Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe boasts tender, pumpkin-infused muffins loaded with chocolate chips. You’ll love the super moist texture and the flavor of pumpkin combined with chocolate chips.

Muffins are stacked on top of each other with more muffins behind them.

Sometimes I’m torn between eating ultra-healthy muffins (like these bran muffins) and uber delicious and indulgent muffins (like these cherry muffins).

These vegan pumpkin chocolate muffins are right in the middle — they’re soft and tender, of course. But thanks to the pumpkin we can refer to them as healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, too.

Why is This the Best Recipe?

  • Pumpkin puree added to the batter means these muffins are ultra-moist and tender
  • Pumpkin pie spice adds the perfect blend of flavors, transforming each bite into something amazing
  • Reserving a few chocolate chips to put on the top of the unbaked muffins makes coffee-shop quality muffins that are gorgeous and delicious.

Muffins Key Ingredients

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:

  • Flour — I recommend all-purpose flour or you could use whole wheat pastry flour (which is different than whole wheat four).
  • Sugar — I use granulated sugar which works best for this recipe. You can substitute coconut sugar.
  • Cornstarch — Use cornstarch or arrowroot powder.
  • Baking soda — Make sure yours is fresh by testing a bit of vinegar. If it bubbles, your batch is good to go.
  • Pumpkin pie spice — If you don’t have this, make your own pumpkin pie spice.
  • Salt — Use table salt or sea salt.
  • Vinegar — I use apple cider vinegar, but you can substitute white vinegar.
  • Pumpkin puree — Make sure the can you use is simply the puree and not one with additives, like spices.
  • Vegetable oil — I used canola oil, but you can substitute olive oil or melted refined coconut oil.
  • Vanilla extract — This is an optional ingredient, but if you have it on hand it adds a nice touch.
  • Chocolate chips — Use my dairy-free chocolate chip guide as a resource for a brand that works for you.

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Let’s get down to the details with this pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe. Because the truth is, this is an easy recipe to make. If you haven’t noticed by now, I love easy vegan recipes!

  1. Mix together the dry ingredients from the flour to the salt.
  2. Stir together wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, stir together the water, pumpkin, and the remaining wet ingredients.
  3. Make the Batter + Add Chocolate. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir them together.
  4. Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes. Then remove them from the oven and let them on a wire rack.
A cookie scooper is pouring batter into an muffin compartment lined with a paper.

I prefer to use papers to line my muffin compartments, but if you don’t have papers handy or you simply just don’t want to use them, just be sure to lightly oil each compartment. You can use vegetable cooking spray or even vegetable oil to do this.

Marly’s Tips

Use these tips to help make these easy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins perfect every time:

  • Use high-quality papers, otherwise you may need to spray them with vegetable spray to prevent the muffins from sticking to the papers.
  • Bake the muffins immediately after mixing the batter because two crucial ingredients are at play for making muffins rise: baking soda and vinegar. If you let the dough sit for too long, you will risk the chemical reaction that takes place from combining these two ingredients.
  • That’s one reason it’s important to have the oven preheated and the pan prepared before mixing together the wet and the dry ingredients.
  • Feel free to add 1/4–1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.
  • Be sure not to overbake the muffins. You want them nice and golden on top, but soft and tender in the middle.
  • This recipe makes 24 regular sized muffins or 12 large, jumbo muffins. Bake jumbo muffins longer, around 28–30 minutes.

How to Know Muffins Are Done

Here are the best ways to identify when muffins are done:

  • Insert a tester in the center of one of the muffins, and it should come out mostly clean. A few crumbs and melted chocolate are fine.
  • The edges will be lightly brown.
  • You can lightly press the top of the dome (avoiding the chocolate chips), and it should bounce back.

Pumpkin and Chocolate

Do you love the flavor combination of pumpkin and chocolate? Me too!

There’s something magical that happens when the warm, earthy tones of pumpkin meet the rich, indulgent sweetness of chocolate. It’s a flavor combination that transcends seasons, bringing comfort and joy to every bite.

In these vegan chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, this duo takes center stage, creating taste and texture that’s impossible to resist.

Here are some more ways you can incorporate pumpkin and chocolate:

  1. Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies: Transform the classic chocolate chip cookie by infusing it with the warm, comforting flavors of pumpkin. Soft, chewy, and packed with chocolatey goodness, these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a perfect treat for any occasion.
  2. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes: Start your day with a burst of fall flavor. Add pumpkin puree and chocolate chips to your favorite vegan pancake batter for a breakfast that feels like a cozy hug..
  3. Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake: Add a layer of dairy-free chocolate ganache on top of this delicious plant-based pumpkin cheesecake for the ultimate flavorful dessert!
  4. Pumpkin Chocolate Spice Cake: Amp up the chocolate flavor by adding chocolate chips to this delicious vegan pumpkin spice cake. Better yet, add this vegan chocolate buttercream frosting on top. Can you imagine how delicious that would be!
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are cooling on a wire rack.

