I was recently looking for a good (yet easy) recipe for a chocolate chip muffin, and I found one courtesy of Nigella Lawson, on the Food Network website. I started with her recipe and made a few changes, and the one below is what I came up with. I love, love Nigella Lawson and her recipes, her original recipe is very good, although I found the muffins to be a bit dry and not quite chocolately enough for me. So, I added some creme fraiche to make them more moist, and added more cocoa powder, as well as using dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. (If you're not familiar with creme fraiche, it's basically French sour cream, but it's less sour than the sour cream most of us are used to. I'm not a fan of "American" sour cream, but I love creme fraiche!) I think this would also be a good muffin if you mixed dried fruit or nuts in with it, I just didn't have any on hand at the time. (I also forgot to take a photo, so next time I make these, I'll be sure to snap a photo and add it here!)
What You'll Need:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate; Nigella's recipe calls for semi-sweet) plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top
1 cup milk
1/3 cup plus 2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
What to Do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Put all of the dry ingredients, including the 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, into a large mixing bowl. Mix all of the liquid ingredients together in another mixing bowl, then mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Don't over-mix, you'll want somewhat of a lumpy batter. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin lined with paper baking cups. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top, and then bake for 15-20 minutes, you'll have to check as every oven varies. You'll know the muffins are done when they are risen & springy to the touch! Let them cool a few minutes on a wire rack...In my opinion these muffins are best when warm, so don't let them sit too long!