Oil-Free Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
Published 9/16/2018 • Updated 9/26/2023
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Meet your new fall favorite: Oil-Free Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins that are as moist as they are flavorful. Using whole ingredients like white whole wheat flour and pumpkin puree, we’ve a fall muffin you can’t resist.
Did you know you can make muffins without oil? By using a combination of both pumpkin puree and applesauce, these chocolate pumpkin muffins are actually oil-free!
I love this trick when I’m all out of oil, or just want a super moist muffin without added oil. So, combine all of the ingredients in one bowl and then fill each muffin tin around 3/4 of the way full. Bake for around 20 minutes and you’ve got amazing chocolate pumpkin muffins.
PS: try our classic pumpkin muffins for a super basic fall muffin recipe.
What’s in These Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins?
These culinary marvels boast a list of clean, health-conscious ingredients:
- Dry Mix: White whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, light brown sugar or coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and dark chocolate chips.
- Wet Mix: Unsweetened apple sauce, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, maple syrup, large eggs, and unsweetened almond milk.
Variations and Substitutions
- Milk: You can easily swap almond milk with oat milk for a creamier texture.
- Maple Syrup: swap honey or agave nectar instead of maple syrup.
- Spice: Out of pumpkin pie spice? A dash of nutmeg and cloves can do the trick.
- Chocolate: If dark chocolate isn’t your jam, try milk chocolate or white chocolate chips.
FAQ
Absolutely! Substitute with a gluten-free flour blend.
The classic toothpick test never fails. Insert it into a muffin; if it comes out clean, they’re done.
Unsweetened apple sauce keeps the muffins moist without needing oil.
How to Store Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
Place these muffins in an airtight container, and they’ll keep for up to 3 days at room temperature. Want to save them for later? These muffins freeze well for up to 3 months; just make sure to wrap them tightly with tin foil.
Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins (No oil!)
Ingredients
Dry
- 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Wet
- 1/3 cup apple sauce, unsweetened
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs, large
- 1 cup plain, unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Spray with coconut oil cooking spray.
- Place dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk. Place wet ingredients in a medium size bowl and whisk. Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk until combined.
- Fill muffins about 3/4 of the way full. Then, sprinkle on a few more chocolate chips.
- Bake at 350ºF for 18-22 minutes or until you do the toothpick test and it comes out clean.
- Let cool for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- Nutrition facts are when using whole-wheat flour
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you mean 12 muffins not 22? I just watched the video and was wondering.
Can I use almond flour instead of wheat flour?
Unfortunately, we don’t recommend that change!
Can this be made with flax eggs?
We haven’t tried! But I don’t see why not!
Yay, I love oil free baked goods! Personally, I prefer to not use oil in my cooking just because it adds some unnecessary calories and fats that I’d rather allot into other foods. That being said, I’m not incredibly freaked out if I eat something that happens to have oil. With that in mind, thanks so much for creating a decadent chocolate pumpkin muffin recipe that uses starches as their textural agents! Moisture is so key in baking–pumpkin and applesauce are so helpful in maintaining fluffiness!
Hi!
So you get 22 normaly sized muffins (22 servings) from this batter?!?!
I love how much moisture pumpkin adds to baked goods! 🙂
This recipe looks great, i would like to try them but on the first bullet of the dry ingredients its says “1.5 cups” then nothing, am i missing something, what is the 1.5 cups for? Thanks!
Ahhh something is wrong with he backend of my site right now. It’s 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour. So sorry about that!