Choc-chip muffins.

I like chocolate. I like muffins. I like anything baked.
What's not to like about these?

They were exactly what I imagine a muffin should be - brown and crispy on top, full of chocolate chunks,  bulging out of their little paper cups - but mine never are. They looked perfect.

But there was one problem. They had a funny taste. I have no idea why! I think maybe - and this is gross - that the muffin tin was dirty or something... yuck. I might have to make these again (after I've washed the muffin tin) to see if that is actually what the problem was.




Choc-chip muffins
From The Kitchn
Makes 9 muffins


110g butter (4oz), at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk 
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (dark or milk)


Preheat oven to 190C and line a muffin tin with paper cases.
Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.
Beat in one cup of flour, then the milk, followed  by the last cup of flour and the remaining ingredients. 
Mix until just combined. 
Spoon the mix into the paper cases, filling them up almost to the top. 
Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Olive savoury muffins.

I'm the kind of person who needs to bake things. I don't know what it is, but I get this urge to bake. I can't help it. And when I don't want to make something sweet, I have to make something else.

A little while ago I went to the bakery with my friend and bought a savoury muffin. It was full of pumpkin and roast capsicum and sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Yum.

These savoury muffins aren't quite that full of things, but they still taste great. They're a mix-and-bake sort of a muffin. The cheese on top makes them a little bit tastier. And they're super good straight out of the oven with some homemade relish on the top. These muffins are crumbly and moist.
Here comes lunch!

Olive savoury muffins.
Adapted from Stephanie Alexander's 'The cooks companion' 
Makes 12


220g self-raising flour
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup oil (I used olive)
70g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
grated parmesan, to top the muffins

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a muffin tin.
Put flour, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper (to taste) into a large bowl.
Make a well in the centre and pour in milk, oil and the egg.
Mix everything together until just combined.
Fold in the olives.
Spoon into the muffin tins and top with grated parmesan.
Bake for 20-25 mins.

Apple & cinnamon muffins.

My gorgeous friend Alex, actor, musician, writer,  breakfast cereal connoisseur, always said that he didn't understand how baking worked. How can you mix ingredients that don't seem to go together into a sticky, wet mess, which turns into a delicious baked good. When we used to have dinner together, Alex would often make a curry and I would make some cupcakes. He'd sit with me while I measured, stirred and baked our dessert, always curious as to how the mix would turn into something completely different when it was done. Now, I'll admit that I don't understand the exact science of baking, I guess it's something to do with chemical reactions of flour and wet ingredients, but I don't let that deter me from baking anything. I know how to follow a recipe, and I understand the basic principles of baking, and that'll do for me.

I know that Alex would enjoy these muffins, if we still lived in the same state. I miss Alex a lot. I miss those times when we'd spend nights watching tv together and eating nachos. That was a really good year for me. Maybe I'll have to send him some muffins in the post, and try and recreate those days with a wonderful friend.

These apple and cinnamon muffins are warm with spice and moist with chunks of apple. I don't always like muffins that use oil instead of butter, because I think it leaves a funny taste in your mouth, but I couldn't tell with these ones, so that's a bonus! *The original recipe instructed to mix the dry ingredients into the wet, which I thought was a bit weird, and it ended up being a bit lumpy. If I made these again, I'd do it the other way around. Other than that, there's no cons at all to these muffins. You should make some now. Right now.

apple & cinnamon muffins:
Adapted from Meg kat

Makes 12.

1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
2 cups plain flour (you could use half plain, half whole wheat, if you prefer)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 large, or 3 small, apples; peeled, cored and diced.

Preheat oven to 200C.
Mix egg, milk, oil in a bowl.
In a separate large bowl, combine everything from flour to nutmeg.
Pour half of the wet mix into the dry and combine. (*see note). Repeat.
Stir in the diced apple.
Spoon mix into 12 muffin cases.
Bake for 20 mins. A skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean.