These healthier pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are moist, flavorful, and make the perfect little snack or breakfast treat at under 200 calories per muffin.
Ok, so these skinny pumpkin muffins are not exactly a health food, but I do actually consider these to be pretty healthy as far as muffins (or baked goods in general) go.
I was never a big fan of store-bought or coffee shop muffins. Except for those giant Costco double chocolate muffins. OMG. Typically, your average muffin has as many calories as a hamburger or a slice of cake, but it isn't as tasty. I am not a huge sweets person to begin with, so I'd rather take the burger, thanks.
These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are nice and light, not too sweet, and aren't in-your-face pumpkin.
I think these are the best pumpkin muffins, but I may be biased. 😛
Let me tell you how I came up with this healthier pumpkin muffins recipe. It's not really that exciting, but this is how the mind of a food blogger who rarely bakes works. 😛 A coworker of mine periodically brings these delicious little blueberry muffins into the office.
I asked her for the recipe a few times, and finally she gave it to me (she just kept forgetting, but this took like a year haha). I was super excited to make them, so one night after work I started to get all the ingredients out but realized that I didn't have canola oil or blueberries. Pffft... like I'd let something like that stop me!
I subbed in butter and chocolate chips, and they turned out pretty good, but there were only 10 of them since blueberries take up more space than chocolate chips. I made the recipe with canola oil and chocolate chips the next few times, and then pumpkin season started up.
I thought "hey... let's turn these into pumpkin muffins and put them on the blog!" - so I did. It took a few attempts to get them just right since I was adjusting things like the baking powder and adding the pumpkin purée and more flour to turn 10 muffins into 12.
It finally worked, and even though I'm not the biggest pumpkin spice fan on the planet, I really like these, and I'm quite proud that I adapted a baking recipe without giving up. Like I've said before, if cooking is an art and baking is a science, I got a D in chemistry. Or something.
I love eating one hot out of the oven when the chocolate is all melty. Mmmmm....
And they're still tasty after a few days of being stored in an airtight container.
I hope you enjoy this easy pumpkin muffins recipe!
Like pumpkin? You may also like my pumpkin breakfast popsicles or my cinnamon pumpkin ice cream recipe.
Questions? Leave me a comment below!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and move the rack to the middle position and grease a 12-cup muffin tin (I use Pam cooking spray).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk, canola oil, egg, pumpkin purée, and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Gently mix it together (I just use a wooden spoon), taking care not to overwork it. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Fill each cavity in the muffin tin about 3/4 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until they're lightly browned on top. I bake mine for 20 minutes.
- Let cool in muffin tin for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Tips: Ingredients should be at (or close to) room temperature. Make sure you spoon & level the flour (if you scoop it, you'll have too much). I used unsweetened pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling.
- This recipe is adapted from my favorite go-to low fat blueberry muffins recipe.
Maria says
These are great as they are not too sweet and pack well for school snacks and such. I just feel like there might be too much flour for the amount of liquid. Mine were not dry but they were super dense. Next time I will reduce the flour amount by 1/2 cup and see how that works. Thanks for sharing!
Natasha says
Sure! Let me know how that works. 🙂
Maria says
Much better with only 2 cups of flour. My little one loves these :). I have to try the blueberry muffin recipe.
Natasha says
That's great! I'm glad you were able to tweak them to your liking. 🙂
Michelle says
Any chance we are supposed to do something with the third cup of sugar ? Luckily I am experienced but someone else might not know.
Natasha says
Oh geez, thanks for pointing that out, Michelle. Sometimes no matter how many times I proofread I still miss stuff. Just updated the recipe!
Sean Mahan says
Perfect for a new Fall recipe! Anything healthy that also has chocolate is fine by me 😉
Natasha says
Thanks, Sean!! I totally agree. 😉
parth rathod says
delicious recipe
thank you for sharing
Taylor says
OMG these look so good. I'm totally going crazy over pumpkin spice right now and the lattes have way too many calories for me haha. Having these for breakfast though? I'm totally down!
Natasha says
Thanks, Taylor!! Yeah, I've had so many of these for breakfast in the last few weeks omg haha. They're really good.
Tim says
Look soooo good! Perfect weekend treat for me and my Daughter.
Natasha says
Thanks so much, Tim!