Baking Day: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Next up on my Baking Day list was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. This recipe is a stand-by at our house and was one we made very often growing up as well. It's definitely a winner recipe in my book!
I'm not sure that it's necessarily the most frugal recipe ever and I certainly know it's not the healthiest recipe ever, but it is sure delicious. And if you can get the pumpkin for $0.25/can and the other staple ingredients on sale or at Aldi, it can be rather economical.
These muffins freeze really well and can pretty much be eaten straight out of the freezer. We love to use them for quick snacks or for a special breakfast treat, and they are one of my husband's favorite things for me to pack in his lunch.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 24-30 muffins.
Next up: Waffles and our favorite Banana Bread recipe
This looks great!! My hubby just planted a whole bunch of canning pumpkins I love pumpkin anything so I will keep this recipe in mind. Thanks for sharing it.
Posted by: Elizabeth | June 23, 2009 at 12:34 PM
These look delicious, and I am definitly going to have to try a batch at my house!
Posted by: Heather | June 23, 2009 at 12:52 PM
How do you usually freeze these? Is there a trick so that they won't get freezer burned?
Posted by: Heidi Mercer | June 23, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Can't wait for you to post the banana bread recipe. I have a few bad bananas to use up. The pumpkin choco. chip muffins look great! I'll have to try that. How well do they freeze?
Posted by: Jannel | June 23, 2009 at 01:06 PM
I am interested in starting to freeze pre-prepared items....what is the process for thawing. Any special tricks? Can you start the baking process while frozen (example, lasagna)?
Thanks!
Posted by: Jennifer Overy | June 23, 2009 at 01:08 PM
Never mind, I just saw that you wrote that they freeze really well. I am definitely going to be on the lookout for these baking ingredients on sale.
Posted by: Jannel | June 23, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Looking yummy!
Made a double batch of peanut butter cookies with my 3yo son yesterday. We are both still recuperating. Heh.
(In our family, baking with the boys is a, um, more "active" experience than baking with the girls... anyone else?)
Love to follow along on your baking days!
Ace1234
Posted by: Anne Munro | June 23, 2009 at 01:12 PM
Please post some information about thawing bread/baked goods. In the past, things have not always tasted good or had a good consistency. Should I only thaw the pieces that I am going to eat immediately? Should I thaw on the counter, in the fridge, or in the microwave? I know that you are saving a ton of time and money, and I want to as well!!!
Posted by: Chablis | June 23, 2009 at 01:30 PM
Those look yummy, Crystal! I may have to make some of these if I can get some pumpkin on sale! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Andrea @ Mommy Snacks.net | June 23, 2009 at 01:36 PM
thank you for posting this recipe! I have homemade pumpkin puree in my freezer I need to use up. This sounds like the perfect thing to use it up for!
Posted by: Abby H | June 23, 2009 at 01:37 PM
just out of curiosity...do you use the silicone bakeware??
Posted by: J | June 23, 2009 at 01:45 PM
As a mom that has to deal with egg allergies, I bet you could eliminate a couple of those eggs to make it more economical. You'd be surprised the recipes that call for eggs that really don't need egg. Pumpkin, baking soda and oil are all substitutions for eggs in the egg-allergy world. Pumpkin binds, oil is liquid and baking soda will help it bake like the egg.
Just a thought for the queen of frugal mom's!
Posted by: Rochelle | June 23, 2009 at 01:53 PM
How funny. I'm eating those as I'm typing. :)
Posted by: Jen Benando | June 23, 2009 at 01:58 PM
I think i have some pumpkin to use, I may have to try these!
Posted by: Alison Armstrong | June 23, 2009 at 02:07 PM
Those muffins look so yummy, I wish I could climb through the computer and eat one!
Quick question though...how do you freeze the muffins? Do you wrap them up individually, put them all in one bag? How do you keep them from sticking together? How do you thaw them out? (oops, make that 4 quick questions).... :-)
Posted by: Kimberly | June 23, 2009 at 02:17 PM
Is it really 1 1/2 cups of oil? Just want to make sure.
Posted by: Sarah | June 23, 2009 at 02:22 PM
YUM! I will DEFINITELY be trying these!
Posted by: sara | June 23, 2009 at 02:36 PM
Thank you for sharing this recipe! :)
Posted by: heather | June 23, 2009 at 03:01 PM
We make these exact same muffins, but I cut the oil in half and they still turn out just fine! It saves money and fat. :D
Posted by: Kim | June 23, 2009 at 03:08 PM
Have you ever tried using applesauce instead of oil in this recipe? Just wondering before I try it if anyone has and whether it worked or not.
