Chocolate muffins

My muffins are legendary, especially my chocolate muffins. Making muffins (and other baking) is my preferred means of procrastination and stress relief. Some people clean the house or wash the car; I never understood that concept. For me, the bigger the deadline, the more people I manage to feed!

I have a basic muffin recipe that I modify and experiment with to get different varieties.

Basic muffins

Ingredients

• 30g butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 150g pottle of fruit yoghurt (any flavour)
• 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• other ingredients for variation (see method)
  

Method

1. Grease muffin tray or line with papers. (I use canola spray.) Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
   
2. Melt butter and mix with sugar.
3. Beat in eggs, then add milk. Spoon in yoghurt and mix well. (Fruit yoghurt, even in chocolate muffins, makes the mixture moist and gives the flavour a twist).
   
4. Add either 2 T cocoa melted in boiling water, and/or 1/2 cup chocolate chips, or 1/4 cup of chopped dried apricots, or 1/2 cup sultanas (or other variations/combinations or ingredients - this is your chance to experiment!)
5. Carefully fold in flour until just combined, taking care to not overmix. (The less you stir the mixture at this stage, the better your muffins will turn out.)
6. Spoon mixture into muffin trays. (You can press in 1-2 chocolate melts if making chocolate/choc chip muffins, or a piece of Caramello chocolate into the centre of each one. Perhaps sprinkle the top with choc chips? Again, feel free to experiment!)
7. Bake for 20-25 mins at 200 degrees Celsius.
8. Leave to cool in muffin tray for 10 mins before turning out onto wire rack.

Recipe makes 12 medium-sized muffins.
(OK, a few ran away before the photo was taken.)