Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Mmmmmm pumpkin, chocolate chip muffins!

Start with pumpkin and chocolate. I always try to use dark or semi sweet with 60% minimum cocoa.

Then, gather white, whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour), Stevia, salt, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

 Eggs & Butter!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with baking, non-stick spray. In a large bowl mix flour, baking soda, ground spices and salt. 

In a separate bowl, cream butter and Stevia. I've never baked with Stevia before... when I was mixing it with the butter the consistency looked a bit like popcorn, so I kept mixing... then all was good! Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the pumpkin puree, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. 

Fold in the chocolate chips. Then, take a few from the bag and eat them. Yummmmmm!

 

Now, after I mixed everything together the dough looked a bit thick to me, so I added a 1/2 cup of applesauce.

 Scoop the dough into 12 muffin liners. Don't be afraid to fill them close to the top, these muffins don't rise very much. Bake for about 20 minutes. Cool and enjoy with a tall glass of milk. SO yummy! :) Next time, I'm going to add a 1/2 cup additional pumpkin instead of the apple sauce to make the muffins more pumpkin-y. I also will add a bit more cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice to the recipe - but I can never have too much cinnamon! You do as you wish.

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

1 1/2 cups of white, whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon plus a pinch baking soda
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup Stevia (or 1 cup sugar)
2 large eggs
1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup semisweet (or dark) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with baking, non-stick spray. In a large bowl mix flour, baking soda, ground spices and salt. In a separate bowl, cream butter and Stevia or sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the pumpkin puree, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Cool on wire rack.