These Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins are super rich and moist and taste like pumpkin brownies! They come together in one bowl and are refined sugar free too. They're perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
How long do these keep for?
Though these muffins do taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days. If you have just taken them out of the fridge, I'd recommend warming them up in an oven toaster if you have one.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup, date syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- You can use either shop-bought pumpkin purée or make our own.
- The pumpkin purée can be replaced with sweet potato or butternut squash purée.
- You can omit the chocolate chips.
- For a refined sugar free version: use refined sugar free chocolate chips.
- You can add pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- If you don't like chocolate, make my plain Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Muffins instead!
- Want to make a loaf instead? Use my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread recipe!
More gluten-free vegan muffin recipes
- Carrot Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Muffins
- Apple Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Banana Muffins
- Orange Muffins
- Lemon Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Gingerbread Muffins
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 225 g (1 cup) pumpkin purée (half of a 450 g/15 oz tin)
- 12 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- Pinch salt
- 175 ml (¾ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 50 g (½ cup) cocoa powder
- 50 g (â…“ cup) dark chocolate chips *** (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a separate large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the pumpkin purée, maple syrup, vinegar, salt, milk and ground almonds to the same bowl.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder.
- Mix well, adding a splash more milk if it’s looking too dry.
- Add the chocolate chips and fold in gently.
- Transfer the mixture between muffin cases in a muffin tin.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Notes
- You can add pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- If you don’t like chocolate, make my plain Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Muffins instead!
- Want to make a loaf instead? Use my Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Bread recipe!
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Rosangela
Sounds delicious! If I want to sub xylitol or erythritol for the maple syrup, how much should I use and should I increase the vegan milk?
Thanks so much!
Rhian Williams
I've never used xylitol or erythritol so I don't know how much you should use, sorry. You may be able to see some instructions on the packet though. You might need to add an extra splash of vegan milk, but I don't know how much as it'll depend on how wet the batter is when you add your other sweetener. Would love to hear how you get on if you try it!
Anonymous
Hi Rhian, thanks for the recipe!
What if I skip the baking soda and the baking powder and use eggs instead? I reaf somewhere eggs could help the muffin fluffy, although it would not be as fluffy as using baking soda/powder.
Rhian Williams
You can add eggs, but I'd recommend adding them instead of the plant-based milk. The baking powder/baking soda are still necessary even if you use eggs. Hope that helps!
Fran RodrÃguez
¡Fantástica receta!
Muy fácil de hacer y el resultado es espectacular.
Muchas gracias.
Rhian Williams
Muchas gracias!
Judy mann
Do you do anything without oil. All your recipes are nice, but vegans and lots of vegetarians don’t use saturated fat. If you have any oil free recipes, please put them, otherwise unsubscribe me
Rhian Williams
You can replace the oil in most of my baking recipes with a few tablespoons of apple sauce!
Stephanie
Hi Rhian! I love your muffin recipes. Last night I made these chocolate chip pumpkin vegan muffins and because it was late covered them loosely and let them cool on the counter. 2 hours later I woke up and completely covered them and I should have stuck them right in the fridge but didn’t think to in my sleepy state. When I woke up, I remembered they are supposed to be refrigerated and put them in, so they were out in the counter for almost 8 hours.
Is there something about these vegan muffins that makes that a problem or is cooling overnight on the counter safe? I am only questioning it since you specify storing in fridge when lots of baked goods can stay out safely. Please let me know. Thanks!
Rhian Williams
Hi - thank you for your question!! That's no problem to leave them out for a day or so, the only reason why I recommend storing these in the refrigerator is if people want to store them for a few days, I think it would be better to keep them stored in the refrigerator as the pumpkin inside them could go off if kept outside, especially in hot weather etc. And usually baked goods can stay out safely, but as these contain pumpkin which causes moisture and make it easier for mould to grow, I thought it was best to be safe! Also, since these don't contain refined sugar this means they don't keep as long as normal baked goods that contain a lot of refined sugar. I hope that helps!!