Chocolate chip muffins

Chocolate chip muffins

These are a great treat for anyone who loves an afternoon cake or a chocolate muffin. It’s a simple recipe for anyone to follow, even with the kids.

You will need a muffin tray (not a cake tray) the muffin trays are much deeper.

Makes 4-5 big muffins.

Ingredients

4oz/ 100g unsalted butter (at room temperature) plus extra for greasing

4oz/ 100g self-raising flour

4oz/ 100g caster sugar

2 large free-range eggs

a very small pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 X 45g bar of milk chocolate

1 X 45g bar of dark chocolate

Preheat the oven 10 170-degrees/ 325 degrees F/ gas mark 4. To make the mixing process easier, the butter needs to be at room temperature, if it still hasn’t softened enough, squash with your hands.

In a mixing bowl cream together the sugar and butter with a fork, continue to do so until the colour of the mixture has become paler. Add the vanilla extract. (If you ever use fresh vanilla pods, keep vanilla pod remains and in a sealed container with caster sugar for future recipes). In a separate whisk the eggs until frothy and light. Slowly add the egg mixture to the butter and sugar whilst constantly whisking to avoid the mixture splitting, (looking like scrambled eggs). If the mixture does split simply add a spoonful of the flour and mix in. Once the eggs, butter and sugar are combined sift in the flour. Fold the flour into the mixture, quickly, but try not to work the mixture otherwise the gluten in the flour causes the muffins to be dense.

Grease the muffin trays tins (4-5).

Break the all the chocolate into pieces and chop and add to the mixture. If you like the chocolate chunky, I recommend adding a little mixture (without chunks) to each muffin tray tin, to prevent all the chunks sinking to the bottom.

Add the mixture to 4-5 tins, 1cm below the top of the tins. Using the handle of a dinner knife, scrape round the inside of each mixture tin, this allows the muffins the rise easily.

Bake for 20-25, slide a knife into a muffin (when it comes out clean they are ready). The muffins should still be slightly too soft when removed from the oven, as the residual heat continues to cook the muffin.

Gently ease the muffins away from the side of the tins, until they are able to be tipped out.

Any questions please ask.