Simple & Delicious: Grain-free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

OK, so I know it is the dead of winter, and no longer autumn, anymore. But, I think I've found (or rather created) the recipe I was searching for all autumn. So, I just have to share. Bookmark it for next fall, if you must.

I love pumpkin + chocolate chips. I haven't quite figured out how to adapt my old favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe to be more primal, rather than less primal. But as far as muffins go? These come pretty darn close.

And yes, these are not 100% paleo (sigh), since they do contain maple syrup and standard semi-sweet chocolate chips... but you are welcome to try them with less syrup and no, or less-sweet, chocolate. I love dark chocolate, so I would totally be willing to try that next :) Stomaching the pumpkin without any sweetener might be more of a challenge for me, though, since these muffins are not overly sweet to begin with.

What I love most about these muffins is that they use almond butter instead of almond meal, so the result is a smooth and creamy muffin.

Grain-free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

(adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree*
1 cup almond butter
1/2 cup grade B maple syrup (Grade B is darker & stronger... I buy it from Trader Joe's.)
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (I use aluminum-free... only $1.49 at Whole Foods.)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients except for chocolate chips well in a bowl. Spoon at least half of the mixture into 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle desired amount of chocolate chips on top. (I think I used about almost 1 Tablespoon per muffin.) Finish spooning the remainder of the mixture over the chocolate chip layer, so the chocolate chips are sandwiched in the middle of the muffin. Bake for 23 minutes (possibly longer for non-silicone muffin pans.)

*What to do with the leftover canned pumpkin? Save it to use it in a pumpkin spice latte -OR- freeze it in an ice cube tray (I have these left over from my baby food making days) and use it for a paleo-adaptation of a pumpkin smoothie!

Enjoy!