Happy fall in the northern hemisphere! Can you believe September is already here?! I'll miss the summer, but I'm super pumped for all the warm & cozy desserts (and my birthday) this season brings! These beautiful & delicious marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins are the best way to kick things off! They're like a combination of double chocolate cake swirled with tasty pumpkin bread! If you have about ½ a can of pumpkin leftover from another recipe, that's all you'll need to make this one! They're especially perfect for the spooky Halloween season coming up in October!
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What You Need to Make This Recipe
Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Cocoa powder
- Mini semi sweet chocolate chips
- Canola or vegetable oil
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Pumpkin puree
- Sour cream
- Whole milk
Equipment:
- Muffin/cupcake pan
- Muffin liners
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups or scale
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Cooling rack
Check out more cozy fall recipes here! 🍁
Step-by-Step Instructions
Since you're making two different batters, this recipe requires a little more work and a few extra bowls, but the pretty colors and flavors swirled together is so worth it! You can start off with the pumpkin or the chocolate chip muffins batter, or whip both of them up at the same time if you're a really good multitasker! Both of the muffin batters are easy to whip up and follow the same steps:
Step 1 (Pictures 1 & 4 below) - Whisk together your dry ingredients in a small bowl.
This will be the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice for the pumpkin batter. It'll be the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and mini chocolate chips for the chocolate batter.
Step 2 (Pictures 2 & 5 below) - Mix together the wet ingredients in a medium/large bowl.
For the pumpkin batter, it'll be the oil, sugars, egg, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. For the chocolate batter, it'll be the oil, sugars, egg, sour cream and milk.
Step 3 (Pictures 3 & 6 below) - Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Gently combine all the ingredients with a spatula just until there aren't any flour streaks left. Watch out for pockets of flour that didn't get combined! You don't want them to show up as you're pouring the batter into the muffin liners.
Step 4 (Picture 7 below) - Fill the muffin liners!
You can start with the chocolate or pumpkin batter and alternately fill the liners with spoonfuls of batter until they're ¾ full. If you'd like, take an extra ¼ cup chocolate chips and sprinkle them on top!
Tips for Success
Use room temperature ingredients - About 30 minutes before you get started, measure your milk and sour cream, grab your eggs out of the fridge, and let them sit at room temperature. This will help them combine with the rest of the ingredients better!
Measure by weight - I highly recommend baking with a scale and measuring ingredients by their weight instead of in cups! This way is much more accurate, helping you yield better baked goods!
Use black cocoa powder - This isn't necessary unless you're going for the fun, spooky orange & black look like how they are in the photos. Regular cocoa powder works too, it'll just make the chocolate part a bit lighter in color.
Shake the pan for smoother muffin tops - The chocolate batter will be slightly runnier than the pumpkin, so to make sure the tops bake evenly, give the pan a gentle shake before putting it in the oven.
Use nonstick liners - These muffins are really moist, but to be extra sure they don't stick to the liners, I like to use parchment paper ones! However, if you don't have liners, you can spray the muffin pan with oil and pour the batter directly in.
Don't overmix or overbake! - Stop mixing the ingredients together as soon as all of the flour streaks are gone. Take them out of the oven when the muffin springs back up a tiny bit after gently pressing your finger its top & a toothpick comes out clean. They'll continue baking a little while from the heat of the pan after you remove them from the oven.
FAQ & Storage
In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
I haven't tested them with gluten free ingredients, but would love to hear how it goes if you try it!
No, pumpkin pie filling generally includes sugars & spices. For this recipe, you'll want to use pure pumpkin puree.
Yes, they can be substituted in equal amounts.
This is tragic and I am so sorry! If you can get your hands on a small baking pumpkin, you can make your own puree! Here's a helpful article showing how to make it at home.
Yes, but they'll need less time to bake - start checking them around 10 minutes. Since the mini cups don't fit as much batter in them, they might not have as much of a marble effect to them.
Did you try this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin/cupcake pan
- Muffin liners
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring Cups or Scale
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
Pumpkin Batter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin spice*
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
Chocolate Batter
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used black cocoa powder for the muffins pictured)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips plus ¼ cup extra for topping (optional)
- ⅛ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream room temperature
- 3 tablespoons whole milk room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin/cupcake pan with liners.
Pumpkin Batter
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice*.
- In a medium/large bowl, mix together the oil and sugars. Add the egg, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree, mixing well after each addition.
- Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until no flour streaks are left. Set aside and make the chocolate batter.
Chocolate Batter
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and mini chocolate chips.
- In a medium/large bowl, mix together the oil and sugars. Add the egg, sour cream and milk, mixing well after each addition.
- Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until no flour streaks are left.
Baking the Muffins
- Alternately fill the muffin liners with spoonfuls of each batter until they're ¾ full. Sprinkle extra mini chocolate chips on the tops (optional) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 18-23 minutes).
- Let the muffins sit in the pan until they're cool enough to remove. Let them finish cooling on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 ¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ¾ teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
Amber says
I made these yesterday so delish! Thx for posting I would never ha e thought of a marble muffin.
Kayla says
I'm so happy to hear that!! My pleasure, thank you for trying them!
Lori says
Maybe the best muffins I've ever made!
So moist and yummy!
Kayla says
I'm so happy to hear that! 🙂 thanks, Lori!