Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Muffins
Published October 19, 2022
NYTCREDIT: Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
¾ cup/165 grams packed light or dark brown sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée (about 1 ¾ cups); see Tip
2 large eggs
¼ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup/47 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
Nutritional analysis per serving
53 grams carbs; 32 milligrams cholesterol; 316 calories; 7 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 11 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 222 milligrams sodium; 5 grams protein; 32 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil, pumpkin purée, eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract.
- Step 2
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Divide the batter in half.
- Step 3
Add the cocoa powder to one half of the batter and mix until just combined.
- Step 4
Add alternating scoops of each batter to the muffin cups until you’ve used it all up. Using a butter knife, swirl the batters together without combining them fully. Sprinkle the tops generously with granulated sugar.
- Step 5
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes.
- Step 6
Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and let them stand on the rack to cool completely. The muffins will keep for up to 5 days at room temperature, in an airtight container.
The texture of pumpkin purées vary from brand to brand. Thinner purées will yield more delicate muffins, but they will still be delicious.
Private Notes
Comments
These were delicious and a big hit with my family! I did significantly reduce the sugar as follows: half cup brown sugar & quarter cup of granulated.
Made the following adjustments: cut sugars by about 1/3; added a dash of nutmeg, dash of ginger, and dash of cardamom; used 1/2 whole wheat flour. These are great! Still quite sweet but not overly sweet for an indulgent muffin. Despite the whole wheat flour, they are light and fluffy. I added the chocolate first and then swirled with a skewer, which I twirled around while also mixing. I think 10-12 twirl/mixes is just about right to get a good swirl.
To those that write how this recipe wasn’t great - if you change a baking recipe don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work. Baking is a science and there are ratios for a successful bake. Once that’s established you can riff away. Check your oven temps, too.
The recipe is *very* sweet, but it's a great pantry buster, which is what I needed.
My family loves these, and I have made them many times. As others noted, the chocolate batter becomes thicker with the addition of cocoa, and consistently the recipe makes a few extra muffins. I usually roast squash instead of using canned pumpkin purée, but I do use an immersion blender to get it smooth. This last time, I used cottage cheese for the yogurt, which worked out well.
I used fresh puree and added maybe a tablespoon of flour. Since I wanted it to be more pumpkin/ less chocolate I reduced the chocolate batter portion to about 1/4, but added chocolate chips and walnuts. Cream cheese frosting was an amazing addition.