These ridiculously soft, satisfying Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are high in protein, low in sugar, and have the perfect balance of rich chocolate and spicy pumpkin flavor. They’re a great anytime pick-me-up.
Yesterday in yoga teacher training, we were talking about meeting yourself where you are right now in the context of not being able to experience certain poses.
Full disclosure: it was me expressing my hatred of a simple seated forward fold because, while I’m flexible in so many areas, I’m tight in just as many. That pose really gets at your low back and hamstrings… both of which are ridiculously tight for me. Whether I take a huge bend in my knees or round my back to try to get some release, it just doesn’t happen.
I can get all worked up about the fact that I have no flexibility in that area, or I can still hinge forward an inch from my hips and give it a try, breathe, and be kind of okay with it.
I’m also not a huge fan of Halloween, and I feel like the biggest Grinch for that. I mean, it’s basically a holiday of pure fun, isn’t it? You eat sweet things, decorate with spider webs and fake blood, dress up like something you’re not, and… party, I guess?
Sorry, guys. I don’t love it. I’ve (re)discovered that my stomach isn’t a fan of too much sweet stuff, spiders will always freak me out, and I’d probably rather go to a pajama party than a costume party. I can berate myself for being boring, or I can chill out and enjoy my low-key evening. So, I curl up in bed, study, and try to be alright with not getting Halloween. (But you can bet that I’ll relish Thanksgiving and Christmas.)
And then there’s just life in general. I’m so, so, so excited (and relieved) to have gotten an internship for next summer. It frees up so much future time to not have to look any more. Also, I put a lot of time into getting this particular opportunity. But when my parents asked if I’d accepted it yet… I hadn’t. Why? Well, it’s really hard to explain.
It’s kind of like when I got into UChicago – or when anything I’ve been working toward comes to fruition. I hit a high that is quickly followed by a low. In the low, I ask myself if that thing is really what I want. When I ask that question, I realize that I have no idea what I actually want.
Ultimately, I’m great at having goals. When there’s something to work toward, I am as purposeful and determined as they come. But when I get what I’ve been working toward, I’m lost. Do I want it anymore? What do I actually want? Was that the right thing to want?
It’s all getting unnecessarily ahead of myself. So, instead of trying to plan everything out and force life to unfold into that plan, I have to meet myself back where I am now. Now, I’m at UChicago and doing pretty well here. I have this blog and have gotten to know a bunch of lovely people through it. I’m learning to be a yoga teacher and pushing myself way out of my comfort zone to do so. I’m trying every day to be nicer to myself. And I got the internship I wanted. So, of course, I’m going to take it and learn from it and enjoy the hell out of it.
Meet yourself where you are... and hopefully these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are there. Share on X
Also now, I have a single one of these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins left from when I baked them and I’m going to enjoy that.
They’re soft, substantial, spicy, not-too-sweet, and full of chocolate chips. You can whisk them together in one bowl and have them ready in just over a half an hour. So, let’s meet where we are right now over some perfect Paleo muffins.
- 2 T. coconut oil, melted
- 2 T. cashew butter*
- 4 large eggs, whisked
- 1/4 c. maple syrup
- 1 T. vanilla extract
- 3/4 c. almond flour
- 1/2 c. coconut flour
- 2 scoops collagen peptides**
- 1 heaping t. cinnamon
- 1/8 t. nutmeg
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/8 t. salt
- 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips***
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a muffin tin and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together melted coconut oil, cashew butter, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla.
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, collagen peptides (if using), cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Fold in all about a handful of the dark chocolate chips.
- Divide batter into prepared muffin tins. I used a 1/4 c. measure to make them even and got 10 muffins out of it.
- Sprinkle divided batter with remaining chocolate chips and put in the oven.
- After 5 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and leave muffins in the oven for another 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.
- *Use any nut butter you like or have on hand!
- **If you don't have collagen peptides, just omit them. No big deal.
- ***I use Enjoy Life. Feel free to use a semisweet or milk variety if you prefer!
Click to view nutrition facts for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Meet me over muffins. --> {Paleo} Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins #FitFluential #bgbcommunity Share on XPin for later:
It’s week 6 of the Autumn Produce Challenge with Kayla and Priya. Celebrate with us by linking up your best pumpkin recipes below! And don’t forget to join us next Monday for the final week of the challenge with your favorite sweet potato recipes!
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Your turn:
What are your Halloween plans?
Do you get ahead of yourself?
I was just thinking this weekend how much I wanted some muffins with pumpkin in them and here they are! haha. These look absolutely delicious! And I am not a huge Halloween fan either, I never really got into it and the further away from trick-or-treating age I get, the more I just don’t get into all the dressing up and partying.
Haha I’ve been craving pumpkin muffins, too. Yes – here they are!
You and I are so very alike. So very alike.
How about we onesie up and cuddle?
Yes please ❤️
Yum! These look delightful and just perfectly sweet. My plans for today are, er, class, work, studying, and as much sleep as I can get… no Halloween costumes or candy in sight!
Highs followed by lows? Yup, that sounds like me. I’m pretty terrible at just living in the moment, but I’m getting better at it. 🙂
I hope you had a lovely laid back Halloween, Claire!
these sound so good. I loveee pumpkin baked goods. Especially pumpkin muffins 🙂
Same! Give me pumpkin everything!
Ooh wow these seriously look like power packed muffins Ellen! 🙂
I totally know what you mean about Halloween; I’m actually not a fan of the skeletons and creepy things. I do like some candy though.
I’ll be praying for you on this new journey; I totally know the highs and the lows. They come here every day!
Thanks so much, Emily!
oh wow so soft and fluffy! These muffins are the whole package!
They definitely are!
These look so so delicious! Um… you’re totally not the biggest grinch at Halloween because that would be me.
I may or may not have told Jesse to disconnect the doorbell yesterday (as it’s an intercom connected to our home phone) because the dogs just bark non stop and get really stressed and thus we didn’t hand out any candy 😛 In years past my parents have put up Halloween decorations and heaps of trick or treaters came but this year they didn’t want to and only one group of kids came to the door really early and that was it. I guess if you don’t put up decorations, people assume you don’t do halloween in Australia as it’s not too common.
LOL that’ll probably be me when I have my own place honestly.
Ellen these look SO GOOD. My mouth is watering up a storm over here!
Thanks, Mack! They’re delicious!
I love pumpkin and chocolate chips! I’ve never tried mixing almond and coconut flour but it looks like I may just have to give it a try!
I often like mixing them better than using just one! The texture is juuust right. Let me know if you try them! 🙂