Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Viv and Hugh are back to school (hallelujah!) and I’m trying to be a little more intentional about baking with them on the weekends. A good friend recently reminded me what a great exercise it is – both for quality time, and for math, sharing, direction following, and patience… and it produces a stash of homemade treats to pop in the freezer for school lunches and play dates!

In an effort to find some slightly healthier versions of my childhood favorites, I’ve been hunting around for updated recipes that incorporate more whole grain and less sugar. This whole wheat pumpkin muffin from Sally’s Baking Addiction is really solid! Slightly nuttier and heartier and less cloying than the classic pumpkin muffin I grew up loving.

Sally’s recipe is written for mini muffins and uses one cup of pumpkin purée. I wanted to use up the whole can and go for full sized muffins to pack in lunches, so I tested a roughly 1.5x version (below) that came out just right. This is my new go-to for sure!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 21 full sized muffins

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction Whole Wheat Mini Pumpkin Muffins

Supplies: large and medium mixing bowls, muffin tins and liners, measuring tools

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 can pumpkin puree (14 oz)

• 1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled

• 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup milk

• 3/4 cup chocolate chips, plus a handful more to sprinkle on the top

Instructions

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 425° and line or grease two muffin tins (this makes 21 muffins, so you can leave 3 spaces). If your eggs are coming right out of the fridge, pop them in some hot tap water to quickly come to room temp.

STEP 2: In the large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

STEP 3: In the medium bowl, combine eggs, brown sugar, pumpkin, melted butter, vanilla, and milk.

STEP 4: Stir together the wet and dry ingredients until just combined, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.

STEP 5: Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, then sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top. Bake for just 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° for another 15-16 minutes. (The first few minutes at high heat are Sally’s excellent recommendation for nice tall muffins!)

Most of these are going into the freezer so I can pop them in lunchboxes the night before school and they’ll be thawed in time for morning snack. But we did enjoy a few this morning with a glass of milk!