Pumpkin Pull-Apart Muffins with Choc-Sauce

There were a number of events that influenced the creation of this recipe. 1. I've had a tupperware full of pumpkin puree in my freezer for like two weeks now from back when I made Pumpkin Gnocchi. 2. I saw this incredible-looking pull-apart bread on IG and I thought we were meant to be, but the recipe is chock-full of gluten and dairy and I was like "I'm sorry, my love. But NO." 3. I went to Love Juice and got the most incredible date & banana muffin and developed a serious case of muffin envy. 4. The muffin also pulled apart in little sections, and I was like "OMG ME AND PULL-APART THINGS ARE MFEO." And so, these muffins were born.

(Wow, that was a lot of links....feeling pretty tech-savy atm....even though making a link involves copying a web address and pressing like two buttons and typing in a word or two....but don't judge....)

All the pull-apart breads and muffins I found on the internet had glaze or cream cheese frosting on top and since that was kinda a big no-go for me, I decided to top it with some homemade chocolate sauce, and I really don't feel deprived (at least not in an Oliver Twist or Orphan Annie sorta way). So, I think we can say that was a good call on my part. Also, pumpkin and chocolate is the bomb. I was also a bit worried about them pulling apart, because I didn't use a heap and a half of butter and sugar, but it all worked out beautifully. So, I'm mighty relieved. And yay muffins! 

So in order to make these little pumpkin bits of deliciousness (makes around 6-8) you'll need:

for the muffins: 2 and 1/2 cups buckwheat flour

2/3 cup pumpkin purée

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon flax

Preheat oven to 180 C. Mix together the maple syrup, vanilla, coconut oil, and pumpkin purée, Add the dry ingredients and combine. The dough should be quite thick, if it's too moist to roll out without sticking to everything, add another 1/4 cup of flour. Flour a surface and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Cut the dough into squares that will fit your muffin tin. Your muffins will comprise of about 5 squares of dough stacked on top of each other. In between each square, spread some melted coconut oil (using a brush or if you're lame like me, you can just dip a spoon in coconut oil and rub the back over the square of dough) and sprinkle some stevia or coconut sugar and cinnamon on top of the oil. Grease your muffin tin or put muffin holders in it. Turn each stack of dough on its side and mold it into a more rounded shape to fit the tin better, and bake for 18-25 minutes.

for the choc sauce: 3 tablespoons cocoa/cacao powder
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon agave
2 tablespoons water (or more or less depending on how thick/thin you want your sauce to be)

Mix it all together and drizzle over muffins, and BOOM pull-apart deliciousness.