Healthy(ish) Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

My most recent day off, I woke up and absolutely did not want my normal breakfast of eggs and greens.  What I really wanted was muffins from a store-bought mix, but I had no mix!  Then I realized that making them from scratch would be even more gratifying.  I also remembered I had a few small baggies of frozen puréed sugar pumpkin from the farmer's market in fall, so pumpkin muffins it was! I wanted to emulate the delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins Spring Garden Bakery in Greensboro distributes to Tate Street Coffee, just not in gigantor form.  I think I did pretty awesome!  Very moist, quite sweet, but with a satisfying crunch from the oats and flaxseed.  It might seem kind of complicated with a lot of ingredients, but it didn't really take long to put together.

This recipe is a hybrid from one of Deb's at Smitten Kitchen and a random one on AllRecipes.  Great picture, right?  I clearly didn't imagine I would be posting it on a blog.

Really Good Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes 12)

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 12 muffin cups with liners, or just grease them.

In a 1/2 cup measuring cup, put 2 tablespoons rolled oats, 1 tablespoon whole flax seeds, 2 tablespoons wheat or oat bran, and fill the rest of the measuring cup up with whole wheat flour.  Spoon, don't scoop! Blend in food processor to make oats smaller and hopefully semi-grind flax seeds.

Combine this 1/2 cup mixture in a large bowl with:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

In another bowl, whisk together until well-combined:
1 cup pumpkin purée
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (or some combination involving honey)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (use good cinnamon!)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined, and stir in 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips.  Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full.  I recommend topping each muffin cup with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.  It makes the most delicious crust.  Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick (inserted into the center, as usual) comes out clean.