Gluten-Free & Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

These are super moist vegan muffins. The recipe is variation of these banana chocolate muffins, but instead of mashed banana they use pumpkin puree. And instead of cocoa they use the pumpkin pie spice mix from this classic pumpkin pie recipe from Smitten Kitchen. You can leave them as simple pumpkin muffins, or add chocolate chips or chopped walnuts.

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Gluten-Free & Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Notes: I make these muffins with sprouted flours which I highly recommend because they are more nutritious and digestible, but regular sorghum and brown rice flours will work fine as well. Also, please note, this recipe uses pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie mix which is already sweetened and seasoned. I use this 16 oz carton.

12/7/2017 update: The 16 oz carton can be hard to find. If it is, use the 15 oz can of pumpkin puree, which works perfectly fine. You get a touch more moisture with the 16 oz carton, but you won’t miss anything with the 15 oz can.

Dry Ingredients:
120 grams sorghum flour (I use sprouted)
120 grams brown rice flour (I use sprouted)
60 grams arrowroot OR tapioca starch (also called flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
3/4 cup almond milk (or another non-dairy milk)
2 cups pumpkin puree (homemade or a 16 oz carton or a 15 oz can, see note above)
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil, plus a little more for muffin tins

Other (optional):
1/3 - 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Use coconut oil to lightly grease your muffin tins. Note, if you're baking with small children, this a great job for them. I give mine a brush, which my 5-year-old son uses, but ultimately my 22-month daughter uses her hands :)

Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

In another bowl, add the ground flax seed and almond milk, whisk together, and let sit for a few minutes to slightly thicken. Then add the pumpkin puree, coconut sugar and coconut oil and whisk one more time.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

Gluten-Free & Vegan Banana Chocolate Muffins

These are muffins for the serious chocoholics in your life. And even though they have a healthy amount of cocoa powder AND chocolate chips, they are also loaded with teff flour which is high in iron, they have a minimum of starch and sugar, and they come out moist and delicious.

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Gluten-Free & Vegan Banana Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from a combination of Chocolate Banana Bread and Banana Buckwheat Muffins in Nourishing Meals by Alissa Segersten.

Notes: As with all banana breads, the more ripe your bananas are, the better these muffins will be. I usually keep a growing stockpile of very ripe bananas in the fridge and make muffins or bread when I've saved up enough. For the milk, I use homemade nut milk and haven't tested this recipe with anything else, but I imagine whatever you have around will work just fine. Finally, when you get to the point of adding the melted coconut oil, everything should happen quickly after that, so have the dry ingredients, chocolate chips/chunks, and muffin tins all prepared beforehand. I've found that incorporating the melted coconut oil into a bowl of cold dry ingredients and going from there makes for lighter and fluffier muffins.

Recipe updated 12/10/2020.

Dry ingredients:
270 grams teff flour
30 grams arrowroot powder
30 grams / 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Wet ingredients:
2 cups mashed bananas (4-5 medium bananas)
1 cup nut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing muffin tin

Other ingredients:
1/3 - 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate bar or chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and brush your muffin pan with coconut oil.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, nut milk, vanilla extract and coconut sugar. This mixture will probably be on the cold side if your bananas and milk both came out of the fridge. This is good. When well blended, add the melted coconut oil and quickly whisk to incorporate so the coconut oil doesn't solidify in one big clump. Then quickly add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips/chunks and whisk just until blended.

Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes, until done. My oven bakes hot so they may take a few more minutes in your oven. Also, if you're using a stoneware muffin pan these will bake on the longer side as well (30 minutes in my oven).

Enjoy!