chocolate chocolate chip muffins

I bake a lot. However, not every bake is a successful one. Naturally, the unsuccessful bakes and the so-so (okay but not great) bakes don’t make it onto my blog.

But once in a while, I bake something that gets me really excited.

I had about an hour to spare this morning so I thought I would bake some muffins because I didn’t want to wait for the butter to come to room temperature. Muffins are great for times like these because they are so quick and easy to bake.

  

I picked a muffin from my current favourite muffin book, The Ultimate Muffin Book. I really have no idea how much time Weinstein and Scarbrough spent writing this book, but it sure is the best book of muffin recipes ever.

At the rate I am going, I really will end up baking every type of muffin from this book.

 

And I am looking forward to doing that because every bake has thus far been perfect. Nothing is sweet (hurrah!) and every muffin has been moist.

Today I baked a batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip muffins. After reading this post, go make some. I guarantee you will love them as much as I do.

Here’s how.

In the bowl of a mixer, whisk the eggs and brown sugar until they are well-blended. This would take about 3-4 minutes.

While that happened, I measured the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

And stirred until everything was well-combined.

I added the cooled melted butter to the egg and brown sugar mixture, and continued to mix.

This was followed by the buttermilk.

And vanilla extract.

Once everything was well-combined, I added the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.

I mixed this with a wooden spoon until everything just came together. Do not over-mix! Over-mixing results in tough and hard muffins. YUCKS.

Using an ice-cream scoop, I dished the batter into muffin liners. If you like muffins with domes, make sure the liners are three-quarters full.

Once baked, the muffins were allowed to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before I transferred them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I made 17 muffins.

I ate one immediately. Just for quality control purposes, you understand.

6 went to my manicurist, Stefanie; 6 to my butcher, Andy; and the final 6 went to Ronny who operates the dry goods store I regularly patronise.

The LAM was pretty upset because he didn’t get any.

Opps.

See what happens when one is not quick enough?

Hehe.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
Yields 17
Write a review
Print
Ingredients
  1. 2 cups (250g) plain flour
  2. 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar
  3. 1/3 cup (39.3g) cocoa powder, sifted - I used Valrhona
  4. 2 teaspoons baking soda
  5. 1 teaspoon baking powder
  6. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  7. 1 cup (152g) semisweet chocolate chips - I used Ghirardelli
  8. 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  9. 1/4 cup (50g) packed dark brown sugar
  10. 1 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk
  11. 1 stick (113.3g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  12. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 200ยฐC (400ยฐF).
  2. Whisk the flour, caster sugar cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium or large bowl until uniform. Stir in the chocolate chips until well-coated. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl (or bowl of a mixer) whisk the eggs and brown sugar until thick and pale brown. Pour in the buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir this into the flour mixture until moistened.
  4. Fill the prepared liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are lightly browned with rounded tops. A toothpick inserted into the centre of one muffin should come out clean, unless you hit a chocolate chip.
  5. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer the muffins onto the wire rack to cool for an additional 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
  1. If storing or freezing the muffins, cool them completely before sealing in an air-tight container or in freezer-safe plastic bags. The muffins will stay fresh for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
Adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
The Domestic Goddess Wannabe http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/

A giveaway!

 

I have tons of kitchen equipment and one of the things I cannot do without when I cook or bake are my measuring cups. Not just any old measuring cups, mind you. OXO Good Grips Angled Measuring Cups! A patented angled surface lets you read measurement markings by looking straight down into the Cup and eliminates the need to fill, check and adjust the amount of liquid you are measuring. The handle is soft and non-slip for a firm grip, and cup, ounce and milliliter measurement markings increase convenience. The set includes 1-cup, 2-cup and 4-cup versions.

Here’s how to take part!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway ends on Friday, June 27, 2014 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific time. The winner will be selected by random.org and contacted by email. If there is no response after 48 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to overseas entrants.

This post is linked to Cook Your Books, hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours.

I am also  linking this post to Little Thumbs Up, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, and Jozelyn of Spice Up My Kitchen.

Last but not least, I am linking this post to Say G’Day hosted by NatashaInOz.

Say G'Day Saturday