Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, ya know? Like when you set out to bake 24 delicious, fluffy pumpkin muffins and you accidentally add six tablespoons of cocoa powder to the mix.

Uh, yeah. Whoops.

One might wonder how this type of accident happens, so let me explain it to you. First of all, keep in mind that I had been sick for over a week when this incident occurred (I just don’t think straight when I’m under the weather). And secondly, also keep in mind that I had already been preparing freezer meals for three hours that day when I decided it would be a good idea to do some baking (bad idea, very bad idea).

Okay, now I’ll get to the story.

So I have this chocolate muffin recipe that I use all the time. Except I rarely ever use it to make chocolate muffins. (Are you confused yet?) Basically, I’m not really the chocoholic I used to be, so I take my chocolate muffin recipe and adjust it to become whatever variety of muffin I might be craving. It’s such a simple, inexpensive and healthy recipe, so why not?! Anyways, my plan was to remove the cocoa powder from the recipe and add pumpkin pie spice in its place. And, instead of the usual applesauce it calls for, I would use canned pumpkin.

But I was reading the recipe. And I wasn’t thinking clearly. And when I got to the cocoa powder, instead of swapping it for pumpkin pie spice, I added the cocoa. And I mixed it all up with the flour. And then two seconds later, I realized my mistake. I also realized that I hadn’t any more flour to spare, and I had to keep going if I wanted to avoid another trip the grocery store. So I kept going with the rest of the recipe (reluctantly). But, to my surprise, the muffins turned out pretty stinkin’ good!

So here I am, sharing my chocolate pumpkin muffin recipe with you.

If you want a super healthy pumpkin muffin recipe (without the chocolate), just leave out the cocoa powder. And you may want to write that down on a sticky note first. So you don’t forget like some people…

Ingredients:
3 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pure maple syrup or agave
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5 cups cold water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line two muffin tins with cupcake liners (or spray the muffin tins with oil).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well. Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
3. Distribute the batter evenly into the muffin trays and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack.

(Optional Topping!) While the muffins are cooling, feel free to melt some coconut oil or butter substitute (I used organic Earth Balance) in a small bowl. When the muffins are mostly cooled, dip the tops of the muffins in the melted oil/Earth Balance and sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy!

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