These perfectly-spiced pumpkin muffins are soft and tender, studded with chocolate, and topped with a buttery spiced crumb. They’re also quick and easy thanks to a short-cut of a boxed cake mix! A full can of pumpkin adds flavor and tenderness. These are so easy you’ll be making them all season long!
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
- Spice Cake – I have been partial to Duncan Hines cake mixes for years, I’ve found them to be high quality and consistent so that’s usually what I grab. In recent years spice cake has been a little harder to find in my stores, so in this batch I’ve photographed I’m using a Betty Crocker mix and it also turned out great.
- Pumpkin – you’ll use a full 15oz can of pumpkin puree. I usually buy Libby’s brand. Just be sure to buy pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Chocolate chips – I prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips for most all baking, but you can use your favorite. I also really think mini chocolate chips work great in muffins.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Ignore the instructions on the box and put everything in a stand mixer: dry cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds or until the dry ingredients are moistened, then beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth. Add in the chocolate chips and stir until combined.
- Mix your streusel
Whisk together the dry streusel ingredients (flour, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice) and then add the butter and crumble until it resembles wet sand. Divide between the muffins and bake.
When they’re done baking, remove the pans from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make these ahead of time? Yes! They still taste great when made a day ahead of time, I just store in an airtight container at room temp.
- Can these muffins be frozen? You bet. Freeze in a single layer and then pop in a container or zip top bag- just know the streusel might fall off if they are being banged around a bit in a bag.
Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Description
Moist, flavorful spice muffins with a crumbly streusel topping. Quick and easy using a box mix as a base!
Ingredients
1 15oz boxed spice cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup sour cream (I use full fat)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12-ounce package chocolate chips
Streusel Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
Ignore the directions on the box. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake mix, pumpkin, sour cream oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix on low for 30 seconds or until all the ingredients have been moistened, then beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the batter is smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Divide the batter evenly in the cupcake liners. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice, then cut in the butter with two knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the batter. Bake the muffins for 20-30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out completely clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving. Makes 24 muffins.
Questions & Reviews
Chocolate and Pumpkin! Perfect!
Oh my gosh I had to make these TONIGHT! I couldn’t wait. I didn’t do a streusel topping but I sprinkled the tops of mine with some ginger-infused raw sugar that I bought at a specialty spice shop. YUM! Thanks for the recipe!
These are my perfect treat. Chocolate, pumpkin, and streusel. What more could a gal ask for?
These look fabulous! I love anything and everything pumpkin (well, except pumpkin pie… I know, I’m strange!) Anyways, my little guy is allergic to eggs so am wondering if I could omit them. There’s a similar recipe that just calls for the cake mix, pumpkin, and chocolate chips. I like the sounds of adding the sour cream and streusel though. Yum, yum! Any tips you might have I’d love to hear. Thanks!
Question. Can u use the sweet chili sauce that u use in the asian noodels for the Tia peanut noodles I can’t find the one u used with green lid.
Okay, these look amazing. I can’t wait to try them!
I make a similar muffin recipe every fall (it’s become quite the tradition). But to cut back on ingredients and calories in the muffin batter all I use is the spiced cake mix (or sometimes butter pecan), 1 (15 ounce) can of pumpkin, and 1/2 cup apple cider. I then top with my version of a streusel topping (because really what’s a muffin without a streusel topping?). I love, love, love these muffins!
Now I am torn–I opened up your blog to find the recipe for the “Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins” and see this post and now don’t know which one to make. What would you say is the difference between the taste of the two (besides the streusel topping)?
Julene–the Easy Pumpkin CC Muffins are denser and these are lighter and more cake-like.
Insead of a lock for your thermostat; I went digital – keeps out the husbands for sure!! 😉
I used your streusel topping on banana muffins last night…now I’ll have to give these a try!
I love pumpkin everything! This is a great variation of normal pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
taking this recipe to helen’s this week and we will make them. yum!!!! i dislike so much cupcake liners because they DON”T hold their shape!!!! so these are great! thank you!
Looks delicious — can’t wait to try it. But even more importantly, please tell me about that cute green bottle that has milk in it in the pic. 🙂
Oh gosh. Sorry. I should have read the other comments first. I see someone else loved the green bottle too!
Those look delicious!
I have a gas oven, things do seem to take longer to bake. Should we bake them for 30 minutes then?
Sounds so yummy! And it’s cold here in Ohio (40’s at night) BRRR! I’m not ready yet! I have a little story about your blog…I was reading it the other night…both stories about the room makeovers and my hubby was in the kitchen retipping (is that a word? LOL) his pool sticks. I was laughing so hard he wanted me to read it out loud to him….well apparently he couldn’t listen, laugh and do tips because he cut his finger with his utility blade and I thought he was going to need stitches. YUCK! I guess I won’t be reading him your blog when he’s working with sharp objects. LOL! Loved your rooms…are you sure you wouldn’t want to add home decorating to your blog??
I just recently had a pumpkin muffin and I have been craving another ever since. You have wonderful timing! 😉
I have never seen streusel on a cupcake – so these are definitely muffins!
Gas ovens are picky and it took me a long time to get used to mine. My general rule is err to the lower side – better to stick it back in for a few minutes than burn it! On a plus side, you can stick stuff in to start before the oven is fully preheated (I ALWAYS forget to turn on the oven until I’m ready to put whatever I’m baking in). Beware of broiling – SO HARD with a gas oven! In my dream kitchen, I would have a gas stove with an electric oven!
I love this recipe! I use a similar one for cookies, but then I only use the pumpkin pie filling and the spice cake mix. I don’t have to measure anything else. The house always smells delicious afterwards as well!
Where, oh where, did you get that green bottle???!!!???
Amber, is it not awesome?! I have a total weakness for glass bottles. I got it here: http://www.bakeitpretty.com/apothecary-glass-bottles/ and yes, I do actually drink from them. In fact, milk tastes about a million times better in them, although I can’t explain why… 🙂
Probably the same reason milk tastes so great drinking it out of my grandmother’s aluminum tumblers. (The kind that started life as jelly jars.)
I also have a weakness for glass jars, bottles, bowls, anything glass. Check out this website: http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.aspx I have little jars all over my house full of rocks, sand and whatever else I picked up on family vacations.
I am all about streusel topping!! One of my favorite things ever.
I love to keep the house cold too. I can’t sleep unless I have a huge pile of blankets on me and I can’t have a huge pile of blankets on me unless the house is cold. So yes…this makes sense. 🙂
Um, me, too!! In fact, I was just thinking this morning about how I need to wash our heavy blanket for the bed so we can pile on the cozy covers when our house is freezing at night because I’m about to husband-proof that thermostat… 🙂
Regarding liners, this might be the ultimate in cheapness but I buy the aluminum foil liners. They’re hung right next to the regular paper ones and usually have the same count and the same price, but the foil liners have an inner paper liner too. They’re not attached to each other so I just pull them apart and I get a paper liner and a foil liner – two for the price of one. I haven’t noticed any difference in my muffins or cupcakes regarding how they cook in paper vs foil. I just know I got twice as many liners as the regular pack!
OMG! (Oh MY GOODNESS!) I have been putting off making the Pumpkin Chocolate chip muffins that I’ve promised people at my office multiple times – and NOW I KNOW WHY 🙂
See.. I just needed this recipe to come out 😉
Deeeefinitely “muffins” haha. Love that; these look so yummy. And don’t be jealous Kate, but check out my local forecast this week- woo hoo!!
http://wxch.nl/oG6TC1
I just switched from electric to gas as well and my baked goods have generally been finished way earlier than they had been in my old oven. Really not sure if its the fact that it’s gas or just that all ovens are different in general. Can’t wait to try these muffins, they look delicious!
all i can say is… you had me at hello :)! seriously… these look SO yummy – going to make them today! something about streusel and pumpkin… *sigh*…. 🙂
Ok, found out which picture showed up with my muffin recipe! It was the picture for Quick & Easy Noodle Stir-Fry that popped up! Just added that recipe to my box too! 🙂
These look awesome!!! My kids love the regular pumpkin muffins…so I’m sure they will LOVE THESE!!! Can’t wait to make them!! Just added this to my new OBB recipe box, but it came up with the wrong picture…some noodle dish…hmmm…the noodle dish looks yummy too, I’ll have to figure out what it is and make it too!
LOVE THE NEW recipe box feature…and the shopping list too!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Anne, I think you have to click on the recipe title (so it’s the only recipe showing up on the page) and then it will connect the right picture with the recipe. I know that’s annoying. Hopefully we can fix that (and by “we,” I mean the super-smart computer people behind Zip List, not Sara and myself!)
LOVE those cupcake liners, I’ll have to grab some next time I go to Walmart. Muffins look awesome I wish I had one right now for breakfast… it’d go great with my pumpkin spice coffee I’m sipping on right now!
These sound so yummy!
I love the cupcake (uh…I mean muffin) liners! And, I love that you are using that little green bottle in your photo and can hardly wait until mine show up in a few days. I also love that you are using pumpkin pie spice as I have way too much of that at my house, due to buying it several times when I already had some. These sound so fantastic, and I hope you and your new oven resolve your issues with each other soon.
Where did you find the bottles?