The One-Bowl Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins I Make Every Fall

If finding something all three of my kids will eat and enjoy was an Olympic sport, I’d probably come in last place. Before I had children of my own, I dreamed of all the wonderful things I’d cook for them.

Of course, my children would eat any and everything—there was no way I would raise a picky child. To say I've been humbled would be quite the understatement. My oldest son despises fruit, my middle son won’t go near a vegetable, and my littlest would subsist solely on cheese if I let her. Finding something they will all eat that I feel good about serving them is tricky.

I learned with my oldest that almost anything in muffin form will be consumed, bonus points if some sort of chocolate is thrown in the mix. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different one-bowl chocolate muffins that I can easily make on a busy weekday morning. I’ve tried applesauce, bananas, and spinach with middling success. 

The Pumpkin Muffins My Kids Will Actually Eat

Then, after an impulse purchase at Costco (12 cans of organic pumpkin purée!), I found the secret ingredient. Now, these are not your usual pumpkin muffins. There isn’t even a whiff of pumpkin spice. Instead, the pumpkin adds moisture and gives the muffins a bouncy, bakery-style texture.

If you love those classic warm spice flavors, feel free to add in 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice with the dry ingredients. Unfortunately, those flavors don’t usually make it past management (aka my kids), but they would work very well in this recipe.

The batch makes 16 muffins, so while I do have an extra-large muffin tin that works well for this recipe, you may have to use a few muffin tins if you want to bake them all at once. I designed the recipe to use a full can of pumpkin because life is just too short to find a way to use up 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée!