These Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are super moist, tender and chocolatey. They’re also dairy-free, egg-free, full of pumpkin flavor and made in just 30 minutes!
Pumpkin Muffins are overall a fall thing but, believe me, they’re are so good that you’ll want to make it all year round. Healthy, wonderfully moist and incredibly fluffy, those are the kind of muffins that even non-vegans will love.
And if you’re anything like me, there’s always room in your freezer for a jar of pumpkin puree. Homemade in my case. I make lots of it at once and freeze several jars, to make pumpkin recipes like this one anytime.
Did I tell you those are made in just 30 minutes? Oh and made from ingredients you probably already have on hand. They are perfect for first-time vegan muffin makers!
Ingredients
Plant based milk. I mostly use soya, almond or oat milk. Those are my favorites. Coconut is simply delicious but I haven’t tried it for this recipe yet.
Lemon juice. It’s the acid used here to make vegan buttermilk. Buttermilk helps to add tenderness and lightens the batter.
Pumpkin puree. You can either use homemade ore store-bought pumpkin puree, both work great. I personally prefer homemade. I make a big batch and freeze it in airtight containers or jars.
Olive oil. Olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil or another mild oil of your choice.
Agave syrup. It’s my favorite sweetener. Don’t get me wrong, I love maple syrup but due to its stronger flavour it isn’t always suitable for all recipes.
Flour. All-purpose (or plain) flour is all you need for this recipe.
Cane sugar. Use brown sugar, cane sugar or coconut sugar here. All them are moist and aromatic, and perfect for this recipe.
Baking powder. It’s, together with baking soda, the rising agent in this recipe.
Baking soda. Combined with the right amount of baking soda, it’s what makes these muffins airy and tender.
Spices. The spices used here are a combination of four flavorful ones: cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. If you happen to have Pumpkin Pie Spice, you can substitute the spices in the recipe for 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
Chocolate chips. I like semi-sweet chocolate chips the most. My recipes are never overly sweet so semi-sweet chocolate is the perfect choice here.
How to make Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a summary of the process.
This recipe makes about 6 muffins, but you can easily double or triple the recipe to get 12 or 18 pumpkin muffins. Those are the basic steps:
- Mix the wet ingredients first, in a large mixing bowl.
- Then, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixture, and stir well until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
- Let them cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
How to make Vegan Buttermilk
Making your own vegan buttermilk couldn’t be easier. Simply combine one cup of non-dairy milk with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. I used lemon juice for this recipe. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 5 minutes or until it curdles.
For this Pumpkin Muffins you just need half the buttermilk recipe. You’ll find the exact quantities in the recipe card above.
I’ve made vegan buttermilk with soy milk and almond milk. Soy milk is my favorite to make buttermilk, but both work nicely. Not all the non-diary milks will curdle when adding apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
How to Easily Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree
You can make pumpkin puree in advance and store it in the freezer for months. It’s the the easiest thing ever and makes a great difference in you pumpkin recipes.
It requires just one ingredient, the pumpkin. And the process is as simple as: preheating the oven, halving and slicing the pumpkin, roasting the pumpkin and smashing the flesh.
For a more detailed steps, go to my Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread recipe. There is a whole section detailing the steps I follow to do it.
RECIPE
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ cup plant based milk
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup agave syrup
Dry Ingredients:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup chocolate chips semi-sweet
Instructions
- To roast the pumpkin, get the detailed steps in the section on How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree, in my Pumpkin Bread Recipe.
To make the pumpkin muffins:
- preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a regular muffin pan with cupcake liners. To prevent the paper to stick to the muffins, you can also spray the inside of the cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the milk and lemon juice. Let it rest for 5 minutes or until it curdles. Once it has thickened, add the pumpkin puree, olive oil and syrup. Stir well until just combined.
- Sift in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the spices. Whisk until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients. Then, fold the chocolate chips and stir until the butter is fully mixed.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, fill each cup about ¾ full.
- Bake at 350ºF /180ºC for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
- Let them cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below! It helps others learn more about the recipe too!
Xx Natalia
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
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More vegan muffins from favorite blogs:
5 Fall Muffin Recipes by HuffPost
You do have some great muffin recipes on your site. I am glad that I found it. These look very delicious indeed. I will certainly try them.
Thanks so much for your kind comment, Kate! I’m glad you liked the site and the recipes!