a load of fuss about muffin: peanut butter and chocolate muffins

Oh dear. It's been a while again, hasn't it?

I seem to be perpetually buried under a pile of papers, emerging from time to time only to take the cat for emergency visits to the vet (he's not been a well chappie), or for other incredibly exciting domestic tasks such as shopping, going to the bank, etc.

And this week is no exception, not least because I'll be off and away for 2 weeks from Friday. Wa-hey! But in the meantime, I've got stacks of work to send out and bill, holiday stuff to sort out, etc, etc, etc. Bleurgh.

But.

But. A couple of weekends ago I had a quick go at making some muffins, the recipe for which had rather grabbed me. It said chocolate. It said peanut butter. It said muffins. You get my drift?

Let me make one thing clear. I am not much of a muffin fan. I love English (savoury) muffins, but US-style muffins - well, I just don't see the point. Give me a good old-fashioned slice of cake, preferably crammed with a buttercream filling and slathered with more of the same on top, anytime.

But I don't want to be excused of closing my mind to things. No, not me. I am bold, bloody, and resolute. So here, possibly for the first and last time, I bring you muffins, US-stylee.

Were they any good?

Well, yes, actually. Plenty of peanut flavour and plenty of chocolate (always a good thing, obviously). And moist. So, as muffins go, a definite thumbs-up.

And here, so that you can share the love, is the recipe I used, taken from Baking Bites:

Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (or smooth)
2 large eggs
1 cup milk (low fat or skim is fine)
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, peanut butter, eggs and milk until smooth. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide batter into your paper-lined muffin tin. Each cup should be filled to the top, not just half way up, to ensure you get a nice dome on the muffin.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the top of the muffin springs back when lightly pressed.
Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12.

I'll confess to having used buttermilk instead of ordinary milk, and dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate chips. The buttermilk worked (giving the muffins more of a scone look on top), but I think milk chocolate would have been marginally preferable to dark chocolate. Whatevah. Do your own thing.

Next time (if there is a next time), I'll add bananas, too. Because I can. I know no bounds.