Pumpkin Chocolate Pocky Muffins, #TwelveLoaves

With a wave of a wand and an exclamation of “bibbidi-bobbidi-boo”, a pumpkin is enchanted and Cinderella’s carriage appears. Cinderella is swept off to a ball and swept off her feet by Prince Charming. At the stroke of midnight, all the riches disappear. Cinderella appears fated to sweep cinders from the hearth for the rest of her life. But, our soon-to-be princess is sure that, “Even if your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true.”

The enchanted pumpkin muffin atop a Japanese chocolate Pocky crust.

Cinderella’s positive attitude pays off and she waltzes into happily-ever-after with Prince Charming. Little girls in Japan – like their counterparts in other countries – love their Cinderella princess story. But, without a pumpkin carriage Cinderella might have never made it to the ball. Or met Prince Charming!

Pumpkin is celebrated in this moist, soft muffin atop crushed chocolate Pocky.

The pumpkin is a very, very important fruit. Excitement is palpable when Starbucks rolls out it pumpkin spice lattes. (Take a look online or visit Santa Monica, CA!) In Japan, diners delight in the traditional kabocha pumpkin squash on winter menus. Pumpkin pies proliferate exponentially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season in the Western world.

Pumpkin Chocolate Pocky Muffins

This month the Twelve Loaves bakers are celebrating the Great Pumpkin, too. The minute I saw my friend Marjory, The Dinner Mom’s Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips post, I had the perfect pick to contribute. I tweaked Marjory’s recipe a tad. Japanese Pocky (chocolate covered biscuit sticks) were crushed to form a crust. But the foundation of the recipe remained. The moist pumpkin muffins studded with chocolate brought smiles and praise from my cohorts in my comedy acting class. Hopefully you’ll find happiness in the Pumpkin Chocolate Pocky Muffins, too!

Pumpkin Chocolate Pocky Muffins

Pumpkin plays with chocolate miniature chips atop a chocolate Pocky crust. The muffin is soft, moist and a must-make for busy moms.

Speaking of homemakers, this recipe is adapted from The Dinner Mom.

Ingredients:

3½ packs (2.46 ounce boxes, 1½ boxes) Chocolate Pocky
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1½ cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup Greek yogurt
½ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pulse Pocky with the coconut oil in a food processor.
2. Pat the mixture into muffin tins lined with cupcake cases.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
5. Briskly stir in the pumpkin, eggs and yogurt.
6. Add the chocolate chips.
7. Lightly spray the crust lined cupcake cases with buttery cooking spray.
8. Divide the batter into the cases.
9. Bake for 24 minutes (rotating the pan mid bake) or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.
10. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins to a wire rack. Or enjoy warm!

Ninja Note: A mini ice cream scoop is a great tool for evenly dividing muffin batter.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess and run with the help of Heather of girlichef, which runs smoothly with the help of our bakers. Our host this month is Renee from Kudos Kitchen by Renee, and our theme is Pumpkin. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board, or check out last month's tempting selection of #TwelveLoaves Apple Breads!

If you’d like to add your bread to this month's #TwelveLoaves collection, here’s what you need to do:

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Wishing you days of pumpkin perfection.

The Ninja Baker

The Ninja Baker has guest blogged and contributed recipes to numerous food sites. These additional recipes can be found here.

- Cranberry Pumpkin Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Crusty Pumpkin Rosemary Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Giant Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls from girlichef
- Pumpkin Challah Bread from Cake Duchess
- Pumpkin Chocolate Pocky Muffins from NinjaBaking.com
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from A Shaggy Dough Story
- Pumpkin Seed Breadsticks from Never Enough Thyme
- Savory Ginger Pumpkin Spice Bread from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
- Spice Pumpkin Bread from Basic N Delicious
1. Post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, making sure to mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post (this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts).
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of this blog. The bread MUST meet the Twelve Loaves theme (Pumpkin).
3. Share your Twelve Loaves bread (must be baked and posted this month) on your blog by enter the last day of the month.

Follow Ninja Baker @NinjaBaking's board NinjaBaking.com Sweets on Pinterest.

Tags:

#Japanese #Pocky #pumpkin #muffins #TwelveLoaves

#easyrecipe