The perfect recipe for healthy pumpkin muffins that happens to taste amazing! These delicious Pumpkin Protein Muffins recipe are loaded with protein and fiber, making them a great choice as a quick breakfast or healthy snack.
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The BEST Pumpkin Protein Muffins Recipe!
Made with no oil, and no flour, these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins will be your new go-to healthy snack. Great for freezing and taking out whenever the mood strikes, these simple protein muffins are a great way to curb hunger, and keep yourself fueled.
Just like everyone else, I’m always looking for healthy, protein rich snacks. Yes, there are loads of products on the market with endless claims to be healthy. Some of these products are legitimately good for you, some, not so much.
At the end of the day I just want something that I know is good for me, and the best fuel for my body. These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins fit the bill perfectly.
The benefits to making your own protein muffins is that you know exactly what is going in them. Made with very simple ingredients, these muffins are made with all the good stuff – no oil or flour necessary!
Another benefit, is that when making a batch or dozen, you’ll have snacks ready to go into your freezer for the entire week, or more. Not only does this save you time in the long-run, it’s also saving you money over buying convenience food.
What do I need to make pumpkin protein muffins?
Here’s a quick-reference checklist of the ingredients you’ll need to make these healthy pumpkin muffins:
- Old-fashioned oats
- Vanilla Protein Powder – I like Orgain Organic Vanilla Protein Powder, but feel free to use your favorite.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
For the wet ingredients:
- Milk (I dairy milk, as it has more protein over almond or cashew milk)
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Egg Whites
- Pumpkin Puree
How do I make healthy pumpkin muffins?
Begin by mixing the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls.
Then, combine the wet and dry ingredients until completely combined. The batter will be thick. Fold in the chocolate chips to the batter.
Add the batter to a muffin tin. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin that has been sprayed with non-stick baking spray. You can also use coconut oil, cupcake/baking liners. As you can see in the photo, I used both cupcake liners and non-stick spray.
What are the best muffin liners that don’t stick?
In my experience in making hundreds of dozens of muffins, is that the silicone baking cups work the best as a non-stick liner. Not only are the liners reusable and don’t generate any waste, the muffins slide out easily, with no sticking whatsoever.
I will say that muffins tend to stick to paper liners, and don’t peel away well. If you would still prefer to use paper cupcake liners, just be aware the muffin will stick to the paper.
There will be enough batter for 12 protein muffins. Fill the cups to nearly 3/4 filled. The muffin batter is very thick, but be assured that they will not rise much, and won’t overflow the cups.
These protein muffins bake up beautifully! The muffins will come out golden brown, and just slightly raised. Before removing from the pan, let the muffins cool for 10-15 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack to let cool completely to room temperature.
I used mini-chocolate chips for this recipe, and are a perfect pairing with the oats and pumpkin. You could also use regular-sized chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. Either milk chocolate, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips will work for this recipe. Use what you prefer for your personal taste.
What chocolate chips are best for a protein muffins recipe?
To keep the refined sugar low, I like using refined sugar free chocolate chips. There are many now on the market. My favorite refined sugar free chocolate chips are Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips, Lakanto Sugar Free Chocolate Chips and Hu Kitchen No Sugar Added Chocolate Chips.
I also love using these no sugar added chocolate chips in my Chocolate Protein Mug Cake and my Cookie Dough Protein Bites. Both of these recipes make a fantastic healthier snack option when you’re craving chocolate.
Can I freeze protein muffins?
Yes, these pumpkin protein muffins can be frozen. For best results, wrap muffins individually in Press-and-Seal Wrap, then place in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag.
To defrost; microwave for about 1 minute (on defrost setting). Then, heat for another 30 seconds until warm.
These muffins are a great pre-workout breakfast, or post-workout snack. Protein packed and filling but not overly heavy.
My son also loves to take these to school with him for a snack or to add to his lunchbox. These are a great healthy, kid-friendly snack, that is way better than any pre-packed convenience food!
Are you looking to start meal prepping breakfast?
Meal prepping breakfast is a fantastic way to make healthy choices for yourself in advance. Putting together healthy breakfast for yourself is a great way to avoid fast food or unhealthy convenience foods.
I’ve put together a post on Healthy Breakfast Meal Prep and included all of my healthy breakfast recipes as well as tips, tools and ideas to making meal prep easy. Also, check out my Healthy Breakfast Sandwiches, Egg Bake with Cottage Cheese and Baked Egg Muffins to get you started with healthy breakfast meal prep.
If you’re just getting started with meal prep, my post Healthy Meal Prep Ideas for the Week is a great resource. It focuses on doing just one or two things in under and hour, to give yourself some great healthy options in advance!
Looking for some additional pumpkin breakfast treats? Check out these:
- Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal
- Pumpkin Spice Waffles
- Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chunks
- Velvety Pumpkin Crumb Cake
- Homemade Pumpkin Butter
- Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Breakfast Braid
- Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats
If you love this protein muffin recipe, be sure to check out some of my other muffin ideas:
- Banana Protein Muffins
- Healthy Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins Recipe – Sugar Free Bakery Style Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
- Healthy Peach Muffins
- Healthy Chocolate Muffins
- Blueberry Protein Muffins
- Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Here’s the recipe for these healthy, delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins:
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Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan Fantastic for any muffin or cupcake recipe!
