Learn how to make these vegan pumpkin chocolate muffins with about 10 ingredients in 45 minutes. This recipe uses one full can of pumpkin purée, so there’s no pesky leftovers! We bake them in the oven at two different temperatures to get those nicely domed tops. Made from light spelt flour, maple syrup, oil, non-dairy milk, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin purée, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips, these wholesome muffins are just sweet enough–totally appropriate for breakfast! Perfect with a hot coffee, these treats ate tender, so pretty with the marbled batter, and just perfect for Fall.
It’s kind of fun to make the two different batters at the same time for these vegan pumpkin chocolate muffins! Then you spoon them into tins for a marble effect, so cute. This recipe is a little more involved than my vegan carrot muffins or vegan sweet potato muffins, but it is a fun way to celebrate pumpkin season.
These muffins come out fluffy but satisfying at the same time. I love the rich dots of chocolate chips in the chocolate batter. I made my own pumpkin pie spice to flavour both batters. Store bought is definitely easier and just as great though. For those that are interested, my homemade pumpkin pie spice formula is: 2 parts cinnamon, 1 part nutmeg, ½ part cloves, and ½ part ground ginger.
Some tips and notes:
- This is not a super sweet muffin! For me personally, it has just the right amount of sweetness from the maple syrup and chocolate chips. For something a bit more indulgent, check out my Vegan Spelt Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips.
- All purpose flour can substitute for sifted spelt flour with no other adjustments.
- I only add chocolate chips to the chocolate batter. If you like, you could add ⅓ cup chocolate chips to the pumpkin batter too :)
- I prefer mini chocolate chips in this recipe.
- Don’t forget to lower the oven temperature from 425°F to 350°F after 5 minutes! I learned this trick from Sally’s Baking Recipes and it really does help to puff up and dome the muffin tops.
I hope that you give these a go sometime soon! They are a fun and easy weekend bake. I keep the muffins in a lidded tin on the counter for a few days after. Using the tin seems to help with retaining the moisture without sogginess.
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Marbled Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
Pumpkin Batter
- 1 ⅓ cups light spelt flour
- ¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup neutral-flavoured oil, such as melted refined coconut or sunflower
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk (I used soy)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Batter:
- 1 cup light spelt flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips, plus extra
- ¾ cup pumpkin purée
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup neutral-flavoured oil, such as melted refined coconut or sunflower
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Notes
- This is not a super sweet muffin! For me personally it has just the right amount of sweetness from the maple syrup and chocolate chips.
- All purpose flour can sub for sifted spelt flour with no other adjustments.
- I only add chocolate chips to the chocolate batter. If you like, you could add ⅓ cup chocolate chips to the pumpkin batter too :)
- I prefer mini chocolate chips in this recipe.
- Don’t forget to lower the oven temperature from 425°F to 350°F after 5 minutes! I learned this trick from Sally’s Baking Recipes and it really does help to puff up and dome the muffin tops.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
- Set out two medium mixing bowls and two small mixing bowls. You’ll use one of each for the two batters.
Make the pumpkin batter
- In one of the medium bowls, combine the 1 ⅓ cups spelt flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together. In one of the small mixing bowls, combine the 1 cup pumpkin purée, maple syrup, oil, non-dairy milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together until just combined. Set aside.
Make the chocolate batter
- In the other medium bowl, combine the 1 cup spelt flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Whisk together. In the other small mixing bowl, combine the ¾ cup pumpkin purée, maple syrup, oil, non-dairy milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together until just combined.
- Portion half of the pumpkin batter into the muffin tins, by the spoonful. Then, portion half of the chocolate batter into the muffin tins, again by the spoonful. Repeat this process until you use up both batters. Tap the muffin tin on the counter a few times to evenly distribute the batter.
- Top the muffins with a few chocolate chips each and bake on the center rack for 5 minutes.
- After the 5 minutes is up, without removing the muffins from the oven, lower the temperature to 350°F. Continue baking the muffins at 350°F for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool completely before enjoying!
This was a great recipe. Everyone loved the muffins and the flavour. Thank you for the recommendation about baking the muffins at a higher temp for 5 minutes and then turning the temperature down. The texture was so good; light, fluffy, amazing. Ok, here is my admission of my big error in making the muffins (and they still tasted great BTW). Background first. I roast pumpkin, make puree and freeze. I do this because I love Kuri squash and it is my squash of choice for pureed pumpkin. There was one container of what looked to be pureed squash in my freezer; just enough for the recipe. So I made the batter(s), and popped the muffin tin the oven. I went to clean the container and there was just a bit pureed pumpkin in there so I ran my finger along the container side and tasted the puree. It was pumpkin soup, not puree. It was a chili spicy pumpkin soup. I had not labelled the container. Sooooo…the muffins were still delish. They had a slight heat to them from the chili but everyone loved them. Now I have to try the recipe with pumpkin puree. Thank you for a great recipe Laura that worked despite my boo-boo.
Hi Karry!
Thanks for this comment and review. I’m relieved that the muffins worked out, and now whens someone asks if pumpkin soup can be substituted for puréed pumpkin (you never know), I have my answer haha.
-L
These muffins are fantastic! I swapped the pumpkin for mashed butternut squash that I had to use up, and they turned out perfectly anyway. They’re fluffy, definitely sweet enough, and with perfectly domed tops.
Agree – these were terrific! I played with the flours a bit using what I had on had. For the pumpkin I used half ww pastry flour and half ww flour. For the Chocolate I used 3/4 spelt and 1/4 rye. Thank you!
So glad that you were able to make them with the flours that you had on hand!
-L
I made these with the diy gluten free flour mix blend from minimalist baker and they were divine!!! No one could believe they were both gluten free and vegan and so glad to see a recipe that uses a full can of pumpkin. Will be making another batch very soon. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
I do the same for your banana bread recipe too and it’s a big favorite!
Thanks!
The maple syrup adds the perfect amount of sweetness to both the chocolate and the pumpkin batters. The recipe is easy to follow and the muffins are SO good!
The maple syrup adds the perfect amount of sweetness to both the chocolate and the pumpkin batters. The recipe is easy to follow and the muffins are SO good!
Can you use a cup for cup gluten free flour blend or another gluten free flour?
Hi Janelle,
I haven’t tested this recipe with any gluten-free flours unfortunately. If I was trying to make this GF, I would probably go to one of the all-purpose GF flours as a direct substitution for the spelt, but I can’t guarantee this will work since I haven’t tried it myself yet.
-L
Can you share which brand spelt you use? I tried to make a spelt baked recipe with spelt from my local grocery store’s bulk bin and it did not work out well but I’d love to use it more!
Hi! My favourite is Flourist’s sifted spelt flour: https://flourist.com/products/organic-sifted-spelt-flour?variant=43185770499
I just took these muffins out of the oven and the whole house smells wonderful.
these muffins look beautiful
the extra time to prepare both batters was worth it!
I confidently proceed with your new recipes because I know they will turn out and this is another scrumptious example. Thank you Laura
These are absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to make them as a dessert option for myself. For years, I have preached about the 425deg first five min trick when baking and so nice to see you write it out clearly in the instructions. Thanks for the beautiful content. PS, made you warm date salad dressing this week and it is the BEST on everything lol.
I don’t have spelt flour on hand. Can I sub whole wheat or white flour instead?
All purpose flour works great! I mention this in the recipe notes too :)
-L