Ali Bakes: Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

 I needed sweets.  Chocolate sweets.  But...I don't have sweets in my apartment because I told myself I would MAKE all my snacks for awhile.  (The junk food consumption has been getting ridiculous lately!)  What to do, what to do?!

Well, at 9pm on a Tuesday night (...I think it was last Tuesday...) I made muffins!  Chocolate pumpkin muffins!  See, I still had pumpkin chilling in my fridge from my last creation.  So naturally I created MORE deliciousness!  Besides, the recipe doesn't require eggs, and it seemed fairly simple and quick to whip up.  So I did.

I did limit myself to only making half of the recipe (adjusted below) because I only had 1/4 cup of pumpkin left...and because more muffins on hand means more temptation for me!

The muffins are long gone by now, but I still remember their moist, chocolatey, light-and fluffy texture that was contributed to me pulling them out of the oven a little earlier than the recipe called for.  I played it safe by refrigerating them instead of storing them on the counter.  Some of the muffins I heated up the next day...and some of them, I just enjoyed cold!

Give these muffins a try--and the interesting part is that the pumpkin adds to the moistness of the muffins while not making the muffins taste like pumpkin!  It's like magic!

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

*adapted from preventionrd.com

Ingredients:

3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup oil

1/2 tbs vanilla

1 handful dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease six muffin tins.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk until all ingredients are blended.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips

.

Fill each muffin tin nearly full and bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Now...eat!  (I recommend eating them when they are hot and fresh AND eating them after they have been stored in the fridge, too!)