muffin magic

On Sunday as we prepared lunch with my Mum, we came to the decision that making muffins would be a great idea. I can't remember how we got to that decision, but I'm not surprised that we did, as so many of my conversations and thoughts eventually come back to cake. 


So as John and my Mum put the finishing touches to our lunch (which included Mum's roast potatoes - no one does them like her) I set about making chocolate muffins. John offered to help so I gave him the task of chopping up chocolate. He asked in an ever so slightly quizzical way whether or not they should be added to the muffin mix. Funny question, seeing as we're making chocolate muffins, and chocolate doesn't go so well with roast potatoes and chicken pie, I thought. 


I continued on my merry way, stirring up a storm in the mixing bowl. Then as I started distributing the mixture amongst the muffin cases, John exclaimed, 'oooh, I thought we were having English Muffins! I didn't know why you would want to put chocolate in English muffins, but thought maybe these would just be a bit different!' I love the way he thinks. 


If you make these muffins, I would highly recommend chopping up the chocolate into good sized chunks rather than using chocolate chips - it's such a treat to have a mouthful of chocolate chunks. 


Mum's Muffins
ingredients
1lb / 450g self raising flour
8oz / 225g chocolate (we used milk & dark choc)
16 fl oz / 450ml milk 
8 fl oz / 225ml sunflower oil
7 oz / 200g caster sugar
4 oz / 110g cocoa
1 tsp bi carbonate of soda


method
1. preheat oven to gas mark 5 / 190C
2. line 2 muffin tins with cases
3. mix dry ingredients together in a bowl (no need to sieve)
4. combine oil & milk in a jug
5. chop up chocolate and add to dry ingredients
6. stir in wet ingredients with dry, using a wooden spoon - stir as little as possible
7. spoon very generous portions into cases
8. bake for approx 20 minutes or until they look ready!
9. make a cup of tea & coffee, and drink with a warm muffin