Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

...Finally!

After much consideration, I decided that my failed muffins came from a combination of me not knowing my "new" oven well enough, and the fact that my baking soda was a little old--to be honest, I used the one that was already here when I moved in, which isn't the smartest thing to do.

Once I realize this, I didn't have much of a choice, and set out to prove to everyone (well, myself, anyway) that my pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins could be as good here as they are in Paris.

And they were!

To be honest, I wasn't quite concentrated when I started to bake. I was probably thinking about dinner plans or something like that (we had guests over for the week), and I only decided to taste the batter once I had scooped it all into my muffin pan. That's when I realized they tasted strangely salty. I brushed it off, thinking I just didn't remember the taste of the batter and that this was absolutely normal. I set them in the oven, and three minutes later it hit me. I had forgotten to add sugar. Not looking for an "interesting" sweet & savory mix, I promptly removed the muffins from the oven, put everything back into a bowl, and added sugar. I noticed the chocolate chips were starting to melt, so I added another half cup or so. 

Now I wouldn't really recommend making this same mistake, but it turns out the combination of non-melted and half-melted chocolate chips was a success, at least from what I was told. The batter had a hint of chocolate, and the full chocolate chips added a little something.

OK, so they weren't like my muffins in Paris, but that's what baking is all about, right? Out with the old (or at least set it aside, unwillingly), in with the accidentally new!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins - successful Paris version

makes approx. 30 muffins

adapted from a Nestle recipe

3 c. flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

1 c. applesauce or oil

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Beat eggs and sugar together; add pumpkin and applesauce (or oil) and combine.

Stir in dry ingredients until combined, without overmixing.

Finally, add chocolate chips.

Fill each muffin cup 2/3 to 3/4, and bake for 20-25 minutes.