Pumpkin muffins with a cup of semisweet chips folded through the batter and a few more scattered over the tops before they bake.
Two bowls, fifteen minutes of work, and about twenty minutes in the oven. Twelve muffins from a standard tin.
Why This Recipe Works
- A full cup of pumpkin puree against only a cup and three-quarters of flour makes a wet batter, and wet is what keeps a muffin soft for days instead of hours.
- Brown sugar carries most of the sweetness at three-quarters of a cup, with a third of a cup of granulated behind it. The molasses in the brown sugar is what makes the crumb taste of autumn rather than simply of squash.
- Baking soda alone, no powder. There is enough acidity in the pumpkin and the brown sugar for the soda to work against, and one teaspoon in this quantity of batter gives a good dome without the metallic edge too much soda leaves.
- Oil rather than melted butter means the crumb stays tender straight from the fridge, which matters for something usually eaten cold the next morning.
- Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together rather than either alone. The cinnamon is the loud note at a teaspoon and a half; the half teaspoon of blended spice fills in the ginger, clove and nutmeg behind it.
Five Places A Muffin Is Won Or Lost
Nothing in this method is difficult and four of the eight steps are pouring things into a bowl. These are the moments that actually decide how the batch turns out.
Step 4, folding
Stop when the dry streaks vanish, not when the batter looks smooth.
A smooth muffin batter has been mixed past the point where gluten develops. The result is a tight, chewy crumb and tunnels through the middle rather than an open one.
Step 5, adding the chips
One cup goes in, two tablespoons stay out.
The reserve is what you sprinkle on top in step 6. Fold everything in and the tops bake pale, which is why supermarket muffins always have chips scattered over them.
Step 6, filling the cups
Divide evenly between all twelve.
The bake time is written for twelve equal cups. Nine generous ones bake into overspilled tops with wet centres at 22 minutes.
Step 7, testing
Put the tester in AWAY from a chocolate chip.
Melted chocolate reads exactly like wet batter on a skewer. This is the single most common reason a perfectly baked pumpkin muffin goes back into the oven and comes out dry.
Step 8, cooling
Ten minutes in the pan, then out onto a rack.
Leaving them in the tin longer steams the paper cases and the bottoms go damp; taking them out immediately tears the tops, which are still fragile.
Ingredient Notes
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- A cup for the batter and two tablespoons for the tops, and the split matters. Semisweet rather than milk — the batter is already sweet and milk chocolate flattens it.
- Pumpkin puree
- One cup of plain puree, not pie filling. A 15-ounce can holds a little more than this recipe needs, so measure rather than tipping the whole tin in.
- Light brown sugar, packed
- Three-quarters of a cup, pressed into the measure. Loosely spooned it can be twenty per cent short, which shows up as a drier muffin.
- Baking soda
- One teaspoon and no baking powder. Check it is not the tin that has been open since last autumn — soda loses its lift and this recipe has no second raiser to cover for it.
- Neutral oil
- Half a cup of something flavourless. Melted butter can be swapped in but the muffins firm up more in the fridge.
How to Make It
Heat the oven and line the pan
Heat oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases.
Whisk the dry ingredients
Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a bowl.
Whisk the wet ingredients
In another bowl, whisk eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil and vanilla.
Fold them together
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until no dry streaks remain.
Fold in the chocolate chips
Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips, keeping the remaining 2 tablespoons back.
Fill and top the cups
Divide the batter among the twelve cups and sprinkle the reserved chips over the tops.
Bake
Bake 19 to 22 minutes, until a tester inserted away from a chocolate chip comes out without wet batter.
Cool
Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.
Success Tips
- Weigh or level the flour rather than scooping the cup straight from the bag.
- Hold the two tablespoons of chips back in a separate dish so they cannot be tipped in by accident.
- An ice-cream scoop divides this batter between twelve cups faster and more evenly than a spoon.
- Aim the tester at bare crumb; a skewer through a chip will lie to you every time.
- Move them to the rack at ten minutes so the paper cases do not go soggy underneath.
Serving Ideas
Warm from the rack, or cold from the tin the next day with coffee. They need nothing on them.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Airtight at room temperature for 3 days. A sheet of kitchen paper in the box absorbs the condensation that otherwise softens the tops.
Freeze
Freeze cooled muffins in a bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or straight in the microwave from frozen.
Reheat
Fifteen to twenty seconds in the microwave brings back the just-baked texture and re-melts the chips.
Frequently Asked Questions
My tester keeps coming out wet — are they underbaked?
Probably not. A cup of chips through twelve muffins means there is chocolate almost everywhere, and melted chocolate looks identical to raw batter on a skewer. Test at the edge of the dome, away from a visible chip, and go by whether the top springs back.
Why did my muffins come out flat?
Either the soda is old, or the batter was overmixed and lost the gas before it reached the oven. Both show up the same way. Fold briefly and get the tin into a fully preheated oven straight away.
All the chips sank to the bottom.
That happens when the batter is loose from overmixing. Tossing the chips in a spoonful of the measured flour before folding them in helps them hold their place, though a properly folded batter is thick enough to suspend them on its own.
Can I use only cinnamon if I have no pumpkin pie spice?
You can, and the muffins will still be good — just more one-note. The half teaspoon of blend is providing the ginger and clove behind the cinnamon rather than more cinnamon.
