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1
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
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2
Lightly spray 12 standard-sized muffin cups with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners.
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3
Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, spices, granulated sugar, and orange zest in a medium-sized bowl, and stir until well blended.
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4
Crumble in the brown sugar, and mix with a fork and/or your fingers until thoroughly combined.
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5
Measure the pumpkin (or squash or sweet potato) into a second medium-sized bowl.
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6
Add the egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat with a fork or a whisk until well blended.
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7
Slowly pour this mixture, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients.
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8
Stir with a spoon or a rubber spatula from the bottom of the bowl until you have a uniform batter.
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9
Don't overmix.
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10
Fold in chocolate chips and nutes.
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11
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
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12
(I find it easiest to use two soup spoons for this: One to scoop up the batter and the other to push it into the cup.)
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13
For smaller muffins, fill the cups about 4/5 of the way.
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14
For larger muffins, fill them even with the top of the pan.
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15
If you have leftover batter, spray one or two additional muffin cups with nonstick spray, and put in as much batter as you have.
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16
Bake in the center of the oven for to 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top, and a toothpick inserted all the way into the center comes out clean.
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17
Remove the pan from the oven, then remove each muffin from the pan, and place on a rack to cool.
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18
Wait at least 30 minutes before serving.
