Been in the kitchen tonight

Sometimes I wonder where that strong drive comes from; the one to just get myself busy in the kitchen and bake and bake and bake.  I do love it, but I HATE THE CLEANUP!!!!  Not only are there the baking utensils, bowls, mixers, pans, and other paraphenalia, but the regular family dishes continue to stream in as well as they did during dinner time tonight.  Grrr.... can't they all just vacate the building while I feel like baking?

I don't always have time in afternoons to bake (and my mornings are busy homeschooling), so I often wind up starting projects in the late evening.  Perfect for using up every last bit of energy I might have, having it run out exactly as I face a sink full of yet another round of hand-wash dishes (inevitably around 9pm).  Right, well I'm not here to complain, so I'll post a recipe of some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins we're all loving around here at the moment.  I casually pass by the cute little "pie pumpkins" at the store, but I can't bring myself to bring one home to prepare for pie or muffins. I totally don't mind using Libby's canned pumpkin, but maybe I don't know what I'm missing out on.   These muffins really taste so much like a pumpkin pie (which I love), just in the form of a muffin.  This is the third time I make them in a month.  What I love is that this recipe makes about 18 muffins, so we dont' wipe them out all at once, and if I double the recipe I can freeze a ton for snacks another day.  Here is the recipe:
PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
1/2 c butter or margarine, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c canned pumpkin (without spice)
2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Add eggs, stir until smooth. Stir in pumpkin. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Stir to m ix. Pour into mixing bowl; stir until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon into greased or paper-lined muffin cups until three-fourths full. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures right now.  They come up just perfect each time, though.  I bake mine a full 25 minutes, if not a few minutes more.

The other thing I baked was a cookie we call Snowballs.  They're also popularly known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, but my mom's husband has made these every year at Christmas time and calls them Snowballs, so I call them Snowballs, too.  I'll be sharing most of those cookies with some friends to whom I've promised some homemade goodies, and now that it's not 110 degrees all over the South I feel comfortable putting food in the mail! 

And now I'm craving peanut butter, so I think my next goody will have to be a new experiment of brownies with peanut butter... yummmmm.

(these are not my cookies, but yum)