Tired of pumpkin recipes?

...well, too bad. Here's one more.

In California, the sunny days and warm temperatures do nothing to remind me of Autumn. Where are all the gorgeous red and yellow leaves, the cool fall breezes, perfect football weather...even the Halloween decorations?! Pretty much, my only reminder of Fall around these parts are the comforting stews, spicy breads and pumpkin recipes I've been spotting all over the blogosphere. So, to all you cooks out there, thanks for keeping me in touch with reality.

I purchased a huge can of pumpkin in an overzealous attempt to remind myself of my once favorite season in the Midwest. Ever since, we've been enjoying pumpkin after pumpkin after pumpkin recipe. I'm not sick of it yet.

These pumpkin mini-chocolate chip muffins are a byproduct of a loaf recipe I've been making for quite awhile now. I thought I'd vary things a little by making these into bite sized portions so I could pack them in hubby's lunch.

Adding in a packet of fat free vanilla pudding mix keeps the muffins moist. After reading the original recipe again, I believe you're supposed to add in actual pudding, but after baking several batches of the mistake, we think we'll keep it this way! You can also halve the recipe since this will make either 2 8x4 inch loaves or a lot of muffins.

For those on a healthy kick, raisins make a good substitute for the chocolate chips.

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter here for the cookbook giveaway!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins / Bread

2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil
1 packet of fat free vanilla pudding mix
4 large egg whites
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mini chocolate chips (or raisins)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Make sure to measure flour lightly and not pack it in.

Combine flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl with a whisk. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. If mixture is too dry, add in a tablespoon of yogurt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray or greased standard muffin tins. For loaves, bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean; or, for muffins, 15-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.