chocolate chip muffins

Muffins have long been muscled out by their bigger, attention-seeking American cousin, the cupcake (or more recently, the whoopie pie). Having been mostly consigned to garage forecourts, the poor old muffin deserves better than that and still has a lot to offer.

With chocolate chunks studded throughout, these muffins are moist and great with coffee or as a snack. These are lovely just as they are or can be frosted with some extra chocolate. Half of these muffins were decorated with a spoon of brown sugar and a spoon of cocoa powder sprinkled on top before baking. Those ones were for Mama, I don't like my baked goods too sweet! The other half were decorated with a jar of Nutella and a Cadbury's Flake. The more chocolate the better for the junior cook. So easy to do that even a child could decorate them, and in fact - a child did!

If your helper is very young, pop the muffins back into their cooled tin for ease of handling before letting them lose with the chocolate.

Makes 10 

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
100g white sugar
100g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
15g baking powder
Pinch of salt
150ml milk
50ml sour cream
80ml vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 200ºC. Grease and line your muffin tin with muffin cases.
In a medium bowl combine your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips, and salt, then mix it well. In a large bowl combine your wet ingredients: milk, sour cream, oil, egg and vanilla, then blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet mix. Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened (this batter will look lumpy.) Fill the cases to 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for a minute or two before removing from pan.