Oatmeal To-Go Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins — These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are essentially baked oatmeal bites with the perfect amount of pumpkin spice!! They’re the perfect grab-and-go breakfast or snack!!
Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Love the idea of a nice big bowl of oatmeal but it’s just not practical for busy mornings? I can relate. I’ve got you covered with these soft, chewy, texture-filled muffins.
They’re like having a warm and hearty oatmeal, but in portable muffin form. Make a double batch and freeze half for grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks. So easy.
The batter is some of easiest and least fussy ever. Whisk together nine ingredients at once in one bowl, including pumpkin, brown sugar, maple, and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. It only has 30-calorie per 8 ounces, tastes great, and if I need a milk for baking, vegan or otherwise, it’s what I use most often.
All Silk products are dairy-free and gluten-free and I like that Silk is committed to and believes in the benefits of a plant-based diet.
The pumpkin flavor in these oatmeal chocolate chip muffins is quite subtle. It adds a homey quality but really serves to add welcome moisture. Dry oatmeal muffins are far too common, but you have nothing to worry about here. Make either Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins or Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins if you want more pumpkiny muffins.
These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are naturally gluten-free (use certified GF oats if needed) and there’s only 1/3 cup brown sugar for the entire batch. I used sugar-free pancake syrup to keep the amount of added sugar even lower.
I couldn’t resist adding chocolate chips. They really add a special boost so you don’t feel like you’re eating health food even though the oatmeal muffins are pretty darn healthy. But you’d never guess it.
This is my new favorite way to eat oatmeal. And it’s never too late (or early) for a pumpkin recipe!
What’s in Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins?
For these pumpkin oatmeal muffins, you’ll need:
- Egg
- Pumpkin puree
- Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- Light brown sugar
- Maple syrup
- Canola oil
- Vanilla extract
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Salt
- Old-fashioned oats
- Baking powder
- Chocolate chips
How to Make Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
These pumpkin oatmeal muffin cups couldn’t be any easier to make! Simply stir together all the ingredients and divide the batter amount greased muffin cups. Bake until the muffins are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
These pumpkin chocolate chip muffins will need to cool for at least 20 minutes before you’ll be able to safely remove them from the muffin pan. Don’t rush the cooling process and attempt to remove muffins from pan too soon because they’ll be prone to breaking. It’s much easier to remove them when cooled completely.
Can I Use Instant Oats Instead of Old-Fashioned?
No, you must use old-fashioned (rolled) oats in these oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. Instant oats aren’t the right texture and will likely dry out these muffins.
Can I Freeze Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins?
Yes, these muffins freeze so well. To freeze these, first let them cool completely before sealing them inside a freezer bag. When you’re ready to eat the frozen muffins, set them on your counter overnight to thaw.
Tips for Making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
It’s really important that you use pumpkin puree for these muffins and NOT canned pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling is pre-sweetened and will throw off the flavor of these muffins.
If you don’t have unsweetened vanilla almond milk on hand, you can use another milk. Any milk will work, but make sure whatever you’re using is unsweetened.
Lastly, feel free to play around with the spices and add more or less depending on your preferences. I used pumpkin pie spice here, but you could use a mixture of ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
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Oatmeal To-Go Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, or your favorite milk
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup maple or pancake sryup, I used sugar-free lite pancake syrup
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 3 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats, do not use quick-cook or instant
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, mini recommended, but regular-sized chips may be substituted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pan in 11 of the cavities (I don’t prefer the cosmetic look of paper liners and they may stick); set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the first 9 ingredients (through optional salt), and whisk to combine.
- Add the oats, baking powder, and stir to combine.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4-cup measure, evenly distribute the batter into 11 of the cavities (don’t use all 12, muffins will be too skimpy). Each cavity should be nearly full since muffins don’t rise much.
- Bake for about 23 minutes, or until tops are set both visually and when touched lightly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling, but no batter (toothpick test is tricky because you’ll likely hit chocolate patches). Don’t overbake because muffins will be prone to drying out.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 20 minutes before removing and placing on a rack to cool completely. Don’t rush the cooling process and attempt to remove muffins from pan too soon because they’ll be prone to breaking. It’s much easier to remove them when cooled completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Pumpkin Breakfast Recipes:
Cooking With Pumpkin: Recipes That Go Beyond the Pie is my second cookbook and it was officially released October 6. There’s over 50 pumpkin recipes including sweets, savory, drinks, and a photo for nearly every recipe. I’d be super grateful if you headed over to Amazon.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins – You’ll never miss the eggs or butter! Easy, soft, fluffy and so good!
Pumpkin French Toast — Thick slices of French toast that are full of rich pumpkin, cinnamon and brown sugar flavor.
Pumpkin Pancakes – Soft, fluffy, and packed with big pumpkin flavor! Perfect comfort food for chilly mornings when a smoothie just won’t do!
The Best Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls – Super soft, fluffy, and topped with a cream cheese glaze! Move over Cinnabon, these are better!
