These pumpkin protein muffins are on repeat all fall for us. They're everything you love about traditional pumpkin muffins, with a bit more protein thanks to the addition of Kodiak Cakes mix* and protein powder. They're easy to make and the perfect breakfast or snack to have on hand, especially during the fall months.
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins
- These Kodiak Cakes pumpkin muffins are fluffy, moist, and perfectly sweet
- You'll need simple ingredients you can easily find at your local grocery store, most of which you may already have on hand
- These muffins are a lightened-up version of the typical muffin recipe
- They're a great option for a quick breakfast, snack, or treat to help increase your protein intake
- You can store these muffins in the fridge or freezer for later
- They're a fun and festive recipe for pumpkin season
- Each muffin has about 7 grams of protein
Ingredient Notes
- Pumpkin purée - You'll need standard canned pumpkin for this recipe. I always stock pile a few cans at the beginning of Fall since pumpkin recipes are so popular during the season. Look for canned pumpkin with only one ingredient: pumpkin! Be sure to find pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin pie filling.
- Eggs - You'll need two eggs for this recipe.
- Pure maple syrup - Pure maple syrup adds the perfect sweetness. Make sure to purchase the real deal pure maple syrup, not artificial maple syrup since it won't give you the same results. We buy our maple syrup at Costco since it's the best price we've found.
- Melted coconut oil - Melt coconut oil and let it cool. You can also swap for another mild tasting oil such as avocado oil or a mild olive oil.
- Vanilla extract - No baking recipe is complete without a little vanilla and it adds great flavor.
- Kodiak Cakes Mix - In order to add a little additional protein to these muffins, we opted to use Kodiak Cakes mix*. Traditionally this mix is used for pancakes, but it's also great for baking. The original Kodiak pancake mix is the flavor we recommend for this recipe. Good news! Kodiak Cakes also has a gluten-free* and dairy-free* mix if you prefer. You will love these Kodiak pumpkin muffins!
- Vanilla protein powder - Use a scoop of high-quality vanilla protein powder that you like the taste of. If you don't have protein powder on hand, feel free to substitute it with an additional 1/4 cup of Kodiak Cakes Mix. We like Truvani*, Clean Simple Eats*, and Just Ingredients protein powder brands. As far as vegan protein powders go, Truvani is always our go-to and best protein powder in our opinion. Clean and Simple Eats and Just Ingredients have a great vanilla whey protein powder.
- Baking powder & Salt - To create the perfect fluffy muffin!
- Pumpkin pie spice- We typically just purchase pre-made pumpkin pie spice based on convenience. You can also make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice and add it in. This is where that signature pumpkin flavor comes from.
- Chocolate chips - We like Trader Joe's brand, Lily's*, Enjoy Life*, Guittard, and Nestle. Feel free to use milk, semisweet, or dark chocolate.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements.
Equipment You’ll Need
- Mixing bowl
- Rubber spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners*
Step by Step Directions
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin purée, eggs, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine the Kodiak Cakes Mix, vanilla protein powder, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix together until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix together until smooth. Don’t over mix!
Add the chocolate chips and stir.
Line a muffin pan with muffin liners. Fill the muffin tins with batter until 3/4 of the way full. Bake the muffins for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Tips & Variations
- For a chocolate twist on this recipe, try using chocolate protein powder instead of vanilla.
- If you don't have protein powder on hand or want to omit it, simply replace the 1/4 cup of protein powder with and additional 1/4 cup of Kodiak Cakes mix.
- Freeze the extra pumpkin puree in ice cubes for future pumpkin treats during the fall season. Our pumpkin protein shakes are a great way to use up the extra!
- We haven't tested this recipe with flax eggs, but would expect good results.
- You can also spray the muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Top these protein pumpkin muffins with peanut butter or almond butter after baking for an extra treat.
FAQ
We prefer to keep the pumpkin muffins in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. We also prefer to let them come to room temperature before serving. You can also store them in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw before eating.
This recipe is gluten-free with the use of the Gluten-Free Kodiak Cakes mix*.
This recipe is dairy free with the use of the plant-based Kodiak Cakes mix* and dairy-free chocolate chips*.
If you like these pumpkin muffins with Kodiak mix, check out…
If you make these delicious pumpkin protein muffins, please let us know how it turns out in the comments below and/or rate the recipe! Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram to show us your finished product—it makes our day every time we see you trying the recipes we love!
Pumpkin Protein Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz) (different than pumpkin pie filling, it should only have one ingredient- pumpkin!)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil, cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups Kodiak Cakes Mix (do not pack into the measuring cup)
- 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin purée, eggs, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the Kodiak Cakes Mix, vanilla protein powder, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix together until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix together until smooth. Don’t over mix! Add the chocolate chips and stir.
- Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and spray the liners lightly with non-stick spray. Fill the muffin tins with muffin batter until 3/4 of the way full. Bake the muffins for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
Notes
- If you don't have protein powder on hand or would prefer to omit it all together, you can replace the 1/4 cup of protein powder with an additional 1/4 cup of Kodiak Cakes mix.
- Do not pack the Kodiak Cakes mix into the measuring cups. This will result in dry muffins.
- We like to make the muffins with these liners* for a bigger muffin. However, you can still use regular muffin liners and fill them about 3/4 of the way full—they will just be a little smaller and make closer to 15 muffins. Please note that the nutrition information will also change with a regular muffin liner and each muffin will contain about 5-6 g of protein instead of 7.5 g.
- We prefer to keep the pumpkin muffins in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. We also prefer to let them come to room temperature before serving. You can also store them in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw before eating.
- For a dairy-free option, use the plant-based Kodiak Cakes mix and Vegan protein powder.
The recipe can be found on My Fitness Pal by searching "BWB Pumpkin Protein Muffins." The nutrition label above is for 12 large muffins. Please note the nutrition info will vary slightly if you use regular muffin liners. The nutrition was calculated using Lily's chocolate chips.
The nutrition content provided for each recipe is an estimate created through the My Fitness Pal database. Please be aware that the nutritional content of each recipe may vary based on the products you use, the precision of your measurements, and the source you use to obtain nutrition data. While we try to provide accurate information, we give no guarantee regarding the accuracy of the nutritional information provided.
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Jennica Heaton
These are so good! I've made them.... probably 10 times so far this fall season. 🙂
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Yay! So glad to hear it:) thanks for trying the recipe and letting us know!