Simple steps to a healthy life.

Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate and Walnuts

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It’s officially fall and I could not be more excited for my favorite time of year. Ok, scratch that. Christmas is technically my favorite time of year, but I ADORE fall weather and… pumpkin everything. I have no shame in embracing my “basic” ways this time of year. What could be more ideal than enjoying the crisp fall air while noshing on a healthy pumpkin muffin?!

  • Reaching for a pumpkin muffin
  • Picking up a pumpkin muffin

While many pumpkin muffin recipes include lots of sugar and gluten, I wanted to craft an option for you that was still irresistibly delicious, but much healthier. A healthy baked good, you say? Yes.

This pumpkin muffin recipe is tasty, easy and healthy – the trifecta of goodness that I always aim for! Simplicity is the name of the game when it comes to baking. I don’t know about you, but when I look at recipes with a mile-long ingredient list I get overwhelmed and click next. My motto when it comes to crafting recipes and coaching nutrition clients is helping to make things simple. Simple, just like these pumpkin muffins!

In case a simple pumpkin muffin wasn’t good enough already, I added some dark chocolate chips and walnuts to jazz things up. We all know that chocolate makes everything better and considering how low sugar these muffins are, the chocolate chips add the perfect sweet touch. There is only a quarter cup of honey in this entire recipe (huge win compared to many pumpkin muffin recipes) so the sweetness of the chocolate chips is a welcomed delight!

Ingredients For These Pumpkin Muffins

  • Rolled oats
  • Canned pumpkin
  • Coconut oil
  • Eggs
  • Honey
  • Vanilla extract
  • Pumpkin pie spice
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Dark chocolate chips
  • Chopped walnuts

Once you have all the ingredients, making these pumpkin muffins is easy peasy. You’ll need a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix (literally my most-used kitchen tool), and the rest is just dumping and pouring! It is worth mentioning that the batter is really thick for these muffins, so don’t be afraid to stop your blender frequently to scrape the sides, to make sure everything is getting properly combined. The Vitamix blenders have a special wand you can stick in the top of the blender to help agitate the mixture while the blender is whirring – it works wonders for recipes like this!

Take a peek at what your batter should like like when fully combined. Look how cute those little un-cooked pumpkin muffins look 🙂

  • Vitamix blender filled with batter
  • Uncooked pumpkin muffins with chocolate and walnuts

When they come out of the oven they will look like this…

  • Close up of healthy pumpkin muffins
    Close up of healthy pumpkin muffins

And when you bite into one of them…

  • Big bite of pumpkin muffin

These pumpkin muffins have the most incredible, moist texture that you won’t be able to resist! They also store well for at least a few days (especially in the refrigerator), so don’t be afraid to whip up a full batch… or two. I made these the other week as a part of my healthy meal prep and my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed them all week long! P.s. if you want to learn more about a new and simpler approach to meal prepping, check out my Healthy Meal Prep Guide.

Holding a Pumpkin Muffin
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Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate and Walnuts
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 

These pumpkin muffins are so moist and they taste just like fall, all baked into a healthy little treat!

Servings: 12
Calories: 256 kcal
Ingredients
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 + 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Dash of salt
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Dump the oats into a high-powered blender and blend until you have oat flour.

  3. Add all additional ingredients except the chocolate chips and walnuts and blend until a thick batter forms. Pause the blender a few times to scrape the sides so you can get all wet and dry ingredients fully mixed.

  4. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts to the blender and pulse a few times to evenly distribute throughout the batter.

  5. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and distribute the batter evenly into 12 muffins.

  6. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips and walnuts on the top of each muffin (optional).

  7. Bake for 20-25 min, checking to see when a toothpick or knife comes out clean.

Recipe Notes

PER MUFFIN

256 cals ~ 16g fat ~ 24g carb ~ 4g protein

Can’t Get Enough Pumpkin In Your Life?

Check out this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Energy Balls! Add a dollop of whipped cream to the top of one of these and your taste buds will jump for joy.