Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made this pumpkin bread for a potluck we had at work the other day. I originally made some Old World Butter Horns from Cook's Country, but they came out so ugly (cannot post such ugly cookies, even though they are delicious!) that I had to scramble to make something else!!! This came together in no time so it was perfect!

This recipe comes from Extreme Dinner Makeover. This recipe is supposedly a copycat recipe for the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread at Great Harvest. I haven't had their pumpkin bread in a long time, so I can't say for sure if it's a good copycat recipe or not. I can tell you that it's a good recipe for Pumpkin Bread.

I made them into muffins instead of the original loaf because I was pressed for time. It made about 30 muffins!!! I also decreased the amount of sugar and thought the muffins didn't suffer from it. Here's the recipe. Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
adapted from Extreme Dinner Makeover

2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar (see note)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
16 oz cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2/3 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (see note)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 12 count muffin tins. (see note)

2. Mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.

3. Mix pumpkin, oil, eggs, and 2/3 cup water together. Stir into dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Place batter in prepared pans.

4. Bake 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note:

• *Original recipe calls for 3 cups of sugar. I only used 2 cups and I thought it was sweet enough.
• *I used Ghiradelli's semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they are a little larger than normal chocolate chips so it wasn't as evenly dispersed as I would have liked. I would suggest using smaller chocolate chips so you get a bit of chocolate in every bite!! =)
• *I made about 30 muffins, I baked the first batch with two 12 count muffin tins. The second batch I filled six of the muffin tins with the batter
  and filled the rest with water so that they would bake evenly.