CHOCOLATE CHIP COCONUT MUFFINS

Everyone loves muffins and that's not a secret! Why? Well, because they are fastly prepared, multi-faceted and soooo tasty!

One can create her/his favorite muffins by following a basic recipe and adding the loved ingredient of her/his choice. We feel a bit like (role)playing the scientist or alchemist at home; it wakes up our creative spirit and opens us to new sensations! It is one of those baking products which can be prepared in so many different ways -savory and sweet- as nearly all variations are possible that it is impossible not to love those little wonders!!!

So, I decided that I wanted coconut and chocolate chip muffins and the result was very pleasant ad gratifying! Those muffins were very fluffy and tastful, yummy yum!!!...

This recipe was originally released in the "King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook". I took it from their site (see here) and modified certain detail...

Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:
300g (2 Cups) Plain white flour
110g (1/2 Cup) Castor sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbs Baking powder
1/2 Cup Grated coconut
1/2-2/3 Cup Chocolate chips
230ml (1 Cup) Milk
62, 5 g (1/4 Cup) Unsalted butter, softened or 62,5ml (1/4 Cup) vegetable oil (optional)
2 Eggs (~50-53g)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 250°C (500°F).
2. Blend together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
3. Beat the milk, butter or oil and eggs together until they are light.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones.
5. With a fork blend the two for 20 seconds, no more!
6. Fill the cups (2/3-3/4 full) of a greased muffin tin.
7. Place the muffins in the oven and immediately drop the temperature to 200°C (400°F).
8. Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean from the center of a muffin.

Remarks:
If you wish you can reduce the amount of fat or not use any, but remember that it will affect the tenderness and moistness of your muffins; you'll have then to eat them very fastly as they will tend to dry more than the butter/oil version...

The secret of light and tender muffins lies within the blending of the wet ingredients with the dry ones. It's not a problem if you've left some lumps that look as if they want more stirring. Don't continue stirring no matter how hard it is, resist the impulse!

Serving suggestions:
Eat those muffins at any time of the day or for breakfast with butter and jam, honey or peanut butter.
You can also eat them warm.

(Chocolate Chips -Pic by www.acoutica.com)