Bake on!

If that were a flag, I would fly it. However, it is a tea-towel, so I guess I'll just bake, then dry the dishes with it!

I'm sure everyone has days when one batch of muffins just isn't enough. No? That really is just me? Well, don't judge - today is one of those days. After all, I have a reputation to keep up! At a recent school event, all the boys were asked to write a message for their mother, and then had their photo taken holding that message. This could be a scary prospect (visions of "Mum, could you please do more laundry so that I have clean underwear EVERY day", or "Mum, you're really embarrassing - could you drop me off farther away from the school gate", or "Mum, I don't understand why you can't help me with my math homework any more" flashed across the paranoid section of my mind). However, I needn't have been concerned, because this is what I got:

 

I was pretty chuffed to see that - chuffed enough to ignore the spelling of 'mom' anyway ;-) What can I say, my kids are American.

 

And of course, it has spurred me on to uphold my reputation, with the assistance of Camilla Saulsbury. One recipe from her book "750 Best Muffin Recipes" which I have returned to several times is for Chocolate Chip Muffins. Today I decided to tweak the recipe a touch by adding some ginger, on the understanding that, well,  ginger is fabulous, and I like it, so there. If you are not a ginger aficionado, then feel free to omit this.

 

 

 

Chocolate Chip and Ginger Muffins

(Makes 16 regular sized muffins)

 

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup wholewheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped crystallized candied ginger (you can get this at Trader Joe's)

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, butter, oil and vanilla until well blended. Whisk in buttermilk until blended.

5. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended.

6. Gently fold in chocolate chips and ginger.

7. Divide batter equally between muffin cups.

8. Bake in preheated oven for 22-27 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes and then transfer muffins to cooling rack to cool.