Small Batch Pumpkin Muffins (Egg-free + Vegan Substitutes !)
Recently I’ve been trying (really trying here) to bake a reasonable amount for two people (instead of 10). Initially, I was reducing recipes by literally just using smaller quantities, but then I started needing “1/7th of an egg” and obnoxious things like that. So now I’ve struck out on an egg-free baking adventure in which I just ignore all of the eggs in life. Otherwise, known as experimenting a lot and making Loml try experimental cakes (sorry about that chocolate cake that came out way way too bitter…).
I’ve also been fully embracing the fall baking (see apple cider donuts, apple pancakes, and an apple tart…). So no one will be surprised to hear that my latest experiments have been very fall-themed!
This particular recipe is a fall necessity, in my opinion, it’s a set of four lovely pumpkin muffins with a really quick glaze and a handful (or two) of chocolate chips.
This is an awesome recipe that I completely love because:
- Size: This makes just 4 pumpkin muffins (which means you can make another batch tomorrow!)
- Flavor: This recipe uses a ton of pumpkin and just enough spice to give the muffins a really great flavor.
- Texture: Adding chocolate chips gives you a nice bite of chocolate that contrasts beautifully with this insanely soft cake.
- It’s fall in a recipe.
Why this works (even without eggs):
In a traditional muffin recipe, the eggs work to bind together your ingredients and help give the muffin a little extra rise, so it comes out nice and fluffy. Since this recipe skips the egg altogether, I had to adapt it to still have that binding and rising power!
The pumpkin purée actually binds the ingredients together really well, so you don’t need to add any other ingredients. If you’re interested in adapting this recipe with other flavors, then normally things like applesauce, bananas, or other fruit purées work well to bind ingredients together.
The element I had to be more careful about was the rise of the muffins. The purée makes the cake a little heavier than a normal cake, so you really need to make sure you get enough raising agents in your cake to balance out the heaviness of the pumpkin. In this case, we’re using milk (or non-dairy milk for a vegan option) and vinegar, which creates a homemade buttermilk replacement. Buttermilk is slightly acidic, and this acid reacts with the baking soda and gives your cake a really great rise, no eggs needed!
How to make pumpkin muffins:
1) Prep the ingredients
Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in a second bowl. You can give both a good whisk to make sure the ingredients are nicely combined.
2) Mix the batter
Pour your wet ingredients into the dry, give the mixture a good stir but don’t over mix the batter. Toss in the chocolate chips and give it one last mix.
3) Bake the pumpkin muffins!
Measure your batter into a muffin tin lined with paper liners or greased with butter. You should be able to make four muffins in a normal cupcake pan.
Bake them until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Top them with a little drizzle of icing and enjoy!
Pumpkin Muffins for Two (Egg free + vegan substitutes)
Ingredients
- 110 g Pumpkin Purée
- 3 tbsp Unsalted butter (melted) (or vegetable oil)
- 35 g Sugar
- 25 g Brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Milk (or non-dairy milk)
- 1/2 tsp Vinegar (apple cider or white vinegar )
- 60 g Flour
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- pinch Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- pinch Salt
- 30 g Chocolate chips
Icing
- 1/2 cup Powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Cream (or 2 tsps milk /. non-dairy milk)
- pinch Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line or grease 4 cavities of a muffin pan.
Make the Muffins
- Combine all the wet ingredients (pumpkin, sugar, milk, melted butter, and vinegar) in a small bowl.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a second bowl and whisk well to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and then stir until just combined. Tip in the chocolate chips and give it another stir just to distribute the chocolate.
- Divide the batter between the four cavities and then pop the tray into the oven. Bake them for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
Make the icing and decorate
- While the muffins are baking, stir together the icing sugar, cream (or milk) and a pinch of salt. If the icing is too thick, just add a bit more milk or cream to thin it out until it is thin enough to drizzle over the muffins.
- Once the muffins are cooked, let them cool before drizzling with glaze and enjoy!