New to Vegan Baking?

The idea of making cookies, cakes, or muffins without eggs or dairy can seem like a hill too tall to climb. But with the simple tips in my Guide to Vegan Baking, you’ll be baking like a vegan pro in no time!

Storage Tips

To keep muffins nice and moist, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can refrigerate them and they will keep up to 7 days. To freeze muffins, place them on a tray, and then place the tray in the freezer. Once muffins are frozen (around 30 minutes), transfer them to a freezer bag. They will keep up to 3 months in the freezer.

More Vegan Muffin Recipes

If you love these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (that’s a mouthful!), then you’ll want to try making even more tasty vegan muffins. Here are some of our favorites:

Serve your favorite muffins with some hot tea infused with this creamy pecan milk. It’s delicious!

A muffin is cut in half showing chocolate chips in the middle and on top. There are more muffins behind it.
A muffin sits on a white counter. It has lots of chocolate chips on top.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These moist and delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are perfectly-spiced treats loaded with chocolate chips. That's why everyone says this the best pumpkin muffin recipe ever!
4.89 from 9 votes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Resting Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 24 muffins
Calories: 231kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F. Place liners in a regular-sized muffin pan (or pans) to equal 24 muffins.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking soda, spices, and salt.
    Flour, coconut sugar, and other dry ingredients for banana muffins in a bowl.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the water, vinegar, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Add a cup of chocolate chips and stir to combine (reserving a half cup to use as a topping for the muffins).
    Batter is in a glass bowl showing chocolate chips on top and a spatula for stirring.
  • Use a cookie dough dispenser or ice cream scoop to dispense equal amounts of batter into prepared muffin pans. Top each muffin with a few from the remaining chocolate chips.
    A cookie scooper is pouring batter into an muffin compartment lined with a paper.
  • Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean or with only a few crumbs. To keep the muffins moist, do not overbake. Cool muffins in the pan 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Store muffins in an airtight container. They're best when stored at room temperature where they will keep up to 4 days. They will keep in¼ the fridge for up to 7 days or they can be frozen where they will keep 2 to 3 months.

Recommended Equipment

(The products above contain sponsored links to products we use and recommend)

Notes

Spices. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, make your own by using 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ginger, and ¼ teaspoon allspice.
Pans. I recommend baking these all at the same time (to take advantage of the baking soda interacting with the vinegar). That means using two 12-compartment muffin pans. Alternatively, you can halve this recipe and bake 12 muffins.
Flour. See post for tips on flour. You can use all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour. However, if you want to use whole wheat flour, I recommend only using at most 50%.
Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 192mg | Potassium: 124mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 3183IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 2mg

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

10 Responses to Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

  1. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyCindy Reply

    5 stars
    I made these and froze them and now I get to enjoy a delicious pumpkin muffin every day!

  2. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyLaurie Reply

    5 stars
    My grandchildren just devoured these! I figured these would be perfect for the sunflower tin I picked up on clearance, and they were.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CIY1tddjlS2/?igshid=103ntqep6vcxv

    • Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly

      Hi Laurie. I’m so glad you liked these muffins. And your sunflower tins made them gorgeous! I love finding deals on clearance like that!

  3. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMeredith Reply

    5 stars
    These were perfect! I used almond milk instead of water and melted plant butter instead of oil. They turned out really well. For people complaining about the paper cups sticking to the muffin, just spray them first. Will make again!

  4. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyHolly Reply

    5 stars
    Do not use the cupcake liners it will stick just put it in the muffin tin.

  5. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMel Reply

    Hoping to try these! Could i use white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar? And any replacement ideas for cornstarch?

    • Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly

      Hi Mel! Yes, you can substitute white vinegar for apple cider vinegar. The goal is to add an acid to react with the baking soda, so even lemon juice will work. Regarding cornstarch, you can use something like tapioca starch. But if you don’t have either, you can just leave it.

  6. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyKataryna Reply

    4 stars
    I followed all your instructions to a T but still ended up losing half the muffin to the paper cup. Did you happen to spray some oil so it wouldn’t stick?! Thanks a bunch!

    • Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly

      Hi Kataryna. There are ways to prevent the muffins from sticking to the papers. It could be the papers causing the problem. But if you don’t want to buy new papers, then yes, you can spray with a little bit of vegetable cooking spray. Also, it helps to let the muffins cool completely. Finally, you can also try baking the muffins with a pan of water in the oven. The added moisture may help.

  7. Avatar thumbnail image for MarlyMarly Reply

    5 stars
    As the author of this recipe, it has been taste tested by both vegans and non-vegans alike and loved by all! The combination of flavors and texture is delicious in this pumpkin chocolate chip muffins recipe!

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