My Favorite Fall Muffin with Melty Chocolate & Crackly Sugar Tops
These homemade pumpkin muffins are my kids’ current after school snack obsession, and for good reason! They rise tall over the edge of the pan with crackly, sugar-crusted tops, and the inside is soft, moist, and tender. There’s also melty pools of chopped bittersweet chocolate. 😮💨 Like I said… a current family-favorite!
They’re sweet enough to feel like a treat but not so sweet that they taste like cupcakes, so they also work for a grab-and-go breakfast. (These have Thanksgiving brunch written all over them!)
Blot the Pumpkin (Seriously)
This is the step people skip, and it’s the reason most homemade pumpkin muffins come out dense and heavy. Canned pumpkin purée varies a lot in water content from brand to brand. Spreading it on paper towels and pressing out the excess moisture gives you a consistent batter every time, whichever can you buy. → Do not use pumpkin pie filling!
Cream Longer Than You Think
Beat the butter and sugars for the full 3-4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. That trapped air does as much lifting as the baking powder and soda, so this isn’t the step to rush.
When the pumpkin goes in, the batter will look curdled and broken. That’s normal: purée is mostly water and won’t emulsify into butter. It’ll come back together when the flour goes in.
The quickest way to know when they’re done is to use a toothpick or cake tester. It should have a few moist crumbs. If it comes out of the center totally clean, it’s gone a minute or two too long.
Notes From Recipe Testing
- A large cookie scoop keeps the portions even.
- I tested batches with bittersweet, dark, and semi-sweet chocolate. All are great here, so use whatever you love. But the turbinado sugar is not optional! The muffins without didn’t have that signature crunchy top.
- During my second round of testing, I baked the muffins at a consistently lower temperature. They ended up deflating shortly after coming out of the oven. Start hot, then drop the heat.
Check out the recipe card notes for my favorite way to bring day-old muffins back to life.
This pumpkin chocolate muffin recipe is great alongside other easy breakfast dishes to make at home. In fact, I recently served them to a bunch of teenagers who spent the night alongside bowls of Greek yogurt topped with salty-sweet Eleven Madison Park granola. Such a simple win!
Tall, tender, cozy, and full of chocolate, these are the muffins I’ll be making all season long. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
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Bakery-Style Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup (113g) salted butter, softened
- 6 Tbsp (75g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tbsp (75g) packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g) canned pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling!)
- 3 oz (85g) bittersweet chocolate (60-70%), roughly chopped (you can use dark or semi-sweet chocolate chunks, if preferred). Feel free to add more chocolate if you like!
- 2 Tbsp (25g) turbinado sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease every other well of two standard 12-cup muffin tins. (You’ll fill 12 wells total across both pans.)
- Drain pumpkin. Spread 1 cup (240g) pumpkin purée on a double layer of paper towels, press another layer on top, and blot.
- Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp nutmeg, and ¼ tsp kosher salt.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, cream ½ cup (113g) softened salted butter with 6 Tbsp (75g) granulated sugar and 6 Tbsp (75g) brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Don’t cut this short, as beating air into the butter helps the muffins rise just as much as the leaveners.
- Add eggs. Add 2 large eggs one at a time, mixing on medium until each is fully combined and scraping down the bowl in between. Mix in 1½ tsp vanilla extract.
- Add pumpkin. With the mixer off, add the blotted pumpkin. Mix on low until incorporated, then scrape the sides down and bottom of the bowl. The batter will look curdled and separated at this stage. Purée is mostly water, and it can’t emulsify into the butter. It pulls back together when the flour goes in.
- Add dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until only a few streaks of flour remain. Add 3 oz (85g) chopped chocolate and fold in by hand until just combined. Stopping while the batter still looks slightly underworked keeps the crumb tender.
- Fill muffin tins. Scoop the batter into the prepared wells, filling about ¾ cup — a large cookie scoop makes quick work of this. Sprinkle each with turbinado sugar, about 2 Tbsp (25g) total.
- Bake. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 6 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350°F (175°C) without opening the door and bake 10-12 minutes more. Rotate the pans at the 12 minute mark, once the tops have set. That initial blast of heat forces a fast rice before the crumb has a chance to set, which is what gives you the bakery dome.
- Cool. The muffins are done when the tops spring back to a light touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. A completely clean toothpick means they’ve gone a minute or two too far. Cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
- Make-ahead: Blot the pumpkin (refrigerate, covered) and whisk the dry ingredients up to 1 day ahead.
- Storage: Best the day they’re made; keeps airtight at room temperature for 2-3 days. Warm briefly before to re-melt the chocolate, or (pro move!) halve top to bottom and toast cut-side down in a buttered skillet until golden.
- Freezing baked muffins: Cool completely, wrap each muffin in plastic wrap, and freeze in a zip-top bag with the air pressed out for up to 3 months. Thaw still wrapped at room temperature for 1-2 hours so condensation collects on the plastic, not the muffin. Unwrap and warm at 300°F (150°C) for 8-10 minutes.
- Spices: Swap the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.
Nutrition
Photography by Megan McKeehan.
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