My kitchen adventures definitely have seasons. For instance, you have your grilling season, soup season, lunch-packing season, berry-picking season, and, my favorite, baking season. Today’s Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins with Walnuts are just one of many bakes that have been coming out of my kitchen in the past few months.
The cold weather that hit mid-autumn really got my baking vibe going. By the time December rolled in, it felt like my oven was more ON than OFF the entire month. I mean, no Christmas is complete without EIGHTEEN batches of old-fashioned Chex mix, right? But then you gotta cut all that savory with some sweets, so I committed to cookie-making like it was my full-time job 🙂
All the cookies…
I made some incredibly delicate lace cookies, snickerdoodles, cut-out sugar cookies, and Christmas crack (aka toffee-coated saltine crackers with chocolate on top). I’m especially psyched, though, how the peanut butter kiss cookies turned out – a gluten-free twist on a favorite for a nephew battling some GI issues. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up there.
Would you believe? I even tried my hand at dog cookies!
Clifford the big black dog…
I grew up with my own giant, slobbery love-machine, a Newfoundland named Clifford. He was enormous, like a small bear, and absolutely the best dog there ever was. While we are decidedly a cat family now, I have a soft spot for canines, and decided to bake for my many canine pals, including my best girl, Jazzy, who lives next door with my mum.
Back to these pumpkin muffins…
Bottom line? I love to bake, period. Muffins happen to be my jam, and they’re the absolute best way to wake up any given morning. Pumpkin muffins are a particular fave because they always have an amazing texture, and are a perfect match for the warming spices of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg (a combo very close to my beloved DIY Chai Spice).
For today’s muffins – Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins with Walnuts – I’m combining lightly spiced pumpkin with dark chocolate and walnuts for a pumpkin muffin so extraordinary you’ll probably want to double this recipe.
Whip these up and in no time you’ll be enjoying a delish freshly baked muffin with your favorite morning beverage.
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins with Walnuts
Spice up breakfast with these lightly sweet pumpkin muffins stuffed with dark chocolate chips and topped with walnuts.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 12-cup muffin tin with spray oil and set aside.
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Into a medium bowl, measure the flours, baking powder, salt, and spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg). Stir to combine, then set aside.
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In a separate bowl, add the egg, and beat it lightly with a fork. Add the brown sugar, pumpkin, milk, vanilla, and melted butter, and whisk to combine.
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Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and stir just until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Stir in most of the chocolate chips (holding aside a small amount to add to the tops of the muffins)
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Portion the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups, about 2/3 full in each well. Sprinkle walnuts over the top, then add a couple of dark chocolate chips to each top as well. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until tops spring back when touched and are no longer wet.
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Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove and finish cooling on baking rack. When completely cool, store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Recipe Notes
You can use either all whole wheat flour or white (all-purpose) flour in place of the combo I suggest here, with just minor changes to texture. All whole wheat flour will result in a slightly heavier muffin, while the all-purpose will result in a slightly lighter muffin.
You can use pumpkin pie spice in place of the spices – 2 teaspoons total.
Any type of milk will work in this recipe. I typically use cow’s milk, but have also used soy and almond.
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