Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter, softened (85 grams)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 tablespoon instant coffee disolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water
1 tablespoon coffee flavoured liquor (optional)
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Heat oven to 180C / 375 F / Gas Mark 5. Grease 6-muffin pan. In large bowl, beat on medium speed: butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, dissolved coffee granules, and coffee liquor (optional) until blended.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter among muffin pan cups.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until centres spring back when lightly pressed. Serve warm.

My Notes

I didn’t use the coffee liquor, and usually bump the coffee granules to 2 or 4 tablespoons in 2 tablespoons of water. This made 12 muffins.

Variations:

For one batch, I skipped the instant coffee and water mixture, skipped the coffee liqueur, used 200g dried & sweetened cranberries in place of the chocolate chips, and used a mushed up banana instead of the egg. I also added a generous amount of cinnamon to the mix (without measuring, 'cause that’s how I roll!) and added an extra 1/4 cup milk (maybe a bit less) just to get it all to a nice muffin-batter-ish consistency. For this attempt, I test drove my individual silicone muffin cups, and they worked great. No sticking, no mess, and I don’t ever have to use muffin paper again! 🙂

These also freeze OK when you make too many to eat — if there even is such a thing as "too many to eat". 😉