Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

It's October 1st today, and I'm in the mood for pumpkins!  September is dedicated to apples and cinnamon.  But October is all about the pumpkins!  I made these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins for my daughter, my number one pumpkin fan in the family.  These were a hit with her and the friend she shared them with at school!

These muffins are based on a recipe I found on the My Food and Family website. See the original recipe here. I entered the My Food and Family fall baking contest, and was given some cash to make these gorgeous muffins.  I immediately headed to the store to purchase some canned pumpkin and spices, to jazz up the recipe.  I also used tall "tulip" muffins liners, which yielded a larger muffin.  Sometimes muffins can come out a little on the small side if you use regular wrappers.  But these wrapper will give you impressive "jumbo" size muffins. Click here for a picture of the type I used.  You can likely find a similar brand at your local grocery store.  

To amp up the chocolate flavor in this recipe, I incorporated some chocolate chips into the batter and sprinkled some on top, as well.  This way, you can sink your teeth into the chocolate right away, and won't have to hunt for the chips in the middle!  

We're in the process of moving, so baking in a kitchen full of boxes has been a bit of a challenge!  In a couple weeks, we'll be settled in, and I'm hoping to have some pumpkins sitting on my porch for the trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood.  I hope you're having a fun start to October.  What do you love most about this month-the recipes...the decor...haunted houses... Halloween?  All of the above?  I love all these things about October!

Hope your October is off to a fun start!  Here's how I made these delicious Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins:

Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 and 3/4 cups white sugar; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 3 tsp. baking powder; 1/8 tsp. salt; 2 tsp. cinnamon; 1 tsp. ginger; 1/2 tsp. all-spice; one 16 ounce can pumpkin; 1 and 1/2 cups vegetable oil; 3 large eggs; one 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, white and brown sugar, salt, and spices.  In another large mixing bowl,  combine the pumpkin, eggs, and oil.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Stir until ingredients are combined.  Batter will be lumpy.  Fold in 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  Fill the muffin liners 2/3 full with batter.  Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top of muffin batter.  If using larger liners, bake for 15-20 minutes.  If using regular liners, bake for 10-15 minutes.  For both baking methods, insert a toothpick into the center to check for doneness.  If batter is wet, return to the oven, checking every 1-2 minutes.  Makes 12 large muffins.