A Healthier Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin

I've been on a muffin kick lately. I guess this is better than a cookie or cupcake habit, but we all know muffins can be deceptively high in calories. So, I took my original pumpkin muffin recipe added some whole wheat and cut back on the sugar and oil.  I actually think the wheat bran adds a nice texture, and I barely missed the sugar. I don't know the exact calorie count or nutrition breakdown, but these are definitely a step in the right direction.

Ingredients

1 cup AP flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Whisk dry ingredients together. Mix in liquid ingredients. Then add chocolate chips, if you so desire. Coat 18-24 muffin tins with cooking spray or use cupcake papers. Divide batter among the tins. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

These muffins also freeze well. I take them out one at a time and pop them in a warm oven for 5 minutes, and they're ready for a quick breakfast.

A Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin

In our little half of the duplex, we currently have pumpkin beer, pumpkin spice coffee syrup, and now pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. You might say that Collyn and I have a little bit of an obsession. But, who doesn't love pumpkin goodness, especially in October? 

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

A few days ago while I was working on the paper that has kept me from blogging for the past couple of weeks (I turned it in yesterday, hooray!), I ordered a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin at one of our lovely local coffee shops, so today, when I decided I was in the mood for some baking, I thought back to those delicious muffins. I looked online for a recipe but didn't find one that sounded right to me. I wanted to use multiple spices rather than the pre-mixed spices in a cake mix, oil rather than butter, and pure pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling. So I, of course, called Lulu for consultation, and she had a plain pumpkin muffin recipe that we spruced up to make the recipe for these muffins. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

yield: 24-30 muffins 

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger 

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

How To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Whisk dry ingredients together.

Add vanilla eggs, oil, and pumpkin. Mix until evenly incorporated. 

Add chocolate chips and stir. 

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or line them with cupcake paper. Fill the tins 3/4 of the way full (I discovered that filling them not quite as full makes the tops pop rather than spread and flatten).

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy. 

Why not have a little chocolate with your breakfast?