Every time we go to Costco, I look at the muffins. They look so good, but they are soooooo huge. Most muffins that you buy in the shops are huge, probably twice as big as what you should realistically be eating. I think one of those Costco muffins is large enough for four people, but that is just me. I will tell you up front, I have never eaten one . . . but they do look mighty tasty. I am a lover of muffins.
Somewhere between a cupcake and a bread, muffins are like tiny sturdy cakes built just for one, without all the frosting and outside adornments. They really don't need any. For the most part they are quite capable of standing on their own without any embellishments . . . I guess you could call them sturdy-little-stand-alones! If your muffins lean more towards being a cake, they are not really muffins . . . lets be honest here.
Although they may be similar, ingredient-wise . . . with both containing flour, sugar, leavening, eggs,milk and fat . . . that is where any similarity should end. They are not meant to have the same consistency. They are meant to be completely different, and that difference comes all in the way they are put together.
Cupcakes need to be beaten together in a specific way and method to give you a beautiful rise and light texture. The fat and sugar are creamed together, and then the eggs are slowly beaten in, with the dry ingredients being folded in at the end, so as not to remove any air that's been incorporated. Over-all, they are beaten significantly longer than a muffin. This is what gives them a uniformity of air bubbles throughout. A muffin is actually better for not having been over-mixed. You want to mix them only to just combine the dry and wet ingredients. Lumps are actually a good thing. They make for a lovely and dense, crumbly bake, that is quite, quite at home with a nice hot morning cuppa.
Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, cappuccino . . . espresso, whatever floats your boat morning-wise. I like mine with milk, and I have always been partial to Muffin Tops . . . its that crisp edge. I do so love crisp edges. When I lived in Canada and we went across the border shopping, I used to pick up toaster cakes at the grocery store, which were like muffin tops that you could warm up in the toaster. They were SOOOOO good! I loved them toasted with butter.
You wouldn't want butter on a cake. It would have no place to go. A muffin however, is filled with lots of little nooks and crannies that are perfect for cradling softened butter.
These chocolate chip muffins are fabulous. They are moist and delicious with a perfect crumb, and stogged full of chocolate chips. They have a beautifully high rise on them . . . like little chocolate chip studded crowns.
This is the type of muffin I want to find in a bake shop actually . . . a muffin that's a "muffin" and not a cake disguised as a muffin. Taking the frosting off a cupcake doesn't make it a muffin people. It really doesn't.
Muffins make the perfect portable breakfast for those mornings when you don't have a lot of time and are dashing out the door. You can freeze most muffins, so that you can grab one and by the time you get to work it will be perfectly thawed and ready to warm up just a tiny bit in the microwave.
You can use tiny chocolate chips in these if you want, or even chocolate chunks . . . but I like to use the semi-sweet chocolate chips you get in the big bag at Costco. Not too sweet, and nice and dark. I love them.
You could use a mix of milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips s well, with each bite bringing you a tiny surprise . . . what will this mouthful bring . . . sweet and milky, or dark and slightly bitter? Or maybe a mix of both . . . . hmmm . . . whichever you choose, you are sure to love these fabulously tasty Chocolate Chip Muffins.
*Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Muffins*Makes 12 muffinsPrintable Recipe These are moist and delicious with lovely high crowns!
350g plain flour (2 1/2 cups)1 TBS baking powder1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)1/2 tsp fine sea salt120g butter, melted and cooled (1/2 cup)190g granulated sugar (1 cup)2 large free range eggs, beaten240ml whole milk1 TBS pure vanilla extract275g chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups)
Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray well with non-stick low fat cooking spray. Set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda and sea salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. Whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla. Add all at once to the dry ingredients, and stir together just to combine. Divide equally amongst the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for FIVE minutes and then reduce the temperature to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5, and bake for an additional 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops have risen and are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Try not to over bake. Let cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack. Enjoy warm.
Note - these freeze well.
Don't be mistaken into believing that muffins are better for you than cake however. As with everything, moderation is the key, and true, while there is no frosting, and they are probably a bit less dense sugar wise than cake . . . you still don't want to be eating HUGE muffins. Small and steady always wins the race, and that is why these make the perfect Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Muffins. Bon Appetit and Happy Weekend!
