White Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

As the fall season is slowly starting to fade into winter (which is hard to believe here in Poughkeepsie, as the weather is almost 60 degrees today), I decided to make one more seasonal recipe with a can of pumpkin puree and white chocolate chips that I had leftover from experimenting for the Today Show contest.  Muffins are the one breakfast food that I had yet to prepare for my morning capping class, so I decided to make pumpkin muffins with a little extra sweetness from the white chocolate chips.  They came out delicious…almost too delicious to eat for breakfast!  Everyone in class loved them and I guarantee you will too!

White Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted recipe and photos by Culinary Chronicles of a College Kid.blogspot.com

Original recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.  You could also use paper muffin liners, if you prefer.

Mix all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder) in a bowl.

In a larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients (melted butter, eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract).  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, making sure to mix thoroughly as you go.  Once the dry and the wet ingredients are completely combined, fold the white chocolate chips into the batter.

Fill the muffin cups with batter so that they are ¾ of the way full.  The original recipe called for 15-17 minutes in the oven, but I found that they needed to cook for at least 20 minutes.  Test them yourself by placing a toothpick into the center of a muffin.  If it comes out clean, they are done!

Let the muffins sit in the tin for at least ten minutes before taking them out and letting them cool for an additional 5 minutes on a cooling rack.  Enjoy!

These will definately satisfy your hunger and your chocolate cravings, but if you have a ridiculous sweet tooth that never seems to be completely satisfied, like me, try it with some applesauce, whipped cream, and cinnamon!



Yesterday's breakfast



Make them quick before the pumpkin season is over!

Total time: 40 minutes