Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I usually like to have something baked in the house for the weekend. Muffins or a cake, something like that.  This weekend I decided I wanted muffins.  I had seen a peanut butter chocolate chip muffin recipe that looked especially promising and bookmarked it to try on Pinterest.

This recipe has been adapted from one which I found on a page called The First Year Blog.   The original recipe made a dozen muffins. I cut the recipe in half and converted it to use both North American and European measurements.

 

I actually prefer baking by weight. I have a set of digital kitchen scales that work perfectly for this.  The reason I prefer it is because weight never changes. A gram or milliliter is always the same, whereas cups can actually vary quite a bit depending on the manufacturer.  Anyways, for accuracy I use weights rather than volume.

This recipe makes six beautiful tall muffins with a lovely light texture and beautiful peanut butter flavor. They are also generously studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips and have a slight crunch on the top, having been sprinkled with demerara sugar.

  

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Nothing out of the ordinary here really. Everything is quite simple and things that most people have already.

• 1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose plain flour
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (90g) peanut butter, not natural
• 1 cup (180g) semi sweet chocolate chips
• demerara sugar to dust on to

 

Do not use self-rising flour for these. If that is all you have you can leave out the baking powder and salt, but I cannot guarantee success.

In the U.K. use castor sugar. I used organic granulated sugar. It is darker in color than white sugar, but not as dark as brown sugar.

You can easily make your own buttermilk in one of several ways.  You can add 1 TBS of lemon juice or white vinegar to a cup and add whole milk to the measure, leaving it to clabber for 5 minutes. OR, you can whisk together equal amounts of whole milk and plain full fat yogurt, leaving 5 minutes to clabber.  Both methods work beautifully.

Do not be tempted to use natural peanut butter.  I used Jif Dark Roasted smooth peanut butter for these.

I used Kirkland brand semi-sweet chocolate chips. Demerara sugar is the same as turbinado sugar, and is optional, but it does add a lovely crunch to the top.

 

HOW TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

These do require that you leave the batter to sit for 15 minutes before baking. Don't skip this step. It is the secret to tall bakery style muffins!

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

Whisk the buttermilk, egg, vegetable oil, vanilla and peanut butter together in another bowl. (You will have to whisk hard to amalgamate the peanut butter.)

Gradually mix in the dry ingredients, combining the two just until combined. It will be a thick batter. Fold in 3/4 of the chocolate chips, reserving the remainder.

Cover and leave to sit on the counter while you preheat the oven to 425*F.220*C/ gas mark 7.

 

Butter six cups of a 12-cup muffin tin really well, or line with paper liners. You will be using every second cup.

Once the oven has heated fill the muffin cups, dividing them equally amongst the muffin cups, and filling every odd one. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over top along with some demerara sugar.

Bake at 425*F/220*C/gas mark 7 for 7 minutes. Immediately turn the oven down to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.

Bake for an additional 16 to 19 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the pan before lifting out to a wire rack. Store any leftovers tightly covered.

 

HINTS AND TIPS FOR PERFECT MUFFINS EVERY TIME

Here are my hints and tips for making sure that your muffins turn out beautifully every time:

1. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, carefully pour in the wet ingredients, then stir the mix a couple of times to roughly combine. 

 2. Don't over mix your muffins. The most important rule of muffin making is to not over stir the mix. What you really want is to just moisten the ingredients. Do not stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump free. You want the final mix to be lumpy, and thick with a few floury streaks.

 3. Add your flavors last.  While spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, additions like fruit and nuts should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you've added them in just to combine.  

4. Line the pans. You can choose to either grease the muffin tin or line it with paper liners. If you choose to forgo the liners, make sure you grease the base and sides of the cups with oil spray or a little melted butter. If you're not going to eat the muffins for a while, do use paper liners as these will keep the muffins fresher for longer. 

 5. Don't overfill your pans. Aim to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups.  Often if your tins are over filled the muffins will rise to the top and then collapse on themselves.

 6. For extra interest, add a flavorful sprinkle on top.  Once the muffin cups are all filled, you can choose to sprinkle the tops with more fruit, nuts or a crumble topping, even sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar, for even more taste and or crunch. As the muffins rise these toppings will cook into the tops of the muffin.  

7. Protect your baking pan.  If there isn't enough batter to fill all the cups, half fill the empty ones with water. This will help the muffins bake evenly and will help to protect your pan from buckling.

 

8. Cooling them down. Once you remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in their pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. This is especially important for muffins that aren't in a paper liner, as it will help them from falling apart. However, remove them after five minutes otherwise you risk them going soggy as they cool in the pan. 

9. Freeze extras for later. Muffins freeze beautifully, so if you can't enjoy them all on the day they're baked, wrap them in plastic and put them in the freezer for later. They will keep for about 3 months and reheat wonderfully in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high from frozen. 

 

These muffins had a lovely light texture and beautiful flavor. They rose lovely and tall in the muffin cups, just like bake shop muffins.  I chose not to use paper liners, and I am happy that I didn't.

There were tons of chocolate chips in these.  I enjoyed one while they were still slightly warm with a milky hot chocolate. It was divine.

  

Are you mad about muffins?  If so, you may also enjoy the following tasty offerings!

ULTIMATE BUTTERMILK BRAN MUFFINS - Buttermilk Bran Muffins. I think my favorite type of muffin of all the types of muffins you can get today are plain old fashioned Bran Muffins. There is nothing pretentious about them. They are simple and they are delicious. This recipe is especially delicious, yielding a muffin that is super moist and delicious, with a well-rounded bakery style top. You cannot go wrong with one of these!  

CINNAMON ROLL MUFFINS - Prepare yourself to fall in love with this small batch muffin recipe with makes six gorgeously delicious muffins. These tasty muffins embody all the flavors of your favorite cinnamon rolls, except they are muffins, not a yeast bread. I am of the school that cinnamon flavored anything is good. It doesn't really matter too much what it is, and these are OMG good!  

Yield: 6 large muffins

Author: Marie Rayner

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 26 MinTotal time: 46 Min

These are really delicious muffins. Light and airy with a beautiful flavor and studded generously with chocolate chips.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose plain flour
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (90g) peanut butter, not natural
• 1 cup (180g) semi sweet chocolate chips
• demerara sugar to dust on top

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Whisk the buttermilk, egg, vegetable oil, vanilla and peanut butter together in another bowl. (You will have to whisk hard to amalgamate the peanut butter.)
3. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients, combining the two just until combined. It will be a thick batter. Fold in 3/4 of the chocolate chips, reserving the remainder.
4. Cover and leave to sit on the counter while you preheat the oven to 425*F.220*C/ gas mark 7.
5. Butter six cups of a 12 cup muffin tin really well, or line with paper liners. You will be using every second cup.
6. Once the oven has heated fill the muffin cups, dividing them equally amongst the muffin cups, and filling every odd one. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over top along with some demerara sugar.
7. Bake at 425*F/220*C/gas mark 7 for 7 minutes. Immediately turn the oven down to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.
8. Bake for an additional 16 to 19 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Leave to cool in the pan before lifting out to a wire rack. Store any leftovers tightly covered.

Did you make this recipe?

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