This time of year I cannot get enough pumpkin.  I especially think that pumpkin and chocolate chips are a groovy combination.  There are lots of recipes out there for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and/or Bread. These are really more like cake. Cake that is loaded with sugar then topped with cream cheese icing. (Oh, how I love Cream Cheese icing. My pulse is quickening just thinking about it.) But this recipe isn’t about dessert. I wanted to take the nutrition provided by pumpkin and create homemade muffins that would be suitable for breakfast. In other words, I don’t want to feed my kids cake in the morning. I want them to eat a delicious muffin that is also healthy.

I use a lot less sugar in my recipe than you’ll find in traditional pumpkin spice cake. I also boosted the nutrition by including whole wheat flour (if you don’t have any you can use all white. But we all need more fibre in our diets and kids won’t notice it at all in these muffins so you might as well get some. Or grind your own if you can.)  Since there isn’t any cream cheese icing (I know, I’m such a meanie!), I made sure these muffins have an extra burst of sweetness with chocolate chips. I’m pretty sure kids will eat anything with chocolate chips.

I’m really pleased with how this recipe turned out and feel good giving these to my kids for breakfast or a snack. Muffins are quicker to make than cake (good for mornings), but you can also pour the batter in a well-greased bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. This could be a great thing to do the night before since these taste even better the next day.

 

You guys know there’s a pumpkin shortage, right? All that nice flooding this summer killed the pumpkin crop. Stock up when you go to the store, because canned pumpkin is going to be hard to find by Christmas. I bought 15 cans last week alone.

 

First you’ll combine the dry ingredients of flour (whole wheat and regular), white sugar, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set the bowl aside.

 

Then in a mixer you’ll combine the brown sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla and pumpkin.  Mix this up well.

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix til well-combined. It’s especially helpful to dump all the ingredients into, not next to, the bowl.

 

 

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Okay, okay, you can throw in a few extra.

Now you’ll need to put these in a muffin pan. I always use paper liners for cupcakes because it truly makes them rise higher. But muffins are a lot less picky. You can bake these in the pan with no liners and they’ll do fine as long as you spray the pan very liberally with Baker’s Joy or Pam. Fill 3/4 of the way full. These will get a nice dome on top without spreading.

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Breakfast Muffins

dry ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

Wet ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl combine wet ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix to thoroughly combine.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Grease a muffin pan (or use paper liners) and fill cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes.

or

Grease a bundt cake pan and pour batter in evenly. Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes.