add more moisture, softness and flavour to baked goods.
- Vegetable or Canola Oil: You will need any neutral flavoured oils like vegetable or canola oil to make these pumpkin whoopie pies. I do not recommend using olive oil as it will add a distinct taste. Oil will help your pumpkin muffins to be moist. It captures the gases that are released from the interaction of the baking powder and baking soda, and slows down gluten formation to keep baked goods tender and fluffy in texture.
- Pumpkin Puree: You will need chilled pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) to mix into your batter. You can either use a canned puree or a homemade pumpkin puree. If you’re making a homemade puree make sure to drain the excess water out of it before adding it to your batter.
- Eggs: Use large eggs and bring it to room temperature before mixing in. Eggs strengthen the binding of your muffins and also add moisture. Having your eggs at room temperature makes it easier to incorporate them and allow them to mix thoroughly in your muffin batter. A good way of doing this is by letting them sit in a bowl filled with room temperature water for around 10 minutes or until they come down to room temperature.
- Plain Yogurt: Using plain yogurt in your muffins helps to add moisture and softness to them. You can also use greek yogurt or sour cream instead. If using plain yogurt, make sure to let it set on a sieve for around 15 minutes to help drain out any excess water.
- Vanilla: You must use a high quality pure vanilla extract in your recipes. This helps to add a rich flavor to your baked goods. Pure vanilla extracts are typically dark brown in color. This enhances the flavor of all ingredients and you should never leave this out.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is more acidic and has a higher fat content than whole milk too. Both of these things help it cut through the sweetness of the muffins, giving them a better flavor overall. It also helps to add moisture to your bakes. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have buttermilk in hand, I have a DIY substitute for you. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in half cup. You can double or half this as required. Fill that cup with whole milk to the top. Mix and let it sit for 5 minutes. That’s it, your buttermilk is ready.
- Semisweet Chocolate: You need this for making swirls of chocolate on tops of muffins. I highly recommend using good quality couverture baking chocolate chips or chocolate bars (I use Callebaut 811) to ensure the best flavor. Couverture chocolates are made of cocoa butter as compared to regular compound chocolates which are made of saturated fats like oil. This will also help you get those melty pools of chocolate.
- Dark Chocolate Chips: I highly recommend using good quality couverture baking chocolate chips or chocolate bars (I use Callebaut 811) to ensure the best flavor. Couverture chocolates are made of cocoa butter as compared to regular compound chocolates which are made of saturated fats like oil. This will also help you get those melty pools of chocolate.
FAQ
To make homemade puree, cut the pumpkin into cubes and allow it to boil along with 1-2 cups of water in a heavy bottomed saucepan. You can add half a teaspoon of salt to speed this process a little. You want to boil it until it is soft enough to be mashed. Drain out all the water and allow it to cool completely. If you’ve not removed the outer skin, do it now. It should come out very easily. Transfer the cooled pumpkin to a mixer and mix until you get the consistency of a thick puree. Homemade puree usually has more liquid content than canned puree. Drain out all the liquid by transferring it to a cheesecloth and letting all of it drain for around 30 minutes. Transfer the homemade puree to an airtight container and chill for 1-2 hours before adding to these muffins.
High domed muffin tops are always preferred over flat tops. To get that high top, bake the muffins at 425ºF (232ºC) for 5 minutes and then turn the oven down to a lower heat, that is 375ºF (177ºC) for another 15 minutes. The initial 5 minutes of baking at a higher temperature will push the muffins to rise upwards more rapidly rather than spreading sideways, thus creating that high domed top. The temperature is then lowered for an additional 15 minutes to help the muffins bake all the way through.
1. Whisk together all the dry ingredients.
2. Beat together all the wet ingredients until light and fluffy.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet 4-5 spoons at a time, alternating with buttermilk. You should start and end with the dry ingredients. Mix only until almost combined.
4. Stir in chocolate chip and mix until some or no streaks of flour remain.
5. Fill batter into cupcake liners upto 3/4th full.
6. Create swirls of melted chocolate on top.
7. Bake for 20 mins, 5 on high heat and 15 on medium heat.
8. Top muffins with some more chocolate chips while they cool down.
9. Store muffins in an airtight container for upto a week.
These easy pumpkin muffins are amazing fresh from the oven but they are even better on the second day once all the pumpkin and warm spices have had a chance to marry together. They will stay moist for days which means you can make a batch on Monday and enjoy delicious muffins all week long.
