Oil-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

"Let's act like we're really really really really really really really really really fancy old ladies."

"When? Right now? Okay."

Listening to the things that come out of favorite seven-year-old's mouth on the way home from school really doesn't get old.  It's even more entertaining when there is a sleepover involved and a friend joins us on the ride home. When I was seven, I can bet that I got a kick out of pretending to be a fancy old lady, too.  Now that I'm actually becoming one of those fahhhncy old ladies (ya know... being a college graduate and all), I've been kicking the baking up a notch.  That means experimenting with new flavors, new flours, new sweeteners, and new ways to get every crumb off of my muffin pan.  I always seem to resort to muffins because then I don't eat half the pan....like when I made apple crisp in an 8 x 8 baking dish a few days ago and did just that.

I've been packing a banana coconut muffin in my lunch everyday ever since I made them.  It's like my little delicious treat that's super moist and secretly healthy but not really secretly because we all know about it.  Now they are all gone. Tear.

I wanted to make something fall-ish as a replacement that obviously had to include pumpkin and my beloved Trader Joe's pumpkin pie spice.  I had a near heart attack when I realized that there was only a mere ⅛ teaspoon left in the bottle.  Ohemgee.  Emergency situation.

I was using white whole wheat flour in my baked goods for a long time since it's much healthier than it's all purpose flour friend, but lately I'm really loving experimenting with the combination of almond meal and oat flour/oats in gluten-free baking.

So basically I took the banana coconut muffins recipe, nixed the coconut oil and added lots of pumpkin and unsweetened applesauce for moisture.  I upped the pure maple syrup since pumpkin doesn't have the intense natural sweetness of bananas and added chocolate chips. Let me tell you, the bites with chocolate chips really take these muffins over the top.  I only used ¼ cup because I wanted to keep the sugar down, but I recommend using something closer to ½ cup so you get one in every bite. You could even make these more of a dessert muffin by adding some brown sugar and throwing in a whole cup of chocolate chips. Delicious insanity right there.

Last week I was eating one of these muffins and taking a sip of Bruegger's pumpkin spice coffee with each bite.  I think I died and went to heaven.

Oil-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

• Author: Alexis
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 24 mins
• Total Time: 34 mins
• Yield: 12 1x
• Category: Dessert

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Description

A moist, whole-grain pumpkin spice muffin free of oil and gluten.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup oat flour (old-fashioned oats ground into a flour)
• ¾ cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup almond meal
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ - ½ cup chocolate chips

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a muffin tin liberally with cooking spray.
2. In a lmedium bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, stir together wet ingredients.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into muffin tins.
6. Bake for about 22-24 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

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Notes

These muffins store best in the fridge.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 muffin
• Calories: 170
• Sugar: 10g
• Fat: 8g
• Carbohydrates: 20g
• Fiber: 3g
• Protein: 5g

 Do YOU know the muffin man?