Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

It has been a chilly, gray November for us. We are deep into autumn and I am loving it! Making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins seemed like the right thing to do -- perfect for this time of year. It was a great feeling for me when Jake arrived home from work to the cozy, wonderful smell of a batch just coming out of the oven. Since people have asked me for the recipe, I thought this would be a good place to share it:

3/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. olive oil
2 eggs
3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. water
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. walnuts (if desired)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin tin.
2. Mix sugar, oil, and eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes (cut time roughly in half if making mini muffins).

*this is kind of a combination of a recipe we got from our dear friend Sara and this one.