Chocolate Chip Muffins

Most of my recipes here are 'basic', you know ones that are basis of endless variations depending on availability of ingredients, cook's mood, or customer's (ones who will eat it) preference. That's always been my intention, to record all my basic recipes first then do the variations afterwards. I have a running list in my head of basic recipes I will post here. One of them is this chocolate chip muffin. I waited sometime because I was looking for a recipe that would do better than what we sampled over the years.

Most of the recipes we tried tasted good but the consistency of the batter is not thick enough thus, making the chocolate chips to sink to the bottom. More often the muffin would result in some kind of a layered cupcake. All chocolates at the bottom with all the cake batter on top. This is the first one we had where the choc chips were more or less evenly distributed throughout. I adapted this from Peter Shaffer's The Genuine American Cookie & Muffin Book. Try it, you'll love it. :)


Chocolate Chip Muffins

350 g  [2 2/3 cups] plain flour
200 g  chocolate chips (plain or milk)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs - beaten
200 ml [heaping 3/4 cup] plain natural yoghurt
215 g  [1 cup] soft Demerara sugar
115 g  [1/2 cup less 2 tsp] butter - melted
2 tsp vanilla flavouring

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Grease or line a 12-hole muffin pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Add in chocolate chips and mix.
4. Combine melted butter and sugar in another bowl. Beat until well combined.
5. Add yoghurt, eggs, and vanilla.
6. Fold butter mixture into the flour mixture. Do not overmix.
7. Put in 10 of 12 muffin pans. Half-fill the remaining 2 with hot water to avoid burning the pan and give moisture while baking.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until metal skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Do not overbake!
9. Let stand for a few minutes in the pan, turn out and cool on a rack.