Fall is here: Time for Pumpkin Muffins!  (Actually, we make and eat these ones year-round.) Okay, so here are the ingredients you’ll need if you want to make them:  sugar, shortening (I use olive oil and sometimes half applesauce half olive oil if you feel like being really healthy!), eggs, pumpkin, flour (I substitute some of the white flour with wheat flour when trying to be healthy), baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and water.

Oh and of course, milk chocolate chips (the big ones!)

And for extra yum add these:

My mom got this recipe from the Lion House Cookbook under “Pumpkin Bread” but we’ve altered it a bit:

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
11/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup shortening (I use olive oil or half applesauce, half olive oil)
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup pumpkin
13/4 cups flour + 1 TBSP flour to set aside (sometimes I substitute wheat flour, or part wheat flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon (I add just a little extra)
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup warm water

Cream sugar and shortening until fluffy.  Add eggs and pumpkin.  Sift dry ingredients together and add to the mixture.  Add warm water and mix well.   In a bowl or ziploc bag, mix milk chocolate and white chocolate chips with 1 TBSP flour until thoroughly coated and add them to the mix. (The flour keeps the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the muffins while baking.)  Pour into greased or lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Okay, so one other trick my mom taught me:  After spraying your muffin tins with cooking spray…

Pour some sugar in each tin:

Then swish the sugar around to stick to the cooking spray on all sides of each tin and dump the excess sugar in the trash:

It makes the most delicious sparkly sugar crust on your muffins! Behold! The mini-muffins are out of the oven:

The smell in the kitchen is HEAVENLY.

They deserve lots of pictures (hehe):

Can you tell I get very excited about these muffins?

AND the regular size muffins:

These muffins also freeze great so you can save some for another day if there are any left!
Did I mention these are my MOSTEST FAVORITIST MUFFINS? hehe YUMMY!