Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes

Sofia and Tomás Reyes married at St. Patrick's Cathedral on April 20, 2034. The same church. The same altar. The third Gutierrez wedding at St. Patrick's (Luis Jr., Isabella — wait, Isabella married David Chen in 2029 at St. Patrick's too). Father Morales said the vows. Camila sang — "Ave Maria" and a new original called "My Sister's Kitchen," written for Sofia, about a girl who found her purpose in flour. The lyrics: "She stood beside our mama, she learned the way of dough, she built the bread from nothing, she made the kitchen grow." I made the wedding cake: tres leches, four tiers, decorated by Sofia herself the night before the wedding, because Sofia will not allow anyone else to decorate a cake at her own wedding because quality control does not take vacation, not even for a wedding.

Tomás stood at the altar looking slightly stunned by his good fortune, which I consider the correct expression for a man marrying a Gutierrez woman. He is patient and kind and slightly overwhelmed and exactly right for Sofia, and the exactness is the marriage, and the marriage is the exactness.

After the wedding, after the cathedral emptied and Cam’s song was still living somewhere behind my sternum, I came home and did what I always do when I am full of feeling — I went to the kitchen. I had no tres leches left, and Sofia would not have shared it anyway (quality control does not take vacation, not even after the ceremony). So I made these pumpkin chip cupcakes, which are humble and honest and exactly the kind of thing a Gutierrez woman bakes when she needs to bring the joy back down to earth without losing any of it.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 22 minutes | Total Time: 42 minutes | Servings: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until evenly combined.
Mix wet ingredients. In a separate large bowl, beat together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined — do not overmix. A few streaks are fine; overmixing makes tough cupcakes.
Fold in chips. Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips, reserving the remaining 1/2 cup for topping.
Fill and top. Divide batter evenly among the prepared liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Scatter the reserved chocolate chips over the tops of each cupcake.
Bake. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Do not overbake — the center should be just set.
Cool. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before serving. These are excellent warm or at room temperature, and keep well for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes — Sofia’s Kitchen Lives On in Every Batch