from my kitchen to yours

I love to bake, and to cook. It is a cathartic experience for me, and nothing feels more satisfying then nailing a recipe.

For my first post under my new series, "From My Kitchen to Yours", I'm featuring these to.die.for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cupcakes. I cannot even begin to take credit for this recipe, as it hails from the extremely talented, and fellow SMU alum, Merritt over at Manolos and Martinis.

You must follow her blog for your daily dose of all things fashion, lifestyle and fabulous.

The recipe is super simple to follow, and it yields TONS of yummy muffins. I recommend freezing half so you can enjoy them over a long period of time. Below are the most delicious, moist (I hate this word- but it seriously describes it), and outrageous Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins.

(pictures courtesy of Merritt as well. Thank you Merritt!)

Mix together 3 1/3 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp nutmeg, 3 tsp cinnamon and a dash of salt together in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine 3 cups of sugar and 1 cup of Crisco oil, then add to the bowl of dry ingredients.

Next add 2/3 cup of water, 1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin and 4 eggs to the large mixing bowl.

Mix well, add chocolate chips, and then pour into three 8 or 9-inch loaf pans (or do it my way and pour into 5-6 cupcake pans). If you choose to do the loaves, bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done - for the muffins, bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until done.

Et voila! C'est facile. I made these last weekend, and the hardest part is having self control when they're ready.

Enjoy!