Pumpkin Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips & Pecans
This recipe uses fresh pumpkin puree and tastes delicious! It has dark chocolate chips and chopped pecans as well. Your house will smell like fall while this is baking.
For making fresh pumpkin puree, first you need to you preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Cut the pumpkin in half and place in a baking deep baking dish with water at the bottom of the dish, about 1/4 inch of water. Make sure to place the pumpkin with the skin side up.
Bake in oven for one hour. If you can fit both sides of the pumpkin in the oven at once, do it. If you can only fit half because the pumpkin is too large, you’ll need to bake the pumpkin in batches.
Take the pumpkin out of the oven. Remove the seeds, strings, and skin from the pumpkin. Then cut into pieces and place in a food processor.
Blend until pureed into a smooth consistency.
Store in fridge until ready to use in an airtight container. You can also freeze this for up to a year.
Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the flour, baking soda, and pumpkin spice together in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix together the canola oil, stevia, brown sugar, and sugar together until combined with no lumps.
Add the pumpkin puree, milk, and eggs to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
Add the dry ingredients. Mix.
Once you have combined everything, add the dark chocolate chips and pecans and mix until just combined. Scoop into a cupcake baking sheet that is lined with cupcake holders.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
As an alternative to making muffins, you can also create a loaf of bread from the mix. If doing this, spray the pan with a nonstick spray. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F and then cover with aluminum foil at this time. Place back in oven and bake another 25-30 minutes.