Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

A couple of weeks ago, my soon-to-be-famous friend Julie Donaldson sent home a bag full of these muffins with my daughters. I had one and it was divine, but I put the rest on the counter and told the kids they could have them after dinner.  A little while later, my 4 year old came walking in the kitchen with chocolate all over his face. As I said "what have you been eating.....?" I looked to the counter where the muffins were to see that the bag was gone. "Where are the muffins?" No answer. "Did you eat all of them?"  "Uh huh."   He had eaten every one of them.  My oldest daughter burst into tears. I will spare the details of the drama that followed, including phrases like "he is the worst brother ever!" and "she gave those to ME!" and "why did you have to have him?" I promised her I would call Julie and get the recipe and make some the next day.  So I did, and she was gracious enough to share it. I am so glad she did, because these are a new favorite at our house. They are so good.  I personally think it is better than Great Harvest's pumpkin chocolate chip bread.... and I love theirs! This recipe made 24 mini muffins, 12 regular muffins, and 2 mini loaves of bread.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Sift together:
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3 cups sugar
Stir in:
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
1 cup veg. oil
4 eggs
chocolate chips (I used a whole bag, and I thought it was the perfect amount)

Place batter in sprayed pans/muffin tins.  Bake at 350 degrees. Check for doneness by sticking a toothpick or knife in center.  If it comes out clean, they are done.  Here are the approximate time I baked mine:
mini-muffins- 15-20 min
reg. muffins-  25-30 min
mini loaves-  40-45 min