Chocolate Chip Muffins

Whenever I’m in the mood to bake something that is quick and simple to prepare, I almost always turn to muffins. I love that they…

• require only a few dishes so cleanup is easy
• have countless flavor variations
• take a few minutes to prepare and less than 20 minutes to bake
• make the house smell absolutely delicious

Their beautiful and plump, round tops paired with their moist and flavorful centers make muffins a fantastic treat to have in the morning or even as a little snack.

As mentioned above, I love that, when preparing muffins, the flavors can be mixed and matched to achieve a delicious result. I tend to peruse my baking cupboard and use whatever I have leftover from other recipes. I like to experiment with the extra goodies that get thrown into the batter right before it gets poured into the muffin cups.

This morning, I had some leftover milk chocolate chips so I figured I would throw them into the batter. In less than 30 minutes, I had these perfect muffins that were jam-packed with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips. This was definitely a great start to my day!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin tin by either buttering the cups or lining with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, eggs, milk and vanilla extract.
3. In another large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. With a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix the batter.
5. Fill the muffin cups with batter 2/3 full.
6. Sprinkle the top of the batter with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
8. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for five minutes.

When baking muffins, it’s important to follow some of the tips outlined below to bake perfect muffins each and every time:

• Avoid over stirring when preparing muffins – do not stir or beat batter until it’s smooth and lump-free
• Measure your ingredients carefully
• Use fresh baking powder and soda since these are what the muffins need to rise nicely
• Don’t fill the cups too full with batter – fill the cups no more than 3/4 full because this will give the muffins nice, round tops rather than flat saucer tops
• Muffins are done when the tops are golden and spring back lightly when touched – the toothpick trick always works
• When muffins are done baking and are removed from the oven, let them sit in the tin for a few minutes before removing each muffin – this helps prevent them from falling apart
• Sit the pan on a cool wet towel – this will help the muffins come loose from the cups easier and prevent them from sticking to the bottom (never keep them in the tin longer than five minutes)

*Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking