Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are the healthier baked good you need to make this season. I love pumpkin recipes of all kinds so I thought it was time to finally share a new one this season. I always like to keep our freezer stocked with some muffins because I love having them around for a quick healthy snack before the gym after work or paired with my morning smoothie. As someone who basically lives in their car between commuting back and forth to work and driving to patient’s homes for visits, having a snack that can be handheld is a bonus! 

Tips for Making Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

• When measuring the flour, make sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup rather than scooping it out of the bag with the measuring cup. When you scoop with the measuring cup, you can pack in more flour per scoop which can lead to dry/crumbly muffins. 
• I bought my ground flax meal at the grocery store (it was Bob’s Red Mil brand), but you can usually find other brands at the store. Look for it in the baking aisle; I’ve seen it in the bulk bins too before. It is important to purchase ground flax as the whole seeds will not for a gel like the ground seeds do when mixed with water. The purpose of the ground flax seeds is to replace the egg that is normally used in traditional muffin recipes. 
• Everything gets mixed together in just one bowl! I get excited about fewer dishes. 😉 You’ll add the ground flax and water first and let it form a gel. Next, you add all the wet ingredients and give it a good stir. Finally, add all the dry ingredients and stir again before adding the chocolate chips at the end. 

Health Benefits of Pumpkin

Like most other orange veggies (ie. sweet potato and carrots), pumpkin is chock full of beta carotene which is a powerful antioxidant that is converted to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is essential for eye health. In fact, vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness. Vitamin A can also support immune function – especially important with flu and cold season starting!  Pumpkin is also a good source of vitamins C and E (both powerful antioxidants which help prevent cell damage and support the immune system) as well as riboflavin (important for energy production, fat metabolism, and more). Since pumpkin is packed with all these good-for-you nutrients, it gives you all the more reason to use pumpkin more often in recipes this fall!

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