Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins made with Lard

Last summer, our pumpkin patch performed dismally here on the farm.  In the years before, we were almost guaranteed to have at least 10 to 20 pumpkins to bring inside to cure & store for the winter.  This year, the patch produced us only two tiny pumpkins!

Thankfully, our friends over at Grey Arrow Farm had a few pumpkins left for us to purchase at the end of the gardening season.  The pumpkins are safely stashed in the coldest part of the house and we are slowly working our way through them.  There's nothing like baking with homemade pumpkin puree!

These muffins are made with pumpkin puree AND with our home rendered lard.  To find out how to render your own lard at home, head over to this blog post all about rendering lard here.

How to make pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkins:

• preheat the oven to 375F
• knock the stems off your pumpkins
• place pumpkins on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
• poke pumpkins in several places with a fork
• bake in the oven for 1 to 2 hours (time varies depending on the pumpkin size) - the pumpkin flesh should be soft when you poke it with a fork
• remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes
• cut the pumpkin in half
• scoop out the seeds & strings (save the seeds for roasting, if you desire)
• scoop out the flesh into a bowl or directly into a blender or food processor
• blend it until smooth
• you can freeze the pumpkin puree in mason jars (fill them only to 3/4 full so that they don't expand & break the jar)

To purchase pork fat from Lazuli Farms for rendering your own lard, head over here. 

Pumpkin Muffins made with Lard Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lard, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, mix melted lard with brown and white sugars.  Add pumpkin puree and mix.  Blend in two eggs and vanilla until mixed thoroughly (be cautious that the lard is not too hot as it may cook the eggs).

Add flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to the liquid ingredients.  Mix until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease or line a 12-muffin tin.  Scoop muffin mixture into the 12 muffin spots, dividing them equally between them.

Bake at 375F for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the centre of the muffin cleanly.  Let cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.