Paleo Pumpkin Muffins with a Chocolate Swirl Top – a simple, one bowl recipe perfect for the perfect fall treat | gluten free + grain free + dairy free
Hi! Hello! Happy Friday!
I thought I would help you start off your weekend with a tray full of this paleo pumpkin muffins! They’re soft, moist, and do I even need to tell you about that chocolatey swirl? Fridays calls for chocolatey swirls, yeah?
As yesterday was the first official day of fall I felt it was necessary to share my first pumpkin recipe of the year. I am a total cliche. But I’m okay with that because I’m too busy making my kitchen smell like cinnamon apples, pumpkin spice and unicorns.
You should join me.
Paleo Pumpkin Muffins
These paleo pumpkin muffins are a riff off of the pumpkin bread I shared with you last year. Since that recipe has gone over well I thought it was as good of an excuse as any to go back to play around with the recipe more.
Translation: I added chocolate.
It’s a nut, dairy, grain and refined sugar free recipe – perfect for sharing, but also perfect for hoarding all to yourself. I wouldn’t blame you for the latter.
What I love most about this recipe is how simple it is. They may look fussy with the swirly chocolate blobs, but it takes very little to no effort to throw together. Within about 30 minutes you’ll be pulling out a tray of these muffins out of the oven. All you need is one bowl to mix it all together and some chocolate for melting. Easy!
Is baking powder paleo?
- Technically no. Baking powder is usually contains corn starch which makes it not technically paleo friendly. Fortunately, it’s really easy to make your own baking powder at home by mixing together a small amount of arrowroot starch, baking soda and cream of tartar. I include the amounts needed in the recipe below if you’re interested in making it.
- That being said – if you’re not bothered about following a strict paleo diet this recipe only needs one teaspoon so it’s not much at all.
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Paleo Pumpkin Muffins with a Chocolate Swirl
Paleo Pumpkin Muffins with a Chocolate Swirl - a simple, one bowl recipe perfect for the perfect fall treat | gluten free + grain free + dairy free
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 ml)
- 1/4 cup honey (85 g) or maple syrup (79 g)
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil (104 g)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (225 g)
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (56 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
- 2 oz dairy free dark chocolate, chopped or in chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil (5 g)
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F/180°C
- Beat the eggs in a medium sized bowl. Add the vanilla, honey, and oil to the eggs, mixing thoroughly. Add the pumpkin puree and mix until you have a smooth batter.
- Add the coconut flour, baking powder, and all of your spices to the pumpkin batter and mix until combined making sure that you have no lumps in your batter.
- Add the 1 teaspoon coconut oil and chocolate to a small, microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
- Grease or line your muffin tins. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffins tins. Using a teaspoon, drizzle some of the melted chocolate over the top of each muffin cup. Using a knife or a toothpick swirl the chocolate.
- Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a knife going into the center comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before flipping the tin over and removing the muffins.
Notes
Make your own paleo baking powder by mixing: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot starch + 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Jane says
Simple and quick! I made 6 large instead of 12. They turned out great and delicious! Thanks so much.
Sarah Nevins says
Yay! Thanks Jane – SO thrilled to hear you enjoyed these 🙂
cohava cohen says
bonjour sarha,
j’ai déjà réaliser ces muffins que j’adore, mais pouvez me donner les quantites en poids.
merci pour vos recette qui sont excellente.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi There! I updated the recipe to include the ingredient weights. Hope that helps!
Natasha says
Baking powder usually has cornstarch in it and hence isn’t Paleo. Did you mean baking soda?
Sarah Nevins says
Whoops! I usually make a note in paleo recipes using baking powder on how to make your own grain free baking powder. I prefer baking powder to soda for things like muffins and cakes because it helps create a nice rise. I find a lot of paleo recipes use apple cider vinegar and baking soda but it just doesn’t get enough lift for my liking. I must have forgot to include it in this recipe though so thanks for reminding me.
You can make your own baking powder by mixing: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot starch + 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Hope that helps!
GF says
I’m not sure if someone asked this already, but is it possible to use almond flour in place of coconut flour?
