pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

I cannot get enough of pumpkin and chocolate lately.

If we have a pumpkin chocolate chip treat around, like last week’s Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, I am not sharing that shit with no one. Well, okay, that’s a lie – I usually make so much that I need to give some away else I’m just being glutinous – but I’m far more inclined to squirrel away four or six for my spontaneous midday sweet cravings. This is just my current flavor craving, and I’m loving it.

I admit to a tendency of finding a concept or group of concepts that I love, and beating it to death while the inspiration exists until I’ve lost any semblance of passion for it. Personality flaw. But I’m all about following desires and instincts and all that jazz – sometimes, your body knows best, ya feel?

I struggled big time with these muffins, as I often do with muffins in general. I don’t know why they’re so finicky; I theorize Florida’s fickle weather has something to do with how the batter behaves (or misbehaves). Several batches later, though, I landed on what I deem to be a pretty dope muffin, with cute little poofy tops, a moist crumb, and enough spice and chocolate to slam down those tastebud yearnings.

Yep yep, I love these. Successful baked goods always give me an inane amount of joy. A swell little brunch, or a light breakfast with some fruit and eggs, or a midday pickup with coffee. The aromas around the house are like an olfactory blanket. A comfort.

Embrace Your Inner Muffin Man

I am so hyped to add these to my muffin collection. Did I say that already? Probably. But Imma say it again because I’m trying to drill into your frontal cortex how good these are.

The muffin batter is quite straight forward. I only use one bowl, because I’m a homemaker and not a professional baker, and they turn out beautifully even with the subtracted fuss.

Whip up some vegetable oil with brown sugar and regular sugar, then beat in eggs, vanilla, a whole can of pumpkin puree, and some buttermilk. Yep, no awkward leftover pumpkin puree that’ll loiter in your fridge for months and slowly creep its way to the back where it’ll mold and rot after a prolonged duration of abandonment.

That was so fucking dramatic for describing pumpkin puree. Sheesh.

Anyway. Add in your flour, leaveners, and spices – ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and some salt. Whip out your favorite spatula and fold in your chocolate chips. I like dark, but you can use semi-sweet if you’d prefer.

Give It A Rest

This next step really, really helps get those tall muffin tops and the lovely, tender texture: refrigerating the batter.

Now, if you only have 30 minutes to cover the batter and let it rest, that is adequate. You can leave it at room temperature if you only sit the bowl for that duration, or – as I like to do when I have time – pop it in the fridge up to overnight. The overnight chill is preferred. This period of R&R helps the starches in the batter thicken and improves the rise in the baked muffin.

But, don’t be discouraged – 30 minutes significantly boosts that fluffy poof, too!

After the hanging-out period, uncover the batter and scoop into your lined muffin tins. I got 15 muffins out of my final batches, but you might get 13-16 depending on the size of your tins and how much you fill them. If you want those lovely mushroom-like caps, fill the tins all the way up. If you’re trying to get more muffin bang for your buck, you can fill them less to make more muffins, but the shape will not be the same.

Sprinkle a few more chippies on the muffins, then bake away!

You’ll need to enlist some inner patience and let them cool a wee little bit before you dig in, else they’ll just crumble and fall apart. After about 10 minutes or so, though, they’ll still be plenty warm and in tact enough for you to enjoy.

If you’re really averse to vegetable/canola oil, you can use melted coconut oil, but I don’t like the texture it creates in these muffins very much. A bit denser, a little oilier, and in the quantity required there is a tint of flavor in the baked muffin. Not gonna lie to you about that, but you’re welcome to try if you wish.

Hey, whatever it takes for you to bake these muffins this weekend is fine by me, yo.

Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!

Achievement unlocked – Muffin Man status:

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