chocolate pumpkin muffins

I love anything chocolate and these don’t disappoint. My friend Annabelle gave me these to try (thanks Annabelle!) and after eating a couple of bites, I knew that I needed to make these! This recipe comes from Angela Liddon’s blog (Oh She Glows). As usual, Angela’s recipe is spot on. In fact, I have never made a sweet treat from her blog or cookbooks that I haven’t liked. Plus these cupcakes are gluten free and vegan! For anyone living at high altitude, I did make some altitude adjustments (see notes at the end of the recipe). If you want the muffins to have more spice than chocolate, then I would recommend increasing the spice a little and decreasing the cocoa. My husband and daughter thought they were a little too chocolatey…is there such a thing?????

A perfect treat for Thanksgiving!

Ingredients

For the chia egg:

• 2 teaspoons (4 g) ground chia seed (or 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed - I prefer using flax seed)

• 3 tablespoons (45 mL) water

For the wet ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 mL) unsweetened pumpkin purée

• 1/4 cup (60 mL) melted coconut oil

• 1/2 cup (80 g) coconut sugar or regular sugar

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) pure maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract

For the dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour

• 1/2 cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (I used a dark cocoa powder)

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (you can use up to 1 tablespoon of spice if you want more spice - I just used 2 teaspoons!)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 2/3 cup (120 g) chocolate chips (non-dairy or dairy) or chopped chocolate

Creating the Magic!

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the ground chia/flax seed and water until combined. Set aside for a few minutes to thicken.

3. To the same bowl, add the rest of the wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla) and stir until smooth.

4. Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth.

5. Set aside 1/4 cup (45 g) of chocolate chips (if using) for the topping and stir the remaining chips into the batter.

6. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each two-thirds full. Press the remaining chocolate chips into the tops of each muffin.

7. Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes (I bake for 22), until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

8. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Carefully remove each muffin and place it directly onto the cooling rack until fully cooled. Leftover muffins can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for several days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Notes:

Loaf - You can make these muffins into a loaf instead. Simply pour the batter into a 9x5-inch loaf pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes (I bake for 46) at 350°F (180°C) until a toothpick comes out clean.

High Altitude - I live at 8500 feet so I adjusted the recipe using the high altitude tips from King Arthur’s website. I added 4 additional tablespoons of flour, halved the leavening, reduced thew sugar slightly and added about 1 tablespoon of water to the mixture and baked at 360F. Please read the website and adjust as necessary for where you live.