These muffins freeze beautifully. Simply wrap the cooled muffins in a layer of plastic wrap and place in a large plastic bag in the freezer. Defrost at room temperature and then pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds before serving. They make for a quick and perfect breakfast on a chilly fall morning.
Yes! I highly recommend making a double batch. These muffins freeze perfectly and will last for up to three months in the freezer. They’re perfect for hurried weekday mornings or an after-school snack. You can defrost them at room temperature or reheat them in the microwave for 15 seconds or a 350°F oven for just 5 minutes.
Tips to make this recipe:
- Do not hold back on the spices. I know, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and adding along some ginger, nutmeg and all-spice might sound a lot at first and leave you holding back from adding them. I get it that you’re sceptical. All these spices blend together to form what is famously known as pumpkin spice or pumpkin pie spice. Trust me friends, they blend in so well in these muffins and give them the perfectly cozy fall flavours you’re looking for!
- Do not over mix. I can’t stress enough on this. You want to keep the stirring at a minimum for these muffins to rise perfectly. Stop mixing once the dry ingredients are combined in the batter. A few streaks of flour remaining is okay!
- Fill the liners only 3/4th full: For perfectly domed muffins tops you’ll want to fill the muffin liners 3/4 of the way full. This gives the muffins room too rise without overflowing on to the top of the muffin pan.
- Do not open the oven door: Keep a close eye on your oven as the muffins bake but don’t be tempted to open the oven door. This will cause the steam to escape as the muffins bake which will prevent the muffin tops from rising nice and high. Keep the oven door closed until the end of the baking cycle when it’s time to test for doneness.
- Do not over bake: It takes just an extra minute or two in the oven for muffins to go from soft and tender to dry and crumbly. Not two ovens are the same so it’s important to keep an eye on the muffins as they bake. To test that they are done, gently press on the top of the muffin and it should spring back. A toothpick inserted into the top of the muffin should also come out clean or with just a few crumbs remaining. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.
HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS FROM THIS RECIPE?
All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.
- In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
- Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!
If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back.
I hope you’ll enjoy a batch of these double chocolate pumpkin muffins this autumn and don’t forget to bookmark this recipe for the holidays. These are the perfect comfort dessert you need on chilly fall mornings.
Happy Fall Baking!
Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
These double chocolate pumpkin muffins are rich, chocolatey, soft, and perfectly moist that bake up in just 30 minutes. They are the ultimate homemade bakery style muffins with high dome tops, a beautiful chocolate swirl on top with more chocolate chips studded throughout the interior.
Ingredients
- 188g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour, spooned & levelled
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon all-spice powder
- » teaspoon ground cloves or cardamom
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 150g (¾ cup) dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 60ml (¼ cup) vegetable or canola oil
- (¾ cup) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 60g (¼ cup) plain yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 60ml (¼ cup) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 120g (½ cup) semi-sweet couverture chocolate, melted & slightly cooled
- 120g (½ cup) dark couverture baking chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF (218ºC) & line your muffin pan with homemade bakery-style muffin liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, all-spice powder and ground cloves or cardamom.
- In a separate bowl, beat together sugars and eggs. Add in the oil, pumpkin puree, yogurt and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients 4-5 spoons at a time, alternating with buttermilk, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula until almost combined with a few streaks of flour remaining. Do not overmix. Make sure to start and end with the dry ingredients.
- Gently stir in the chocolate chips, setting aside 3-4 TBSP of chocolate chips for the tops of muffins if desired.
- Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin liners, filling each of them only 3/4th full.
- Spoon 2-3 small dollops of melted chocolate (about 1 teaspoon) on top of each muffin and use a toothpick to swirl the chocolate and pumpkin together. Just one or two swirls will do the trick.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425ºF (218ºC). Then reduce the temperature to 350ºF (177ºC) and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes and then remove muffins from pan to cool completely on a wire rack. Drop some more chocolate chips on them while they’re warm.
- Store these muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for a week.
Notes
- Serve warm from the oven.
- To freeze muffins, cool completely and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and seal in a large plastic bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- To defrost, leave out at room temperature for 30 minutes or reheat in the microwave for 15 seconds.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: dessert, fall baking, muffins, breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pumpkin chocolate muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, dark chocolate pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie spice muffins, chocolate swirl pumpkin muffins
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