Chocolate Chip Muffins

I went back to Toronto the past Christmas and got to eat chocolate chip muffins from my favourite muffin place MMMuffins. So when I came back to HK, I was reminiscing and decided to try making the muffins here. My first attempt created rock hard chocolate chip scones instead of muffins. My second attempt has turned out better though I wasn't able to make a proper "muffin top" like the one that MMMuffins makes. I'm still happy with the way it turned out! Yum!

BTW, I think you've discovered by now what is my favourite ingredient to add into a recipe... it's chocolate chips... and that's because I like eating them so much! ;-P You'll also notice that my recipes cater a lot to what I like and that's because if there are leftovers then I'm the one stuck eating them! So I better like what I make...

Anyway the recipe I used is from The Best Mom on the Block blog... Again I halved the recipe so that I wouldn't be stuck with a lot of the product and having to eat it all myself (or throw it away if it was really bad). I thought it was an unusual recipe since it used sour cream, but you don't actually taste the sourness. And I'm glad that the recipe called for butter instead of vegetable oil... I know butter's not all that healthy but I think it really makes muffins taste great. =P

Yes, halving the recipe meant I needed to use only half an egg. In order to get the proportions right, I measured in grams what the egg white and yolk weighed (50g) and poured out half of it to use for another recipe. Oh yah, remember not to mix the wet and dry ingredients too much... it's like banana bread in that mixing it too much will cause it to go rubbery and hard.

Ingredients (makes about 6 muffins):
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 + 1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 + 1/8 tsp teaspoon baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
35g butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 + 1/8 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, sour cream, butter and vanilla.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients just until moistened.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
6. Bake at 350°C for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
7.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.