From the Recipe Box: Chocolate Chip Muffins

Okay, so I had a craving for some chocolate chip muffins. My Christmas break here at home is coming to a close, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to just bum about in the glorious kitchen of the Kitchenarian for much longer, so I was determined to track down a recipe and start baking away. Cookies and cakes I’ve baked many times this break already, but I haven’t made any muffins in quite a long time. I wasn’t interested in making anything complex or edgy – I just wanted the simple happiness of chocolate and a muffin.

After finding a decent recipe on allrecipes.com, I began the quick work of whipping up some batter. Then to my surprise, my simple little recipe would have to be improvised a bit – I was about ¼ cup short of milk. I sighed, then dug around the refrigerator until I found a jug of buttermilk we’d used earlier in the week for pancakes. What a perfect supplement! I also added a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter, because I am a firm believer that a dash of vanilla will enhance most simple baking recipes such as this. While I am not as bold as the Kitchenarian in changing and improvising on recipes, I jumped right into the process of it and hoped for the best. As I told my youngest brother who had been helping me, “These muffins are either going to turn out really bad… or really delicious.”

When I finally pulled the muffins out of the oven, the touch of golden brown on the top offered such sweet hopes.  I quickly unwrapped one and bit into such a soft and delicious muffin; I was ecstatic. There is nothing quite like having a craving satisfied to its fullest potential, especially when you’re the one to whip it up and bake it! Not only were the muffins a success, but I had to fight my brothers away from the rest of them long enough for the Kitchenarian to sneak a few and take some pictures.

Here is the recipe, including my supplements, hope you enjoy!

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
¾ cup milk
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup combination of Ghiradelli semisweet and milk chocolate chips

In large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. In separate bowl, beat egg, milk and oil. Stir dry ingredients into wet just until moistened, then fold in chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full and bake at 400F for 12 to 15 minutes or until top is golden brown and bounces back slightly to the touch. Yields 12 muffins.