Autumn is my favorite season for baking. The weather is just starting to get cool enough to turn on the oven more frequently. The apple orchards in Oak Glen have fresh apple cider and a large variety of apples to choose from. Pumpkin patches have cropped up all over the area.
Apples and pumpkin are two of my most favorite ingredients. A few weeks ago, on my Saturday stroll down the baking aisle at Trader Joe’s, I was ecstatic to see that they had finally made room on their shelves for cans of organic pumpkin. Just in case this pumpkin shortage that I’ve heard about is for real, I bought a few cans.
I made these muffins last week, and just had to make them again. Yes, they are that fabulous. Besides, how can you go wrong with pumpkin and chocolate?
The recipe is incredibly simple and quick. It’s from one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen. Just mix all the ingredients together and pop ‘em in the oven. Beautiful. And delicious!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Yield: 12 muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice*
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups or grease with butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add flour and baking powder and whisk until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and granulated sugar.
Spoon batter into muffin cups, and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over the top of each muffin. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Place on cooling rack for five minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool completely.
*If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice on hand, it’s easy to mix your own! I used 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg, 4 teaspoons ground ginger, and 1 teaspoon ground allspice.
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