1. Prepare Your Muffin Tin and Oven: Start by preheating your oven to 375 F (190 C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease it thoroughly with non-stick spray. This ensures your muffins won’t stick and makes for easy cleanup.

2. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps and the spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture. This step is crucial for even flavor and rise.

3. Mix Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, combine the canned pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together until they are smooth and well combined. The mixture should be a uniform orange color.

4. Combine Wet and Dry Mixtures: Pour the wet ingredient mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Using a spatula or a wooden spoon, mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter; a few streaks of flour are perfectly fine. Overmixing can lead to tough muffins.

5. Fold in Chocolate Chips: Gently fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Again, avoid overmixing.

6. Fill Muffin Cups: Divide the batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin cups. You can use an ice cream scoop for easy and consistent portioning. Fill each cup about two-thirds full.

7. Bake Until Golden: Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. The tops should be nicely domed and golden brown.

8. Cool Before Serving: Once baked, remove the muffin tin from the oven and let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This helps prevent them from getting soggy on the bottom and makes them easier to handle.