Unfortunately, Halloween happens to fall on Monday this year. That won’t stop people from attending various parties and kids from trick or treating so let’s all make the best of things.
If you are like me chances are you have been too busy to carve pumpkins for Halloween which means we need to get on it right away. I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want kids coming up to trick or treat and we can’t even have some cool looking pumpkins at the very least.
Let’s make a vow to get on that right away! If you haven’t even purchased your pumpkins yet, now is a good time to do that and be sure to pick up one or two extra pumpkins. We have started a tradition in our house to always purchase 1-2 pumpkins for cooking.
It doesn’t matter how many you decide to carve, we always purchase 1-2 pumpkins for eating. The seeds from all of the pumpkins get toasted to snack on during Sunday football games or Saturday for all you College football fans. The cooking pumpkin gets roasted in the oven like a butternut squash and blended to become various cakes, muffins, pies or gnocchi.
∗I know it’s easy to purchase canned pureed pumpkin, but making your own is super easy and the taste is so much better. The hardest part is cutting open the pumpkin because you need a sharp knife. After the pumpkin is cut open and the seeds have been scraped out place it in the oven at 350°F and roast the pumpkin for 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours. After the pumpkin is cooked scrape out the inside and blend with whatever blending gadget you have.
Now that you have homemade pumpkin puree use it to make the awesome pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins below. They are tasty and go great with morning tea or coffee. They can also be enjoyed for breakfast or a light dessert.
Ingredients
Recipe Makes 2 Dozen Muffins
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups pumpkin puree∗ (see asterisk above to make your own)
- 1-1/2 cups canola oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Place paper liners in a regular sized muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt.
- Add flour mixture slowly to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths to almost all the way full.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Recipe source: The Girl Who Ate Everything
Photo source: Just A Taste
