These healthy pumpkin chocolate muffins make for a delicious autumn treat. Moist and tender, low in granulated sugar and naturally sweetened with apple sauce, they are perfect for breakfast or a quick snack. Made with oat flour, pumpkin purée, walnuts, warm spices and dark chocolate chunks (but not too much), each bite is scrumptious.

You can make them with canned pumpkin purée; however, I like to make my own since the canned version is difficult to find where I live. Nothing beats a fresh batch of pumpkin purée. It’s lighter, fluffier and purer than most store-bought kind. There are no additives or salt in the homemade version. Only pumpkin.

Making pumpkin purée is simple. It involves steaming and processing cubed pumpkin flesh in a small blender or NutriBullet. If you’re not in the mood to slice through a whole pumpkin, no sweat. You can buy pre-diced pumpkin flesh in the refrigerated or frozen sections of most supermarkets. Should you want to make your own, the recipe is here.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin chocolate walnut muffins

Makes 12 to 14 muffins

Oven 350°F / 180°C

Muffin pan lined with parchment muffin cups

Dry ingredients

• 2½ cups rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon (tbsp) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) baking soda
• ¼ tsp ground clove
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup granulated sugar cane (I use mascobado)
• ¾ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate (60 to 70% cocoa), chopped in small chunks
• ½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients

• 1 cup pumpkin purée, homemade or canned
• ½ cup almond milk, unsweetened
• 1/3 cup pure apple sauce, unsweetened
• 1/3 cup light oil (vegetable, canola or grapeseed)

Procedure

Put the rolled oats in a food processor or NutriBullet and process for about 10 seconds or until it turns into flour. Pour this into a medium-size bowl. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, hand mix and set aside.

In a separate bowl, hand whisk the wet ingredients until they are well combined and the mixture is creamy.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and hand mix with a fork for a few minutes until the batter is well combined and thick. Be careful not to over mix.

Spoon the batter by tablespoons into each muffin cup, about 3/4 full (allow some space for the batter to rise).

Bake in pre-heated oven on centre rack for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely before eating. Store muffins in a sealed container.