I also thought muffins came out rather bland so I made a few alterations. I would recommend substituting the white sugar with packed light brown sugar; increasing the spices to 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 tsp ground ginger, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg (I did not have any pumpkin spice or ground cloves); and increasing the pumpkin puree to 1 cup. These changes produced more flavorful muffins.
I made these and they were a big hit!! The people at the party I took them to claimed I had put an addictive substance in them :-) I used packed dark brown sugar instead of white, I used 1 cup of pumpkin instead of 3/4 cup, and I doubled the cinnamon and nutmeg. I also made them into mini muffins, so I used mini chocolate chips. cooking the minis for 15 minutes worked well.
This was a great recipe although me and some of my taste testers thought there was too much chocolate chip. I think I will try mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings next time. Also, I "wetted" the chips then put them in with the flour mixture before mixing in with the wet. This coated them and helped to prevent the chocolate from falling to the bottom. These muffings are also wonderful with homemade cream cheese frosting! oops one more thing, I found 400 was too high and burned the outside. 375 for 20 minutes was perfect.
I doubled this recipe to make 2 dozen muffins. I made the following changes to the recipe: applesauce in place of the oil, I used the entire can of pumpkin and the whole bag of chocolate chips. I also just used PAM spray rather than liners or shortening + flour in the pans. I followed the other reviews and only set the oven to 350. They were done in 20 minutes and tasted fabulous!
I love these muffins! I make them two different ways: exactly as in the recipe (except maybe with a little more pumpkin) and with cream cheese. Put half the normal amount of batter in each muffin cup, then add a dollop of cream cheese with a little bit of sugar added and finally put the rest of the batter on top. Bake as the recipe states. The muffins come out with a little surprise in the middle!
I just finished making a batch of these and they turned out fantastic. I did however make some modifications. Instead of oil I used apple sauce to cut down on the fat (you can't even tell there's no added fat!). I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. I would definately make these again!
I read many of the reviews before I made these...seems like everyone re-wrote the recipe before they rated it! The comments about it being too dry/dense/moist really bother me, when the reviewer made substitutions that drastically alter the batter proportions. So I made these muffins exactly according to the recipe. They're moist and tasty. 5 stars.
These are very tasty. Suggest doubling the recipe, since a can of pumpkin contains at least 1 1/2 cups- that way, you're not wasting the pumpkin. Replaced oil for apple sauce and are very moist! Always a request from my husband and co-workers.
Incredible muffins! Used mini muffin tins to make bite sized morsels and they turned out beautifully and they were so easy! Reduced baking time to 15 minutes for the minis. I also substituted mini chocolate chips. Great flavor - and as others have said - a wonderful surprise!
They Could Of used a bit more pumpkin.
