These healthy pumpkin protein muffins are packed with chocolate pumpkin flavor. Made with pumpkin pie filling, pumpkin pie spice, chocolate protein powder and chocolate chips, with greek yogurt and vegetable oil for moisture. Baked until the tops are extra crispy. So delicious, healthy and easy to make— the perfect chocolate pumpkin muffins for fall!
Healthy muffins don’t have to be bland and tasteless. They can taste ridiculously good and still be a healthier choice than the average muffin, such as these chocolate sweet potato muffins, banana almond flour muffins or these banana date oat muffins.
Why this is the best protein pumpkin muffins recipe:
- There are 8.5 grams of protein per muffin. A Cliff bar, for comparison, has 10g of protein (but is far less tasty). Most muffins have around 2-5 grams of protein, and other pumpkin protein muffins have around 6-7 grams of protein. The secret to these muffins having that extra little boost of protein is a combo of protein powder, eggs and greek yogurt.
- They don’t taste like protein powder. Seriously, they just taste like pumpkin spice and chocolate. If you’re looking for a protein powder muffin recipe that just tastes like a delicious breakfast muffin, this is the recipe for you.
- They are easy to make. They take 15 minutes of prep work to make and use simple ingredients that you probably already have or can easily find in a basic grocery store.
Ingredients & Substitutions:
- Pumpkin pie filling: You can find this canned in the grocery store, especially around fall season. This is also a great recipe to use up extra if you opened a can for pumpkin pie and didn’t use it all.
- Chocolate protein powder: There are a ton of different protein powders out there. Use a good quality chocolate protein powder for this recipe.
- Chocolate chips: These add an extra little bit of chocolate flavor. If you're looking for the healthiest option, you can leave these out, but I highly recommend adding them in!
- Pumpkin pie spice: You should be able to find this in the spice aisle of your grocery store, but if not, you can easily make your own with other spices.
- Vegetable oil: This adds moisture, softness and richness to these muffins. You can replace this with canola oil if needed.
- Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt also adds moisture, and is a great source of protein as well. Use plain greek yogurt without any flavor. You can substitute this with sour cream if you don’t have yogurt on hand.
- Eggs: These act as a binding agent to hold the muffins together, and also are another source of protein.
- Flour: Use regular, all purpose flour. Protein powder can not be used as a 1:1 replacement for flour. These muffins still need flour for structure, otherwise they won’t stay together.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar works best in this recipe. If you want to make these muffins healthier, you can reduce the sugar to ½ cup.
- Baking powder & Baking soda: You need both of these ingredients in this recipe to make sure the muffins rise well. They are not interchangeable ingredients.
- Salt: A dash of salt brings out all the other flavors.
How to make pumpkin protein muffins:
- Prepare your muffin tin. Line a 12 muffin tin with muffin liners. Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Mix the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, mix the protein powder, flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients together. In a medium bowl, mix the pumpkin pie filling, eggs, oil and yogurt together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Bake the muffins. Bake at 400F for 5 minutes, and then decrease the temperature to 350F for another 20-25 minutes.
Yes! If you want to make healthy protein muffins, protein powder is an essential ingredient. However, make sure you use a recipe that specifically calls for protein powder — such as these pumpkin protein muffins — rather than substituting it into another recipe on your own.
This will largely come down to personal choice. I use Vega protein powder for all my baked goods because I love the taste. But if you have a favorite or just happen to have a certain type of chocolate protein powder on hand, use that. (Note: This is not an affiliate ad, I make no money if you decide to purchase this product. I’m just sharing the products I use in case it’s helpful for others.)
Expert Tips:
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are crispy. Most of the time I recommend baking until a toothpick comes out almost clean, but for these muffins, a little extra baking time makes the tops even crispier and makes sure the inside is firm enough. Don’t worry, they are still super soft on the inside!
- Don’t overmix the batter. Mix the batter only until the dry ingredients are fully mixed into the wet ingredients. Overmixing will make tough and dense muffins.
- Store leftovers at room temperature for a couple of days. If you plan to eat these muffins in a couple days, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Otherwise, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Protein Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These healthy pumpkin protein muffins are packed with chocolate pumpkin flavor. So delicious, healthy and easy to make— the perfect treat for fall!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) all purpose flour
- 10 tablespoons (70g) chocolate protein powder.
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup + 2 (155g) tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ cup + 2 (172g) tablespoons greek yogurt
- ⅔ cup (160g) pumpkin pie filling
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup (125g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line 12 muffin tins with muffin liners.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, protein powder, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix the vegetable oil, greek yogurt and pumpkin pie filling together until smooth. Beat in the eggs.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix only until just combined. Don’t overmix the batter. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tins. Bake for 5 minutes at 400F, then decrease the temperature to 350F and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the tops are crispy and a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
- Storage: Store these muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 283
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 15.9g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12.9g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 28.2g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 8.5g
- Cholesterol: 33mg
Kayla
how can I substitute canned pumpkin for the pumpkin pie fillings? I just have canned pumpkin.