Monday, October 27, 2008

Tired of pumpkin recipes?

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

Pumpkin Chip MuffinsIn 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.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip MuffinsAdding 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.

28 comments:

Aggie said...

I'm not tired of pumpkin anything! These little guys look great!! You can come over for dinner anytime if you bring me some! ;)

Anonymous said...

I am glad to see that I am not the only one mixing chocolate chips with pumpkin!

When I first met my husband, I told him I was going to bring pumpkin bread to a family gathering. It's made in a bundt pan, has like 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

His family looked at me in disbelief as if I had lost my mind!

I'll have to show this to him! :D

kat said...

Oh I bet those are yummy. My husband made some this weekend with sweet potato & chocolate chips after seeing all these good things around the web

Clumbsy Cookie said...

No, I'm not tired yet! I like this recipe, it's low in fat and looks pumpkiney delicious!

vanillasugarblog said...

Pudding! Yes, how genius of you. I must try that.
And no, I'm never tired of pumpkin recipes.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I could NEVER be tired of pumpkin recipes - especially since you always make such scrumptious pumpkin treats!! :0)

Unknown said...

Alright girl--I have some questions. I am not a super great baker/cook so these might seem obvious but I am thinking about making these for Friday so I need to know some things!!

#1--It calls for sugar and I would prefer to use splenda instead. Do you use splenda ever when baking? And should you follow the conversion on the splenda bag of 1/2 cup of splenda per 1 cup of sugar or should you just do 2 cups of splenda and be done with it?

#2--If I do these in regular muffin baking pans, about how many do you think I would get with the recipe you posted? THANK YOU!!!

Snooky doodle said...

I m not tired of pumpkin yet since i ve only bakes muffins so far. :-) these look yummy

Amanda, Mandy, Manda, Tomato said...

We definitely get the short end of the stick when it comes to Autumn's full glory!

The muffins look so, so good!

Sharon said...

aggie - hmm, this sounds like a good trade, especially with all the delicious things you've been cooking!

biz319 - at first, it seems like a strange combo, but I'm 100% in love now! Regardless of health concerns, your cake sounds amazing!

kat - Yum, that sounds good too!

clumbsy cookie - pumpkiney delicious is my new favorite adjective :)

dawn - it definitely adds moisture & makes the bread so soft

veggiegirl - me neither! Bring it on!

Amber - good questions. For #1, you know, I actually used splenda in these, but forgot. I don't usually but had run out of normal sugar. I did 1 cup Splenda for Baking and 1 cup normal sugar. If you buy the Splenda for baking, it measures cup for cup with normal sugar. I would not substitute all Splenda, though.
#2 - eek! I made a few mini loaves and muffins with the rest so I'm not positive on how many it'd make. I'd estimate about 2 dozen normal sized muffins.

snooky doodle - thanks!

amanda - I suppose I can't complain. I abhor the winter!

Jenny said...

Love this. I feel like I have been making pumpkin everything these days! Great looking muffins!

Anonymous said...

I'm not tired of them either. Here are 521 of them, including a pumpkin milkshake:

http://recipe-super-search.net/browse/pumpkin

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I like this lighter recipe!

Little Miss Contrary said...

I was about to try a recipe for pumpkin and chocolate chip loaf, but I think I will try your recipe instead--lighter and less guilt! My boyfriend loves any baked goods with pumpkin (and I love making them) so I'm definitely not tired of these recipes!

MaryBeth said...

I am never tired of pumpkin recipes...I love the taste of pumpkin and chocolate together, your muffins look way good.

Anonymous said...

I never, ever get tired of pumpkin. These look fantastic! Yum!!

Kristen's Raw said...

Those pictures are fab! And, I so NOT tired of pumpkin yet :)

Cheers,
Kristen

Esi said...

Well you know I love this combination so of course this looks wonderful!!

That Girl said...

I could never tire of pumpkin recipes, but I agree with you on missing the real autumn. Although, it was nice to drive to Julian and see all the changing leaves.

Anonymous said...

I love pumpkin and chocolate and the color on these are great!

Prudy said...

Never ever tired of pumpkin-especially not when chocolate is in the picture!

grace said...

i'll bet adding actual pudding would make them super gunky and nowhere near as good. they look perfect from where i'm sitting--good call leaving them as they are. :)

Maria said...

Not tired of it yet! I am sure the pudding is great in this recipe!

Elle said...

I'm never tired of pumpkin! I love how your mistake made your muffins great--nice one! They look delicious.

The Blonde Duck said...

Cool combo! It makes me want to whip up some pumpkin bread!

Maris said...

Don't worry. I don't think I'll ever get tired of pumpkin! I've made pumpkin pasta, pumpkin bread, pumpkin chocolate chip bar cookies...and thanks to a sale at the local A&P, 4 cans of pumpkin puree to use up!

Mandy said...

Sharon, I am NOT tired of pumpkin - I love it! I tagged you with a meme. I thought it would be fun to pass it along and see everyone's responses. Check out my blog and see.

Cassie said...

I just made these tonight and my husband already ate 6 of them. They were a huge hit. I can't wait to try the pancakes now! Thanks for sharing and keep it up!