Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I started making these muffins back in the fall, when Trader Joe's started carrying their pumpkin puree and when I found this recipe.  I tweaked the recipe to meet our needs and preferences, and now we have a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin that we like to eat not just in the fall, but year-round, as long as I stock up on enough pumpkin puree while it's available in stores. 

Sometime last year I started the tradition of making muffins for breakfast every Sunday.  I freeze the leftover ones and bring them out to feed myself and the girls for breakfast during the school week, when I don't want to get up early enough to make fresh ones.  In addition to tasting great right out of the oven, these muffins taste just as good when defrosted in the fridge overnight and then microwaved until warm.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree.  (Get one that does not contain any added ingredients.  I use Trader Joe's brand, which is seasonal.)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the cups of a muffin tin with canola oil.  In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, flax seed meal, brown sugar, canola oil, and applesauce.  Heat in the microwave until warm, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  Then set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and sea salt.  Stir the apple cider vinegar into the pumpkin puree mixture.  Then pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until no trace of flour remains.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour 1/3 cup of batter into each of the muffin tin cups.  Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.