[ratings]

Butter-free muffins! Until you get to the frosting, which is of course optional. These muffins are a hit at the party every time. Makes roughly 24 muffins.

Total time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
• ½ cups water
• 3 cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Ingredients for frosting

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar, oil, and eggs. Add pumpkin puree and watter, and mix well.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips), and mix well with a fork.
4. While using a hand-mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter. Increase speed gradually until your batter becomes smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides occasionally.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Grease a muffin-pan with butter or shortening or line with paper. With a spoon, drop in the batter filling each cup about 2/3-full.
7. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. The muffins are done when you can insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin and pull it out without any crumbs sticking to the toothpick.

Making the frosting

1. In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.
2. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, and beat under low speed until the sugar is mixed in. Then blend on high speed to make your frosting fluffy.

Cook’s Notes

1. To make pumpkin puree from scratch all you need is one small sugar pumpkin and a hand-blender! Cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds. Cut the pumpkin into 2-inch wedges and place them in a large microwavable bowl. Cover and microwave on high for 15-20 minutes. Remove the pumpkin flesh from the rinds which should peel off easily, though be careful not to burn yourself. Use the hand-blender to puree the pumpkin – and you’re done!
2. If you like your muffins moist, then this recipe should work for you. If you want it more moist, add more pumpkin puree. If you like it dense, then use 1 ½ cup of pumpkin puree instead.
3. Want your muffins to taste ultra delicious? Use fresh ground cinnamon and nutmeg to give them that extra punch in flavor.

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