Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Muffins #MuffinMonday

Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Muffins are my hat tip to the season, made with a cup of pumpkin and lots of rich dark chocolate. The pumpkin gives the batter a beautiful orange color and makes the muffins moist but the flavor is perfectly subtle.

I tend to be one of those people who resist cooking and baking with pumpkin until I can feel coolness in the air. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting that that just doesn’t happen in Dubai until autumn is pretty much over, calendar-wise.

But when it gets to be October and almost November, I guess it’s time!

Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Muffins

If you are throwing a Halloween party, you’ll want to mix up a batch of these. The dark chocolate swirl and the orange pumpkin batter will be a hit on your holiday table.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 200g sugar
1/2 15 oz can or almost one cup or 200g pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
1/4 cup or 60ml orange juice
4 1/4 oz or 120g 70% cocoa dark chocolate (I like Lindt.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it thoroughly, spraying with non-stick spray or lining it with paper muffin cups.

Melt your chocolate gently the microwave with a few short bursts of 10-15 seconds at a time, stirring in between.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar and stir well.

In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, orange juice and eggs.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Pour about two-thirds of the melted chocolate on top of the batter and use a spoon to fold it in so there are still pockets of chocolate, in and around the pumpkin batter.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Use a small spoon to divide the remaining chocolate to top the batter in the muffin cups. Use a toothpick to swirl that chocolate into the top of the batter.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool for a few minutes and then remove the muffins and put on a rack to cool completely.

Word of warning: Depending on the temperature of your kitchen (still pretty hot here in Dubai!) the chocolate may come off a little onto your fingers as you handle the muffins. Lick it off and carry on. In a colder kitchen, the chocolate should set.

Enjoy!

Check out all the lovely October muffins my Muffin Monday group have baked for your today. It’s so hard to choose which to make first!

• Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins from Making Miracles
• Blueberry Muffin Tops with a Cheesecake Drizzle from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Bonfire Tea Muffins from The Spiced Life
• Chocolate Pumpkin Swirl Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Mediterranean Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Savoury Pumpkin Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Sweet Potato Casserole Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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