Pumpkin Chocolate Walnut Muffins

I love making muffins. I think I've already said that before, many times, but it's true. I love how it's an easy snack, a nice quick breakfast and plus they can be really healthy. I have this one recipe I use as a base, I make them so often I know it by heart now. It's from the Healthy Oven baking book. This one here is a tweaked version.
Today I thought it was time to open the can of pumpkin and have a "pumpkin week"...And since anything goes with chocolate I decided to make them chocolate muffins.

Here's the recipe:

Dry ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup coco pwder, sifted.
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp EACH of nutmeg, ground cloves and ground ginger
Pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 1/2 TBSP canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Turn on the oven at 350. Spray a muffin pan with some good ol' Paaaam.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, wisk all the wet ingredients until frothy, about 2-3 minutes.
Make a well in the flour mix, pour in the wet mix and stir until just combined. Add the cocolate chips and nuts and mix in, but don't over mix.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and unmold and cool on a rack.

Makes about 10 muffins. They will be gone in 2-3 days I garantee it!
(As I type this the man of the house is having his third one today...)

Chocolate-Walnut Pumpkin Bread

Yes, this is another pumpkin recipe...I told you that one can was pretty big, so I gotta use it!
So. Today after a little shopping and chores around the house I decided to bake a "pumpkin something". I remembered seeing this recipe in the Holiday edition of the magazine "Taste of Home". It comes from a woman in Florida...I actually changed the recipe a bit, "tweaked" it so to speak. I thought it would be nice to have something different with pumpkin, something other than the traditional cloves/nutmeg/ginger flavors. So I thought of chocolate, and looked though my spice cabinet (that needs to be sorted out, seriously. It's a mess in there...), and Ta-da! Inspired! Cardamom! Beautiful spice. So fragrant and powerful! Try it you'll see. I know I will definetly use it more often from now on!
Anyway, about this cake...It's not a "healthy oven" recipe, so it has quite a bit of sugar and oil. But moderate indulgence is okay, right?

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup coco powder, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cardamom

Wet ingredients:

1 1/3 cup sugar
7.5 ounces pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extrac

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Turn the oven on at 350F and set the rack in the middle.
Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with vegetable oil.
In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
In another medium bowl, beat the wet ingredients until well blended.
Transfer the dry in the wet and gradually mix it until well blended.
Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
Pour in the pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 60-70 minutes(mine took more like 70 minutes, but check after 60 just in case...overbaking=dry cake...). When it's done a knife will come out clean when inserted in the middle.

Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack and let cool.



Slice and enjoy!



You can barely taste the pumpkin in this. It's all chocolate! And that cardamom, well...it's CRAZY good.

I have a feeling this will disapeer in no time...

Pumpkin-Ginger Spicy Muffins

It's pumpkin season so here's a first pumpkin recipe! I say "first" because there will be a few more in the weeks to come...That one big can of pumpkin puree was BIG.
These muffins are really nice and spicy, with the ginger and the cloves. That's one thing I love about pumpkin. The spices that go with it are some of my favorites. Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger. Good stuff.



Okay here it is:

Dry stuff:

2 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached all-purpose flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

wet stuff:

1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 egg
1 TBSP canola oil

2 tsp crystalized ginger, finely choppede
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Turn the oven on at 350, set the rack in the middle of the oven and oil-spray some muffin tins.
Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl, set aside.
In another bowl beat all the wet ingredients and the ginger until frothy.
Make a well in the center of the dry stuff, pour in the wet stuff and the pecans and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined. Do not overmix...(this would mean tough muffins, and we don't want that.)
Bake for 20-22 minutes(check after 20 and see...). Cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding.



I found them really good with margarine on it, but also applesauce rocks with these, since the spices go well with apple too!



Enjoy!