- Silicone Baking Cups A fantastic non-stick option. No liners or spray needed!
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats dry
- 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder about 4 scoops
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 Tablespoon granular monk fruit sweetener
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk dairy or plant based
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick baking spray, coconut oil or line with paper or silicone baking liners. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients; oats, protein powder, pumpkin pie spice, stevia, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients; milk, pumpkin, yogurt, and egg whites. Whisk until smooth and well combine. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips. Optional; reserve a couple tablespoons of the chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of the muffins.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup almost full. These muffins will only rise slightly, so filling a little fuller is okay. Top with the reserved chocolate chips.
- Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes. Muffins will be golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy right away, or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.
Notes
- Bob’s Red Mill Vanilla Protein Powder, with chia seeds and probiotics: this contains 40g of protein for the 4 scoops. The 4 scoops is equal to 40g of protein, or 3/4 cup. With the other ingredients included, this will give each muffin 7.2 grams of protein.
- Vega Vanilla Protein Powder: FYI – this “scoop” is almost double in size. With 4 scoops of this protein powder, it rendered about 1 1/4 c. of powder, at 80 grams of protein. With the other ingredients included, this will give each muffin 10.5 grams of protein.
Nutrition
Bet this is a HUGE hit at home, looks so good! xo
These look amazing! I’ve made pumpkin muffins but never thought about using yogurt. What a great idea!
I would love to make these muffins ! The only problem is the recipe is missing the measurements for all the ingredients . Would I please be able to get the measurements ?
Oooo fabulous recipe thank you – pumpkin and chocolate is a divine combination. Off to do some pinning xx
Your Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins look and sound delcicious. Thank you for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things.
Pumpkin and chocolate just go together!
This is my kind of week day breakfast – grab and go! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party. Hope to see you at this week’s coming up too! Have a wonderful weekend.
Very innovative use of protein powder in the recipe for Fiesta Friday. Thanks for bringing this to the party. I am looking for a recipe with pumpkin.
These look so good as soon as the weather cools down I can’t wait to try baking a batch. Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party @DearCreatives pinned and sharing.
Sounds delicious!!I wish it was already made for me. Thanks for the inspiration!
Your Muffins look awesome! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and have a great week!
Miz Helen
They look yummy and are perfect for fall! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe, Erin, and CONGRATS – you are our Friend Of The Week at Friendship Friday at Create With Joy! #347
Have a fabulous week and hope you meet lots of new friends from our community this week!
You really can’t go wrong with a recipe that combines the words healthy and muffin together. Sounds perfect to me Erin!
Thank you for sharing this recipe at Create, Bake, Grow & Gather this week. I’m delighted to be featuring your Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins at tonight’s party and pinning too.
Hugs,
Kerryanne
I’m always looking for something to snack on in the afternoons. This looks like a winner to me. I think I will make these with some leftover baked sweet potatoes.
You had me at the pumpkin and chocolate combination and sold me on the guilt-free protein! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us at the Talk Of The Town party. Pinned 🙂
Great Muffins that we will love! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday,447 this week. Hope you have a great Labor Day Weekend and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
Yum, this looks delicious!
I love pumpkin!
Happy fall,
Kippi
For the love of God, use muffin papers. I sprayed my pan and took them out early and they stuck so badly to the pan. When I went to remove them they just crumbled. So disappointing!! Flavour was amazing but they just didn’t keep together. Will try again with papers.
It’s 2,000+ calories for the whole recipe right? So it’s only maybe about 174 calories for one muffin right? 2,000 calories for one muffin doesn’t seem healthy.
You state to enjoy right away or freeze. It doesn’t stay good at room temperature or in the fridge at all ?
I see you haven’t responded to anyone else but I hope this question gets through…
You can certainly keep these at room temperature – they will be fine for a couple days. However, if you want to store for longer, I like to wrap individually and freeze. Either defrosting in the microwave works well for a quick snack, or letting sit out overnight to thaw for a grab and go breakfast in the morning. You can definitely refrigerate these as well. Keep in an airtight container, refrigerated, they will last for up to a week.
Enjoy!
The nutrition information seems off. According to the information provided, each Muffin has over 2000 calories. I think the author may have just forgotten to divide the nutrition info by the number of servings. Fingers crossed I’m right. Otherwise, 2636MG of Sodium, here I come
Hi Keisha – there seems to be an error with my nutrition calculator, as it is supposed to calculate it per muffin, not for the entire recipe. I’m going in to fix it now. Thanks so much for letting me know. 🙂 Best, Erin
Would this recipe work with half pumpkin and half banana purée
Yes, you could split the two. I have not tested this recipe with 1/2 mashed banana. I would predict that the flavor will be slightly different. Enjoy! -Erin
ThImade these and they are good but little dry. Any idea what I can change to make moister. Thamks
A couple things; reduce the bake time slightly. Some ovens run hotter than others, so reducing your bake time by 5-7 minutes will help keep your muffins on the moist side. Also, try increasing the Greek yogurt from 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup. The yogurt will help increase the moisture content. Hope these tips help. Enjoy!