Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins

Gasp!  I came home from my Alaskan Cruise to find store bought muffins sitting on my counter top!  Zach had found a box of chocolate muffins and almond poppy seed muffins at the store.  Poor kid had to resort to store bought baked goods while Mom was away.   

I am trying to teach Zach to cook this summer so he can cook for himself when he moves into a house near his college campus in August. I would love to bake with him as well, but I don't think he's very inclined to learn.  Instead, I told him I could MAKE him some muffins and, if so, I asked what kind he would like.  He said chocolate chip and almond poppy seed.  I found two great recipes on line and here is the Chocolate Chip version I made this weekend.  The recipe ingredients call for 4 teaspoons of baking powder, but I reduced it to 3 teaspoons. The recipe directions also call for first baking the muffins at 425 degrees and then reducing the oven temperature to 375 degrees.  I know my oven and my muffin tins, and I also know baking at high altitude like I do can be a weird thing, so I opted to bake these muffins at 375 degrees for the entire time.  I checked my muffins at 19 minutes and they were DONE!

Ron has completed the Initial "Hot Out of the Oven" Taste Test and the verdict... Two Thumbs Up!

Zach likes a lot of things cold so he will hold the Secondary "After The Muffins Have Cooled to Room Temperature" Taste Test sometime later today. 

I sprinkled some gold coarse sugar on top of the muffins.  I found gold and silver coarse sugar for decorating cup cakes on the clearance aisle at the grocery store awhile back. The guys both asked "what's that gold stuff on top of the muffins?" and I told them... "It's GOLD I found in Alaska!"

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from www.sallysbakingaddiction.com
The original recipe can be found HERE and includes instructions for baking in various size muffin tins... for jumbo, regular, and mini-size muffins).

3 cups (375) all-purpose flour (very careful not to overmeasure)

3 teaspoons baking powder (recipe calls for 4 teaspoons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs, room temperature preferred

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

1 cup (240ml) milk

1/2 cup (120ml) canola oil (or vegetable oil/melted coconut oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray your muffin tin with non-stick spray or line with muffin liners. Set aside.

In a large bowl, gently toss together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until all dry ingredients are combined – a 20 second toss to disburse everything together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until combined. Mix in milk, oil, and vanilla. Mixture will be pale and yellow.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix everything together by hand with a wooden spoon. Avoid overmixing. Gently mix until all the flour is off the bottom of the bowl and no big pockets of flour remain. The batter will be VERY thick and somewhat lumpy. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Divide batter among prepared muffin tins, filling nearly to the top (I made 15 muffins). Top with a sprinkle coarse sugar, if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes (mine were done at 19 minutes).