Pumpkin Waffles — The waffles are brimming with pumpkin flavor between the entire can of pumpkin puree and the pumpkin pie spice.
Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins — The muffins are soft, moist, fluffy yet pleasantly dense, and packed with fall spices.
This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
Originally posted November 2014. Reposted October 2019 with updated text.
Love this recipe! Easy to make, great ingredients and delicious. These are a go to recipe for me. Thanks for sharing, Maureen
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!
Has anyone tried steel cut oats in place of old fashioned rolled?
I haven’t.
Has anyone tried this without the brown sugar? Or without the maple syrup? They are very good as is but they are 11 weight watchers smart points each
You could possibly try the Splenda version of brown sugar and use sugar-free maple syrup. That would probably cut the points down quite a bit. That seems awfully high for a small muffin but I’m not sure how the rating system works. I think in the comments awhile ago someone did break down the nutritional info if you want to scroll through.
These are a staple in my breakfasts. They freeze and reheat great! During the holidays this year, I found julienne dried cranberries that I used for cranberry bread. I decided to use some of the leftover berries in these muffins. So instead of chocolate chips (which I love!), I used about 1/2 c dried cranberries and 1/2 c chopped walnuts. They are AMAZING! I may like them better than the chocolate chips and I am a chocolate fiend! Wanted to share here in case someone was looking for a variation.
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you! I loved dried cranberries too and bet they’re great with the oats and pumpkin!
For people counting calories-I did the math and they are around 230 calories per muffin
How many calories per muffin?
Thanks,Karen
Please read some of the comments above you; I’ve answered this question a few times with links in the past few days.
The oatmeal to go pumpkin chocolate chip muffins look delicious but I am on Weight Watchers and need the nutritional information for the recipe. Your other recipes look equally good, but I need to know the calorie count, saturated fat amount, sugar, and protein amounts for each serving, before I can make them. Thanks so much!
If you want to check this link out, I’ve covered it here https://https://www.averiecooks.com/faq/ Enjoy the muffins!
The first oatmeal to go pumpkin chocolate chip recipe looks great, but I am on Weight Watchers and would like to have the nutritional values for this recipe. All your recipes look delicious, but lack the information that I need to be compliant with WW. Thank you!
If you want to check this link out, I’ve covered the stats question here https://https://www.averiecooks.com/faq/
Hi Averie! I was just about to make these, but am now realizing that I am out of brown sugar. I am wondering if regular sugar is okay for a substitute?
Do you have molasses? Generally about 1 tbsp molasses to 1 cup white sugar will is what brown sugar is. You’re probably fine with just using white sugar but the flavor won’t be quite the same and the batter texture will change. I say go get some brown sugar or DIY :)
These have quickly become a family favorite! I just made our 3rd batch in 6 weeks and 2 of those were double batches. I used coconut oil instead of vegetable to up the health factor a bit. Quick, easy, and so good!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you as a double batch (a few times!) and that it’s a new family fave! I love baking with coconut oil too and the flavor of coconut + pumpkin is heavenly!
This look amazing and just the type of recipe I need because I bought a large container of Old Fashioned Oats by mistake. Usually I buy the Quick Oats, but it’s no big deal. All I have to do is microwave it longer for oatmeal, as well as, bake these!
Enjoy!
First these taste great but they totally did not bake well. I had more than enough to fill 12 cups but after 30 minutes they are still raw inside. My oven temp is correct according to thermometer. I checked the recipe several times to make sure there was no flour in case that was the issue. Anyone else have trouble getting them to bake?
There’s no flour in the recipe, that’s correct. Muffin pans to vary in size and maybe yours is a bit smaller than mine. I linked to the one I use. That aside, ovens, climates, the amount of moisture in the pumpkin puree, the type of oats used, etc. can all effect baking time. I use Quaker Old Fashioned Whole Rolled Oats and Libby’s pumpkin puree. The oats absorb the moisture from the pumpkin and it sounds like your batter is much wetter than mine. I suggest continuing to bake until they’re done, however long that takes. Thanks for trying the recipe.
Can you use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil? same amount?
Haven’t tried it personally in this recipe, but would probably be fine in the same quantity.
These are wonderful, e en better day two and three if kept in an airtight container or in a Baggie as I did. Have become a real favorite. I’d really like to know how many calories though as I am tracking with Fitbit to lose weight. Anyone know how many calories?
Thanks for trying the recipe! Not sure on the stats. There are online sites that I’ve linked here that you can enter the info https://https://www.averiecooks.com/faq/
I don’t like oatmeal at all, so these muffins are perfect for me. Instead of chocolate chips, I used cacao nibs and a cup of raisins resulting in a delicious breakfast with health benefits! Thank you.
Love that you use cacao nibs and raisins – sounds perfect! Thanks for trying the recipe!
These look delicious! Would love to incorporate a banana……think I could decrease the oil a bit if I do?
Possibly but I haven’t tried so cannot say for sure how things will work out.