Pumpkin Peanut Butter Muffins

We enjoy them as a sweet treat for snack time or dessert.  They freeze well, which comes in handy for school lunches or for a ready-to-go snack time treat. Need more vegan fall recipes? Try vegan overnight pumpkin oats, pumpkin steel-cut oats, or oil-free vegan pumpkin muffins.

For more whole wheat oil-free muffins, try vegan raspberry muffins. For a fall or winter treat, serve the pumpkin muffins with dairy-free hot cocoa or dairy-free hot chocolate with oat milk.

Tips

• Spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then use the back of a knife to level off the excess flour.
• Use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix (filling).  The pumpkin pie filling is exactly what it sounds like.  It's a mix ready for a pie, with salt, sugar, and spices already added in.
• Paper liners tend to stick to oil-free muffins.  I have noticed that after refrigerating the muffins, the paper peels off easier, but it absorbs some moisture. So either use silicone muffin liners or lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tray with non-stick cooking spray. 
• If your baking powder and/or baking soda clumps, then sift them so they distribute evenly in the dry muffin mix.  Sometimes just whisking doesn't break up the small clumps.  

Tips for using whole wheat flour

• If you're new to baking with whole wheat flour, the baked goods tend to be denser than if made with all-purpose flour.  Using whole wheat pastry flour can help with this, but it's not always available in stores (like my store). 
• Over-mixing the flour can cause extra gluten development.  To prevent this I like to stir the batter a few times before adding nuts or chocolate chips. Then I fold it together, don't over mix.  Do this by using a silicone or rubber spatula and scraping the bottom of the bowl towards you, then up the side of the bowl, and over the top.  Turn the bowl and repeat.  Keep turning the bowl and repeating until there are no more streaks of flour.

Frequently asked questions

Substitutions

• Almond butter can be used instead of peanut butter.
• For anyone with nut allergies, sunflower butter should work as a substitute for peanut butter.
• I use natural peanut butter that just contains peanuts and/or salt.  So I recommend using a brand with no added oils or sweeteners.  The added oils and sweeteners may alter the taste and texture of the muffins.
• Chopped walnuts or pecans can be used instead of chocolate chips.

Instructions

To bake pumpkin peanut butter muffins, start by preheating the oven to 375 F (190 C) and line a 12-cup muffin tray with silicone liners.  Make two flax eggs by stirring together the ground flax seed and 5 tablespoons of water.  Set aside and let it sit and gel for about 5-10 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk the peanut butter and maple syrup together. 

Then whisk in the pumpkin puree, applesauce, milk, vanilla extract, and flax eggs.

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. 

Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Stir a few times, then add the chocolate chips.  Then gently fold everything together until just combined.     

Disperse the batter evenly in a standard 12-cup muffin tray and bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean and the muffin tops bounce back when lightly pressed.

Storage

These pumpkin peanut butter muffins can be stored on the counter in an airtight container for a couple of days.  For longer storage refrigerate them for up to a week.  They can also be frozen for 3 months.  

To freeze them separately place them on a baking tray that will fit in the freezer.  Once frozen remove them from the tray and place the frozen muffins in a freezer-safe container.  Now they're frozen separately, or you can individually wrap each muffin to freeze separately.

Defrost the frozen muffins in the refrigerator overnight.  If you're in a bit of a hurry (or prefer to keep them frozen like I do so I don't eat too many), warm them up in the microwave to defrost.  I would only do a few at a time.