Sunday, October 10, 2010

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

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It's a typical fall day here in southern California - that is to say, hot and sunny with a cool ocean breeze blowing in from the west. Leaves are turning and falling in other parts of the country, but we're still firmly entrenched in beach weather at my house.

Still, the calendar says fall, so I asked Michael to pick up some canned pumpkin. He brought me a six-pound can. It's bigger than my head. I dug into it today and made pumpkin and red lentil soup, pumpkin chili, and these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

This pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe is based on a pumpkin bread recipe I got many years ago from Brenda, my college sweetheart's mother. She taught preschool and made pumpkin bread with her class every year. Under the ingredient list on the original recipe card I wrote "Mix everything together - no sifting." I did it that way for years and then had a bad experience with some clumps of baking soda, so now I do actually sift. But according to Brenda, it's optional.

I got a new camera last week (thank you, husband) and used it to take these photos. What do you think? I think I still need some lessons.


Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree (canned is fine)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup grapeseed or canola oil
  • 2 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp sugar (I am addicted to Florida Crystals demerara sugar but, of course, any sugar will do)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 24-cup muffin tin or two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, 2 1/2 cups sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt until everything is well combined.

Hold a sifter or fine-mesh strainer over the bowl with the pumpkin mixture. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda to the sifter, then sift the dry ingredients over the wet. Whisk gently just until the flour mixture is incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Fill the muffin tins most of the way up, dividing the batter evenly. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining 2 Tbsp sugar. Bake about 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven, let the muffins rest 2 minutes, then turn the muffins out onto a rack to cool.

Makes 24 muffins.

17 comments:

The Cilantropist said...

These look delicious, and a great way to use part of that 6-pound can of pumpkin. ;) And, I can definitely tell you got a new camera the photos look great!!! I got a new one too recently, isn't it fun?

Erika Kerekes said...

It's fun and frustrating. Still trying to get my bearings. Luckily I have lots of pro and semi-pro photographer friends offering advice.

Monet said...

You are too hard on yourself! I think these photographs look just stunning! And of course, I'm salivating over this recipe. I love pumpkin muffins (especially those with chocolate). Thanks for sharing love...and congrats on your new camera!

Zizi said...

I can recognize your improvement in photography! :) With a better camera you can make magic happen!

My leftover lunch today: fusilli w/ roasted pumpkin puree & sage but I'm thinking of baking these muffins from the leftover pumpkin. :)

Love pumpkin!

Zizi said...

Muffins are in the oven now! Smells lovely! The only thing I changed is the quantity of sugar and I used home roasted organic pumpkin. I only added 1/2 cup sugar to it and it's already sweet enough for me! We, Hungarians eat less sugar as the Americans, I think! :)

Lynne @ CookandBeMerry said...

Holy Cow, Erika, your photos are stunning!!! I opened up your website and that muffin just stopped me in my tracks. Wow. What kind of camera did you get? Bravo!

Erika Kerekes said...

@Lynne - a photo compliment from you means a lot! Thank you! I got a Canon Rebel T1i, and the photos above were shot with an 18-55 lens. I still don't know exactly what that means, but it seems to have done the trick.

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

I totally agree that fall means pumpkin! Last year I made some wonderful pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I bet these have a similar flavor!

Anonymous said...

Wow... chocolate and pumpkin!? I think I have to try it! Thanks for sharing!!! xx

Eric said...

I've eaten way too many of these muffins. They are so moist and delicious--and quite spicy too. Great recipe.

Jennifer H. said...

I made these yesterday for a Christmas party last night. I altered the recipe slightly:

-I only used a can of pumpkin (slightly less than the recipe calls for)
-I used a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (slightly more than the recipe calls for)
-I sprinkled powder sugar, instead of the granulated sugar, on top of the muffins once they were cooled.

They turned out GREAT! Very moist and great flavor. Thanks for the easy recipe.

Brenda said...

These are my favorite muffins now! I've made them at least 5 times. I like them even better with white chocolate chips!

Erika Kerekes said...

@Jennifer - you can never go wrong with MORE chocolate.

@Brenda - funny, I never use white chocolate chips. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks for the suggestion!

Wandering Coyote said...

Hey, just to let you know I made this recipe this afternoon after doing a quick google search for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Turned out very well! Thank you!

Erika Kerekes said...

@Coyote - I'm so glad you liked them. Reminds me that I need to make them again, too. Last time I made a batch they were gone in less than an hour.

Wandering Coyote said...

I gave you a shout-out here:

http://retorte.blogspot.com/2011/02/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins.html

Melanie said...

Yum! I'm trying to actually sit down and eat breakfast with the family before church and I think I'm going to try these this weekend! We love pumpkin (and chocolate) and I have a weak spot for baked goods.

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