Sarah Nevins says
I wouldn’t recommend swapping out the coconut flour here with almond flour – coconut flour is a very unique flour that absorbs a lot of moisture which is why recipes using coconut flour often contain lots of eggs/fat. If we were to use almond flour here we’d end up needing to change quite a bit of other things and I don’t want to steer you wrong without testing anything out myself first.
Grace says
These look so good! I want to make some for a mother-daughter brunch party I’m hosting for my daughter’s birthday this Saturday. My question is, do they freeze well? I’d like to make them as early in the week as possible and pop them in the freezer so I’m not rushing to get them done the night before her party.
Sarah says
Hi Grace! That sounds fun! You shouldn’t have any problem freezing these – I make a batch every now and then specifically for freezing. So long as you let them cool completely they’ll be alright. I store them in a ziplock bag. You can let them thaw at room temperature over night. Hope you all enjoy them!
Anna says
I love love loved these!!! I am Gluten intolerant and love pumpkin so these make a wonderful snack for me. I have made them twice in 3 days. But their healthy right?? But anyway thank you so much for sharing and could you make this in a bread pan and make pumpkin chocolate bread? What would I change to make this. Thank you in advance.
Sarah says
Hi Anna! So glad you like it! You can absolutely make this in a bread pan – it bakes at the same temperature just for 45-50 minutes instead. As for turning it into a chocolate version – that’s a little tricker. I haven’t actually tried any of these yet so I can’t say for sure. You could try adding 1/2 cup cocoa powder and only adding 1/4 cup coconut flour. You could also try keeping everything the same except adding 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 100 grams melted chocolate chips to the batter. The second option I think would make for a much richer chocolate.
I hope that helps and if you do try making it chocolate please let me know how it goes! I’m going to definitely be adding this to my list of recipes to make though so hopefully I’ll have a more fleshed out answer to you soon!
Cyndy says
I made these today cuz they got good reviews. I liked them and as others have said I will add more spice next time. I used the sugar free chocolate chips and pecans on top. Super recipe! Was wondering about adding (folding in )2 super beaten egg white at the end to make them fluffier.
Sarah says
Thanks Cyndy! So glad you liked them! I’m not sure how much difference beaten egg whites would work. I was actually playing around with a new coconut flour based recipe today. I’m trying to make a paleo pumpkin roll and I thought I’d add beaten egg whites to make the cake part lighter and it really didn’t seem to do much. You could always try it out though – you might have better luck in this recipe!
Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment/review letting me know how it went for you 🙂
Kristen says
Love these but I can’t get them to not have a more gooey inside like a pumpkin pie texture – is that what it should feel/look like? What am I doing wrong and hopefully I didn’t just eat a bunch of uncooked muffins lol- if so, they were still sooo delicious.
Sarah says
Hi Kristen! So glad you liked them! As for the insides – if you poke a tooth pick or a knife into the centre of a muffin does it come out clean or does it come out with the muffin on it? If it comes out clean then it’s cooked through otherwise it might need a little more baking. You may want to keep baking at a reduced temperature of about 325 until the insides are done. Hope that helps!
Hannah says
So mine were the same, way gooey. Not cake like at all. Still delicious. But not the texture I perfer. I did use all egg whites though so that may be why. Also did not have pumpkin spice so I used nutmeg and cinnamon.
Sarah says
Thanks for sharing your adaptations – those are always really helpful!
Tatum says
Hey there, this is kind of a stupid question. I cook with coconut oil often but I’m new to baking with it. Do I melt first and then measure or is it half a cup solid? Thanks, they look great and I can’t wait to make them!
Sarah says
Hey, Tatum! Not a stupid question at all! If you have a baking scale the easiest way to do it is to measure out 108 grams, but otherwise you’ll probably need to melt and then measure in a cup for an accurate read
Tatum says
Thanks! I prefer to use a scale so that’s perfect.
Fawn says
Had all the ingredients on hand so it made this recipe really easy to make. I even cleaned the bowl with the wet batter. They were delicious. Next time I plan to incorporate crushed pistachios with the chocolate to give a little crunch.
Sarah says
Ooh I love the sound of added pistachios! So glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment and review letting me know how it went!
Tracy Stevens says
Can i use gluten free flour in place of coconut flour?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Tracy! I’m afraid that won’t work here – coconut flour is a much more absorbent flour than regular GF flour. The balance between flour and moisture would be all off without the coconut