Mommy's Helpers

I love to bake.  From Thanksgiving to Christmas I go on a baking frenzy - ask those on the receiving end. :)  It is a stress reliever for me - I turn on some music, open some wine, and bake away.  Because I tend to be overly anal you would think that I would not enjoy others helping me - that couldn't be further from the truth.  I have the best time when my girls bake with me. Friends and neighbors have often been impressed when I have 4-5 kids around the counter helping me measure, mix, and pour batter.   I love teaching them about measurements, ingredients, and watching them get excited about the final product.  

One of my standard recipes is for chocolate chip pumpkin muffins (or bread) - great for breakfast, to freeze, to gift, etc.  My mom had a similar recipe and then I found a lower fat version in Cooking Light - this is a mix of the two.  Very yummy -and very easy - you'll enjoy this one!!  

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

2 cups sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 fat free vanilla pudding

4 large egg whites

3 cups flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

(I'll often mix sugar with Splenda and use a mixture of white flour and whole wheat flour)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Combine all ingredients (except chocolate chips) until smooth.

3.  Stir in chocolate chips.

4.  Fill greased muffin pans about 2/3 full (or use 5 greased mini loaf pans).

5.  Bake about 20 minutes (for muffins) or 30 minutes (for loaves) - until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

yield:  24 muffins or 5 mini loaves

Here's the finished product:

Anybody have any favorite recipes to share?  What is your "go to" recipe to please many?