The mornings have been cooler this last week, and we even had a couple of days of rain. My colleagues and I have started to plan to teach our first graders virtually to begin the year, which brings with it some very challenging circumstances. But everything is going to be fine.

So in the midst of developing schedules and learning expectations, I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. These are moist and delicious, and they have just the right spice mixture to soothe an anxious teacher’s heart. The recipe can be found here. Don’t be worried about the mixture of pumpkin and semi sweet chocolate chips. They really balance each other well, and I haven’t met anyone who didn’t enjoy these muffins.

As always, I have some modifications for this recipe:

• The recipe’s author offers this substitution for the pumpkin pie spice:

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice. I also add 1/2 teaspoon cloves. You can’t go wrong with cloves.

• Don’t skip topping each muffin with 3 or 5 chocolate chips before you bake (odd numbers are more decorative). It really does make them look fancy.

A big thank you to the author of this recipe for spreading so much happiness.

Happy Fall, y’all!