Heidi and I first tasted these muffins at a trendy coffee shop in Sun Valley Idaho. We went there every day for a week because they were so delicious. They are moist and flavorful and are studded with tart raspberries and sweet mini chocolate chips.
I worked for months when I returned home to try to recapture the original recipe and finally got it right! The basic recipe comes from Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook (see recommended cookbooks). These muffins have been a Christmas/birthday/special occasion tradition at our house for as long as the girls can remember.
I like to use self-rising flour because it makes a perfect muffin every time and makes these tasty treats a snap to throw together in the morning. The secret to a light and fluffy muffin is not to overmix the batter. Definitely a case of less is more!
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes one dozen)
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup mini-chocolate chips
1 pint fresh raspberries (or frozen if fresh are not available)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Place 12 paper liners in a muffin tin. In a large bowl combine self-rising flour and sugar, whisk to combine. Add chocolate chips and raspberries and gently toss to coat with flour. In another bowl combine eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla, whisk to combine. add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX! There should still be some patches of dry ingredients in the batter...overmixing causes the muffins to become nasty dense hockey pucks!
Portion batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, top with additional granulated sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I found the recipe for these muffins (and your website) when searching for "gourmet raspberry chocolate chip muffins" as I was trying to duplicate the fancy muffin that I had tried from a local coffee shop. These muffins do that AND MORE! They are super quick and easy to make and are delicious straight out of the oven or the next day. I made them for a Palm Sunday brunch and everyone asked for the recipe. (I'm making them this morning as a breakfast treat for my husband's 46th birthday.)
ReplyDeleteWhat I LOVE most about your recipes is your commentary. I feel like I learn SO MUCH! In fact, I asked for my very own New York Times cookbook as a birthday present after perusing your blog.
The only substitute that I've made to the recipe above is using 1 cup of milk chocolate chips rather than the 1 cup of mini semi-sweets that you suggest. On my first try of the recipe, I was out of minis and I really liked the milk chocolate taste. Oh... And I made the mistake of using regular flour rather than self-rising once. Hockey puck muffins, anyone?
Thanks for your wisdom and keep these fantastic recipes coming!
~ Beth from Boston
Hi Beth! Thanks for your comments! I am really glad you like these nuffins, they are a family favorite at my house. Hope you find lots of other tasty treats on my blog! Hugs, Mama Ozzy
DeleteHi Again, Mama Ozzy!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to share that I used your base recipe and modified it today with great results. I didn't have fresh raspberries on hand, but I did have some apples, so I made Apple Cinnamon Muffins. I substituted the pint of raspberries for two cups of finely diced apple (2 apples) and 1 cup of cinnamon chips (they sell Hershey's brand at my market) in place of chocolate chips. The kids and I loved them!
Last year, I used your modified recipe to make peanut butter cup muffins with two cups of the mini Reese's cups in the recipe. Very tasty, but I was surprised that I prefer the fruit muffins (and I'm a RPBC fanatic)!
Thanks for providing the building blocks for new tasty creations!