Here at Greatist, we believe in taking a day off. Instead of our regular programming Saturdays, our writers get a chance to write about living the greatist lifestyle and, basically, whatever they want. This is one of those awesome articles. Enjoy!

Here in NYC, we’re still sweating bullets just thinking about stepping outdoors, but believe it or not, fall’s right around the corner. And for every red-blooded American that should mean exactly one thing: pumpkin pie. While I don’t endorse eating pumpkin pie for breakfast— do as I say, not as I do— I do endorse eating these scrumptious little morsels in the AM. This recipe comes courtesy of my big sis, who introduced me to them last fall, and they are one of my absolute favorite splurges. An extra plus: they’re vegan-friendly.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 9 standard, cupcake-sized muffins

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon. baking soda

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar (for a subtler sweetness, increase brown sugar to ½ cup and eliminate white sugar)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup milk (for vegan, omit milk and increase pumpkin to ¾ cup)

½ cup pumpkin puree

½ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate chips to taste (for vegan muffins, use dark chocolate)

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 and lightly spray a muffin tray with cooking spray.
  2. Combine all dry ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl and mix to eliminate lumps.
  3. Add wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
  4. Add chocolate chips to taste.
  5. Fill the muffin molds ¾ full. Thanks to the cooking spray and oil in the muffins, there’s no need to use cupcake liners.
  6. Cook approximately 15-17 minutes or until firm.