Molten Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins. – Half Baked Harvest

Molten Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins: With a pocket of warm molten chocolate, these muffins melt in your mouth—so delicious! Made using pumpkin butter and canned pumpkin, then sweetened with brown sugar and stuffed with chocolate. Finish these off with a light sprinkle of sugar for a glistening muffin. Oh, and be sure to eat these warm!

Pumpkin seems to be all I can think about right now. Past seasons, maybe not so much, but this season I am in the pumpkin zone.

The combination of pumpkin and chocolate can often be overlooked, but I always find the two go really well together. The subtleness of the pumpkin is always nice when paired with a rich chocolate dessert.

So then I had this idea. I was working on our upcoming Thanksgiving menu and referring back to my molten chocolate crackle pie. I make it every Thanksgiving. It never disappoints.

I had the idea to mix a scoop of molten chocolate into a soft pumpkin muffin. Honestly, I was afraid these wouldn’t work, but they came out pretty close to perfect!

These are the details

Ingredients

• coconut oil or melted butter
• brown sugar, I prefer organic dark brown sugar
• vanilla
• eggs
• pumpkin butter
• pumpkin puree
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• granulated sugar
• cocoa powder
• dark chocolate
• cinnamon sugar

Special Tools

Absolutely none! Just a muffin/cupcake pan and some paper liners from the store!

Steps

Step 1: make the molten chocolate

This is really easy. Whisk an egg with granulated sugar and cocoa powder until smooth and glossy. Then, add the chocolate chunks and melted butter.

I use a 60% dark chocolate bar that’s 3.2 ounces.

Set the chocolate aside.

Step 2: make the muffin batter

Add the melted coconut oil to a bowl. You can also use a melted stick of salted butter. Both are great.

Add brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, pumpkin butter, and pumpkin puree. I like to use both pumpkin butter and pumpkin puree. The butter adds a really nice warm flavor with notes of maple and cinnamon. The puree ensures the muffin will bake up soft and fluffy with zero dryness.

Now add all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix until the batter just comes together.

Step 3: assemble each muffin

Fill each muffin mold halfway with pumpkin batter, then spoon about a teaspoon of the molten chocolate into the center of each muffin. Cover the chocolate with pumpkin batter.

You should be able to make 12 muffins.

Step 4: bake

Sprinkle the top of each muffin with sugar. I use a pinch of cinnamon in my sugar. It’s subtle but yummy with the pumpkin.

Bake these for about 18 to 2o minutes. The longer you bake, the more set the chocolate will be. I found 17 to 18 minutes to be perfect. 17 minutes leaves the muffins a bit underdone, but 18 is just right!

Everyone’s oven bakes differently, though, so start checking at 18 minutes!

Eat!

Make sure to eat these warm. After baking, I let the muffins sit for no more than 2 minutes in the muffin pan before popping them out. The idea is to eat these warm. The chocolate will set as the muffins cool!

Share with friends and these will be finished in one sitting. So delicious!

Looking for other fall desserts? Here are my favorites: 

Brown Sugar Maple Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie Cookies with Butter Pecan Frosting

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Lastly, if you make these Molten Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!