Posted by: Susan | June 23, 2009 at 03:29 PM
How do you grease your muffin pans? My muffins never seem to come out very well and I hate buying the paper cups. Maybe I just need new muffin tins ... mine have just about had it.
Posted by: Fran | June 23, 2009 at 03:34 PM
Thanks for the inspiration today Crystal. I finished up my baking at 1:00 and due to the heat, I am done for the day. It is too hot and my air conditioner is having a hard time keeping up today. But I was able to get some things made: a double batch of waffles, a double batch of super power muffins, chicken and potatoes in the crockpot for tonight and taco meat cooked up for tomorrow nights dinner (I'll just heat it up in the microwave tomorrow).
I used your waffle recipe and they seem like they will be great. It did seem a little runny so I added more flour ( although I have 3 little distractions of my own so I may not have been paying attention when adding my ingredients originally). I also added pumpkin since I had a partial can left over from my muffins.
In response to Susan, I use applesauce or pumpkin frequently instead of oil. Things tend to have a different consistancy, and are more moist , but still good and sometimes better.
Posted by: Ann B | June 23, 2009 at 04:34 PM
I love doing pumpkin muffins! :D I sometimes make a little surprise in the middle with cream cheese/sugar/vanilla. :D
Posted by: Sherry | June 23, 2009 at 04:41 PM
I am sure you have discussed this at some point, but do you have a separate refrigerator or deep freezer in which you keep all your baking day goodies? Or does it all go in your 'regular' refrigerator? If you use your regular refrigerator, how do you maximize space?
Posted by: LFinn | June 23, 2009 at 06:11 PM
Those look good! We have dairy and egg allergies in our house so we make this recipe sometimes: http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/2009/01/pumpkin-bread.html
Posted by: Christina | June 23, 2009 at 06:33 PM
Thanks for sharing all of your yummy recipes! My kids (as well as my husband and I) love your Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Whole Wheat Waffles. I fixed your pizza crust recipe last week and my 7 year old exclaimed, "This is the best pizza I've ever eaten!" Thanks for all of the great tips!
Posted by: Charity | June 23, 2009 at 07:09 PM
Great recipe! I made half, since we don't freeze things, but I still used a whole can of pumpkin and cut back on the oil. It turned out great. Thanks!
Posted by: Jill | June 23, 2009 at 07:26 PM
Fran- I have recently started using that Pam Baking Spray with flour. It works really well, I don't have to use muffin cups and they just slide right out
Posted by: Lisa | June 23, 2009 at 08:36 PM
WOW Yummy!! I made a batch tonight and these will be a staple in our house from now on! I can't wait to start a baking day like you did...I hadn't thought of it! I will be back to this post to see what you made and make some! I had all the ingredients for these muffins so I made them tonight after bedtime.
My changes: 2 eggs instead of 4, 3 cups whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce instead of oil, 1 1/2 cups sugar instead of 2, 15 oz can of pumpkin, and not quite a full bag of 8 oz chocolate chips because that's all I had. The recipe still came out great. I baked 12 at a time in greased (sprayed with Pam) muffin cups at 450 for 16 minutes.
Thanks for an awesome recipe!!!!
Did anyone else make it in a healthier version and it come out well? What did you do?
Posted by: Tricia Young | June 23, 2009 at 09:31 PM
Hi there. I have tried making muffins and freezing them but when I thawed them they were kind of mushy... this has been the case with a lot of things I have frozen. How do you avoid?
Thanks for your awesome Blog!
sabrina_lawrence@yahoo.com
Posted by: Sabrina Lawrence | June 24, 2009 at 08:12 AM
I made these muffins tonight but used 3/4 c applesauce and 3/4 c canola oil instead of 1 1/2 c oil. They came out delicious! Next batch, I may reduce the oil even further.
Posted by: christi | June 24, 2009 at 09:34 PM
To make it more frugal, I buy pumpkins when they are in season, bake them and mash them and freeze the pulp in 2 cup amounts.
Posted by: Rebecca | June 25, 2009 at 11:31 AM
I made these this morning. I always use Olive Oil when it calls for oil (healthy and tastes great!) and whole wheat flour (only tastes better to me). I used pumpkin we cooked, chopped and froze from last year's trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We do not carved pumpkins, but our patch charges you for each person. So, we go ahead and get everyone a pumpkin. I look forward to this Fall even more now that I have a recipe I love and will make for many years!
Please do a post about thawing products. It seems that so many listed above are interested in just that. : )
Posted by: Lacey | June 26, 2009 at 06:18 PM