Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am going to go out on a limb and say that my favorite baked good scent is pumpkin. I love the way pumpkin smells when it is cooking. Straight out of the can leaves something to be desired, but as it's baking away with spices and other delicious ingredients it is just so aromatic. I decided to make these more so out of necessity than anything else. I had 1 cup of pumpkin that needed to be used immediately and this recipe looked pretty good. I should have trusted my instincts when I saw that it called for nutmeg as the only spice. I don't like nutmeg. Bleck. However when it's combined with cinnamon, all spice, cloves, etc. I can deal with it. But alone it's just not my thing. I should have omitted it or substituted cinnamon because the nutmeg killed these muffins for me! John still liked them a lot but I just couldn't get past the nutmeg.

The muffins were so easy to make and didn't need the stand mixer which is a bonus- less clean up! They are dense and hearty yet still somewhat moist. I like the base of this recipe but would make some modifications. I think I'd add 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt to give them some additional moisture. I'd also swap the nutmeg for cinnamon or omit it all together. I look forward to making them again with these alterations.


Source: Adapted from All Recipes

INGREDIENTS

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/3 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together pumpkin, eggs and water. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture; beat until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. (The original directions say 30 minutes. Mine were done around 22.)