I’m sharing with you the perfect thing to go along with your next holiday breakfast — chocolate pumpkin swirl muffins! Spiced pumpkin and deep chocolate swirl together to create the perfect little morsel.
This was the recipe I made to take along with me for Thanksgiving in PA. Every year, my sisters, brothers-in-law, and I do the Turkey Trot 5K hosted by the Salvation Army down in my parents’ hometown, and every year, I am STARVING by the time we are done. I am NOT a runner by any means — I definitely prefer my interval training workouts from Beachbody — so anything that allows me to complain a little bit less is a definite plus. These muffins were my breakfast before the race and my post-run snack before we had our early Thanksgiving dinner. They made it to our first Thanksgiving dinner as a healthier option for a dessert… and then I completely forgot to take them with me for our second dinner at my aunt’s house. WOOPS!
These chocolate pumpkin swirl muffins are GREAT for keeping you fueled — high in protein, good fats, and fiber, and I made them sugar free, too, so anyone who is watching their sugar intake could enjoy them, too!
I made these with one of my favorite gluten free flour combinations — almond flour and buckwheat flour. The combination of the two gives a texture that is closest to wheat flour while still maintaining a pretty nutritious profile compared to some other gluten free flour blends. You can feel free to use ALL all-purpose flour if nobody has a gluten intolerance, or even whole wheat flour. They’ll be just as delicious full of gluten or gluten free! 😉
I made these muffins in both the mini size and regular muffin size, and everyone definitely preferred the mini muffins. Who doesn’t love being able to eat more in a serving?! My grandma especially loved that she could eat 3 mini muffins to go along with her breakfast to count as 1 carb serving since she monitors her blood sugar with every meal. 🙂
My family always gets donuts every year for Christmas morning to eat before opening presents and before our BIGGER Christmas breakfast, but I could definitely see our table having room for these muffins, too! They’d definitely keep us more satisfied than the donuts!
What are your favorite holiday breakfast traditions?
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup sugar (I used 1 cup of Swerve sweetener)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 tsp liquid stevia to keep it sugar free)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-15 oz. can pumpkin
- 4 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups almond flour
- 1 cup buckwheat flour (you can use all-purpose or whole wheat flour in place of both flours, if preferred)
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 2 cups chocolate chips, optional
Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and grease or line muffin tins (you can use standard muffin tins or mini muffin tins).
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, yogurt, sugars, and vanilla, until light and creamy. Add the pumpkin and eggs, mixing until well combined.
In a medium bowl, stir the almond flour, buckwheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together.
Add the flour mixture into the batter in the stand mixer, mixing until just incorporated. Divide the batter evenly in half into two large bowls.
Add the cocoa powder and milk into one of the bowls of matter, stirring until well mixed. Fold the chocolate chips, if using, into this batter.
Add the ginger, nutmeg, and allspice into the other half of batter, stirring until well mixed.
Spoon the chocolate batter into the bottom of the prepared muffin tins, filling them about 1/3 full, then top with the pumpkin batter until they are about 2/3 full. Swirl the two batters together with a butter knife. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Bake at 350ºF for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs on it.
Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs on it.
Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for about 3 days at room temperature, or up to a week in the fridge.
Enjoy!
https://cookingalamel.com/2017/12/chocolate-pumpkin-swirl-muffins-gluten-free.html