Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting (Dairy-Free, GF)

These paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cream cheese frosting are the perfect paleo fall recipe or paleo pumpkin recipe! They’re moist and tender, loaded with pumpkin purée, dairy-free chocolate chips, and topped with a tangy but sweet frosting. And yep, they’re entirely paleo.

Sometimes when I’m writing a new recipe, I just egg myself on. What can I do to make this dish even better? What can I add, what can I change? And these paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cream cheese frosting? Yeah, they’re the product of one of those internal one-upsmanship instances, mentally stirring in cups of rich chocolate chips, piping a slightly tart but sweet frosting atop the orange domes.

They started out as pumpkin muffins, but no that’s not good enough. No, I instantly thought back to the time when Leo was only a few days old and the sweetest friend of mine left a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins wrapped in foil outside my door. She didn’t knock, just texted me later that she’d left a treat for late-night nursing sessions. I’m pretty sure they were objectively fantastic muffins, but in that moment, in that part of my life, they’d have tasted amazing even if they were burnt or underbaked or entirely chalky.

So paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins: check.

What’s the only thing that could make paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins better? Three words for you:

Cream ? Cheese ? Frosting ?

Duh.

What resulted was a muffin that made my assistant literally groan and ask why I was making regular cupcakes and are you seriously giving up paleo Cheryl gah.

In other words? They really don’t taste healthy. No, these paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cream cheese frosting are moist and tender, dotted with the perfect amount of creamy dairy-free chocolate chips, topped with maple-sweetened cream cheese frosting that’s totally paleo and not made with any weird ingredients.

And they passed my toughest taste tester of all with flying colors: Leo devoured one and begged for another. This kid won’t eat something if it’s not sweet enough or the crumb is weird or it’s just not all that good. He’s light on the eating anyway, so when he inhales something I’ve made? That’s when I know it’s seriously good.

On top of that, they come together quickly and easily, so you should pretty much make them tonight, I think…

A couple things to keep in mind: the frosting should be chilled to work. If it’s not, it’ll be difficult to frost the muffins, so don’t save whipping it together for the last minute. I also highly recommend parchment paper cups: these muffins stuck a bit on the bottom when I tested them with regular paper liners, but the parchment liners literally fell off the muffins on their own. They’re super cheap and easy to find, so pick up a box!

Oh, and hey, if you’re into pumpkin and chocolate, you’ve gotpaleo pumpkin churros with dark chocolate sauce to try my .

What are you excited to make this fall?

More Pumpkin Recipes to Try

• Pumpkin Muffins with a Spiced Crumb Topping
• No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer Recipe
• Easy Keto Pumpkin Pie
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
• Paleo Pumpkin Churros with Dark Chocolate Sauce (Made in Waffle Iron)
• Air Fryer Pumpkin Seeds
• Paleo Pumpkin Bread with “Cream Cheese Swirl” (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
• Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

5 from 8 votes

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep 15 minutes minutes

Cook 25 minutes minutes

Total 40 minutes minutes

These paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cream cheese frosting are the perfect paleo fall recipe or paleo pumpkin recipe! They’re moist and tender, loaded with pumpkin purée, dairy-free chocolate chips, and topped with a tangy but sweet frosting. And yep, they’re entirely paleo. These paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with cream cheese frosting are actually easy to make, too, so they’ll become your very favorite paleo fall recipe or paleo pumpkin recipe for sure!

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12 muffins

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Ingredients

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

• ▢ 2 cups almond flour
• ▢ ¼ cup coconut flour
• ▢ ¼ cup tapioca starch
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ 3 large eggs , lightly whisked
• ▢ ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup coconut oil or butter (vegan is fine), melted and cooled slightly
• ▢ 1 cup pumpkin purée
• ▢ ½ cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 1 ½ cups raw cashews , soaked in water for at least 4 hours, drained
• ▢ ½ cup coconut cream
• ▢ 2 tablespoons coconut oil , at room temperature
• ▢ 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 315º F. Line a muffin tin with parchment paper liners and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, coconut sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda and whisk until well combined and no lumps remain. Add in remaining muffin ingredients, except chocolate chips, and mix with a spatula until well combined.
• Spoon into prepared muffin tin until almost entirely full, rounding at the top. I use a disher for this purpose. Bake at 315º F in the middle rack for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean AND the surface of the muffin springs back when touched. Remove and let cool slightly, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make your cream cheese frosting. Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and process until very, very smooth. Chill completely.
• When ready to serve, pipe frosting on muffin with a piping bag or smear on with a butter knife or offset spatula. Serve immediately.

Keep muffins unfrosted until ready to serve.

Nutrition Info

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 12gCalories: 455calProtein: 10gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 227mgPotassium: 219mgTotal Carbs: 31gFiber: 5gSugar: 15gNet Carbs: 26gVitamin A: 3237IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 88mgIron: 3mg

Nutrition Disclaimers

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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