It’s fall and harvest time! We went to the valley to get apples, pumpkins, pears and take the kids to a corn maze. They had a blast and I have baked a pumpkin in the oven from our trip to use in some recipes. I just halved a sugar pumpkin, scooped out the seeds and placed it upside down in a baking dish and covered it with foil. I baked it about 1 and half hours at 400 degrees. It’s by far easier than slicing and peeling a hard pumpkin. It also turns out drier than traditionally steamed pumpkin that is cooked on the stove top. Once the pumpkin cooled a bit I scooped it out and pureed it in the food processor. If you don’t want to use fresh pumpkin, canned pumpkin will also be good and the pumpkin flavor will be a bit more concentrated.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Combine dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Add the wet ingredients:

• 2 tbsp egg replacer mixed with 6 tbsp water (equivalent to 2 eggs)*
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 and 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

Stir only to moisten. Bake 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins.

*Note: you can also use 1/2 cup unsweetened plain yogurt for the egg replacer