Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins were born out of necessity last weekend when I realized on Saturday night that I didn’t have anything I could grab for a quick breakfast on our way out the door at 5 am the next day. Skipping breakfast simply wasn’t an option. If I don’t eat breakfast, I become very cranky, and I’m pretty sure the last thing Shane wanted was to spend the nearly 2 hour drive to the race with a tired, irritable me 🙂

I didn’t start baking until nearly 10 pm so my main criteria for selecting a recipe was simplicity. Muffins immediately came to mind as one of the quickest options. I also had leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge I was hoping to use up so that helped narrow down the choices. I found this recipe from Cooking Light and ran with it, though not without several modifications. The original recipe called for dried cranberries, but I love the combo of pumpkin and chocolate so I subbed chocolate chips instead. And to make myself feel better about having chocolate for breakfast, I replaced half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat. Oh, and I skipped the ground ginger entirely but feel free to add it back if you’d like.

I had the muffins in the oven in no time, and they baked up perfectly moist and tender. I loved them best just slightly warm from the oven when the chocolate chips were still melty and gooey, though that texture was easily recreated by popping them in the microwave briefly the next day. It was the perfect fall breakfast on the go!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light, November 2007

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine both sugars, the pumpkin, buttermilk, oil and egg. Beat on medium-low speed until very well blended, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and beat just until incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to stir in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin pan, filling each about 3/4-full. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the muffins cool for just a few minutes before removing them to the rack. These are really good warm, while the chocolate is still melty and gooey, but you can recreate that fresh from the oven texture by microwaving cooled muffins for 10-15 seconds before serving.

Makes 12 muffins