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These pumpkin banana muffins are the perfect Fall twist on classic banana muffins. The combination of pumpkin and banana makes them so incredibly soft and fluffy, and they're filled with chocolate chunks. Bursting with Fall flavours and spices, these are truly the best pumpkin muffins you'll ever make!
These muffins are so darn good, I just might start making pumpkin banana muffins year-round (rebellious, I know). The banana flavour in them is subtle, because the Fall spices and pumpkin flavour are the stars of the show.
How to make pumpkin banana muffins
These muffins are super quick and easy to whip up! The two main ingredients you'll need are overripe bananas and pumpkin purée. For the pumpkin purée, I always use the canned version but if you make your own it will be delicious as well!
Okay, now let's make the best pumpkin muffins ever. First, whisk together all the dry ingredients and set them aside for later. Then, in the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the vegan butter and sugars until just combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix again.
The next step is to add in the pumpkin purée and bananas. I like using a blender or food processor to blend the bananas, but mashing with a fork will work fine if you prefer to do it that way!
This recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin, and one cup of mashed bananas. Two large bananas mashed up will typically equal about a cup, and 3 small bananas will equal about the same. Just be sure to measure the bananas after they've been mashed/blended (more on that below under Tips For Making The Best Pumpkin Muffins).
Mix the bananas and pumpkin into the batter, then add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the dairy free chopped chocolate, then fill 12 muffin liners all the way to the top. For even chocolatier muffins, you can sprinkle more chocolate on top before you put the muffins in the oven (the more chocolate the better right?). Bake for around 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins comes out clean. Serve plain or with butter!
Tips for Making The Best Pumpkin Muffins
- Use overripe bananas: When baking with bananas, the perfect bananas are the ones that are extremely overripe, covered in big black spots. Bananas at this stage get extra soft, mushy, and sweet. I always have a huge stash of these in my freezer. When I'm ready to bake with bananas I just remove them from the freezer about 1-2 hours before and let them thaw in a bowl. Now you've got perfect baking bananas!
- Blend the ripe bananas: Instead of mashing the bananas up with a fork, try blending them in a food processor or blender until they are super smooth. A simple tip, but it definitely makes a difference. The banana flavour is there, but it's so smoothly incorporated with pumpkin flavour that the flavours blend seamlessly and it helps make the muffins really fluffy.
- Measure out the bananas after blending them: These pumpkin banana muffins only need 1 cup of banana and 1 cup of pumpkin, for 2 cups total. To get an accurate measurement, make sure you measure the bananas after blending them. If you are a little bit short of a full cup of bananas, just top up the remaining amount with pumpkin purée.
- Fill the muffin liners all the way to the top: The reason these muffins look so perfect (if I do say so myself) is because they are super fluffy and big! So when you're pouring the batter into the muffin tray, be sure to fill the liners all the way to the top to get those big fluffy bakery-style muffins.
Chocolate: Chips or Chunks? What's the Difference?
I prefer chocolate chunks over chocolate chips in almost all my recipes.
For starters, when you chop up a chocolate bar, you get pieces in all different shapes and sizes, plus some small shavings of chocolate. This means that the chocolate distributes more throughout the batter of your baked goods, so you taste chocolate in every bite.
Another reason I prefer chopped chocolate is that chocolate chips have less cocoa butter in them than a chocolate bar. Less cocoa butter means that chocolate chips will hold their shape more during baking, so they don't get as melted and gooey in your baked goods.
When it comes down to it, the flavours are very similar between the two options. In muffins, cakes, bars, and cookies you can pretty much always use them interchangeably.
But, if you've been using chocolate chips your whole life, do yourself a favour and buy a bar of dark chocolate next time you're at the grocery store. You can use baking chocolate, your favourite brand of chocolate bar, whatever you want! The bars I use most of the time are no name brand dark chocolate. They just happen to cost 99 cents each and are dairy free!
Chopped chocolate in place of chocolate chips might just change your world for the better 😉
Fall Baking Must-Have: Pumpkin Pie Spice
This recipe uses pumpkin pie spice. If you haven't tried it, check out the spice aisle at your local grocery store or click the link above and get your hands on this super convenient spice mix! It's a blend of cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger and it makes Fall baking taste like heaven without needing to buy all 5 spices. If you can't find pumpkin pie spice where you live, you can check out the Recipe Notes in the Recipe Card below for an easy way to make your own pumpkin pie spice mix.
Can you freeze pumpkin banana muffins?
I'm going to let you in on a little secret if you didn't know: muffins freeze UNBELIEVABLY well. Unless I'm serving muffins to guests, I almost always freeze them right away even if I'm going to eat one the next day. If you properly freeze them, these pumpkin banana muffins will taste fresh every time you eat them!
After baking, let the muffins cool completely, then transfer them to a large freezer Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. When you're ready to eat the muffins, you can either remove from the bag and let them thaw at room temperature, or pop one in the microwave (this is what I usually do) for 20-30 seconds for warm muffins that taste freshly baked!
MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Apple Loaf with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze (Dairy Free)
- Stuffed Cookies and Cream Cookies (Dairy Free)
- Sugar Cookie Chocolate Ice Cream (Dairy Free)
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram @cookiedoughdiaries so I can check it out! If you want to save this recipe for later, you can pin it using the Pinterest button below.
Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter (or butter of choice)
- 1¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 ripe bananas (1 cup mashed)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dairy free chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of a standing or handheld mixer, beat together vegan butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until just combined.
- Mash the ripe bananas either with a fork or in a blender, then measure 1 cup. 2 large bananas typically will be about a cup, or 3 small bananas will equal about the same. Only use one cup. If you are a little bit short, just top up the measuring cup with pumpkin puree.
- Add the blended/mashed bananas and pumpkin puree into the large mixing bowl and mix.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl every so often.
- Add in the chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds until the chocolate is mixed throughout the batter.
- Scoop roughly ½ a cup of the batter into each muffin liner. Fill each one all the way to the top. Sprinkle with more chocolate chunks if desired.
- Bake for 23-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool in the muffin tray for 5 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- PUMPKIN PIE SPICE: If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can use the following combination of spices: ½ tbsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground cloves, and ½ tsp ground allspice
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What a great idea adding pumpkin!
I’m making these right now! I always have over ripe bananas in the freezer to make banana bread or muffins. I find they are so easy to blend when they defrost.
Hi Viri! I do the same! Thanks for giving the recipe a try, can't wait to hear what you think of it 🙂
These muffins are spectacular!! Perfect for the seasonal autumn flavours I was craving. I made them several times because they never lasted long in our house! I also tried the chopped chocolate rather than chocolate chips and, as promised, it made a world of difference. Would absolutely recommend giving these a try!
Hi Ellen! Yay! Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try, I'm so happy to hear that you loved the muffins 🙂