pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

Good things happen in October. The weather cools and the world turns crisp and colorful. Every October, this one included, my mom comes to visit. And in October the harvest yields big, tasty orange pumpkins, which is why yesterday I baked a big batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

The muffin part of this recipe comes from my mother-in-law, Joyce; I added the chocolate chip part. (She might add them, too, but it wasn't called for in the original recipe.) As you can probably guess by the amounts called for in the ingredients, this recipe yields an obscene -- but super delicious -- number of muffins. You can easily halve it, but it's a great way to use up the entire big, 29 ounce can of pureed pumpkin, and it makes more than enough to either share with your friends or stash in your freezer.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
3 1/3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 (heaping) tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups pumpkin (i.e. one large, 29 oz can)
4 eggs
1 cup cooking oil
2/3 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1-1 1/2 bags chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or paper-line muffin tins. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Stir until well blended. Add chocolate chips. Spoon into prepared muffin tins and bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 13-15 minutes (in my oven it's more like 17-20 minutes for regular muffins and 15 minutes for mini muffins). Makes 3-4 dozen.