Chocolate Chip Muffins

"Oh, what a plain looking muffin!" I bet this thought is crossing your mind right now as you are reading this post. Most likely, you will even reject it if I were to offer you one. Hold on, I urge you to reconsider before you start to regret what you are missing. Hehe... :P

Surprise!!! Full of chocolate chips inside. Now I am pretty sure that you will not resist this muffin any more!

On a lighter note, I will sprinkle some chocolate chips on top if I were to make these little delights again, something which I honestly did not put much thought when I was baking them. :)

Thanks to pReCiouS MoMentS for sharing the recipe. :)

Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from: pReCiouS MoMentS

Ingredients (Makes 8)
120 g plain flour, sifted
50 g castor sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
50 g canola oil
150 g plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
55 g chocolate chips

Method
1. Combine plain flour, castor sugar, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. In another bowl, whisk egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla essence together.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it a quick mix using a spatula. Add in the chocolate chips and continue to mix gently until just combined. Do not over-mix; mixture should be lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until ½ full.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for around 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Notes
- You can replace the fillings with Oreo biscuits, strawberry jam or Nutella spread. If you are using jam or Nutella spread, fill the muffin cups with the batter halfway, add the jam or spread, and top up with the batter till ¾ full.

Blueberry Muffins

Who can resist soft and moist blueberry muffins for tea? Certainly not me! :)

Don't the plentiful blueberries look rather squeezy in a small cupcake? Believe me, if you are a fan of blueberries like me, you will welcome them lovingly with open arms mouth. Hahaha...

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from: 500 Cupcakes & Muffins by Fergal Connolly

Ingredients (Makes 12)
110 g castor sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
265 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
225 ml milk
115 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
225 g blueberries, fresh or thawed frozen

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place 12 paper baking cases in a muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, stir the sugar, lemon zest, flour and baking powder with a spoon.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, butter and vanilla with an electric whisk until smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir until the blueberries are just combined.
5. Spoon the batter into the cases.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove tin from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Serve muffins immediately.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

It is a good thing that the people in the supermarket have cut and repackaged pumpkins into smaller pieces as I could not imagine finishing a whole big pumpkin!

The recipe calls for a single baking pan but I have baked them in cupcake size. Soft and fragrant, I thoroughly enjoyed the generous serving of pumpkin all over the cake. I will certainly make more pumpkin bakes in the future.

A question though: For the pumpkin skin, should I remove prior to or after the steaming? :)

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Adapted from: Fruity Cakes by Alex Goh

Ingredients (Make 18)
250 g butter
150 g castor sugar
3 eggs
150 g pumpkin, steamed and mashed
320 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
60 g coconut milk / fresh milk
90 g pumpkin seeds
220 g raw pumpkin, diced

Method
1. Sift plain flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and beat until light and smooth.
3. Add in the mashed pumpkin and mix until well-blended.
4. Fold in the flour mixture and coconut milk and mix until well-combined.
5. Add the pumpkin seeds and 120 g diced pumpkin, mix until well-incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into cupcake moulds and sprinkle the remaining of the diced pumpkin on top.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 25 minutes.

Notes
- You can add in ½ tsp ground cinnamon to enhance the flavour.

Lemon Butter Cake

It has been a long time since I last posted, one month to be exact. Did anyone miss me? :)

After the Moist Butter Cake post, there are several encounters where wet lines are observed in my butter cakes. This time round, I halved the Lemon Butter Cake recipe, which The Little Teochew has tweaked from her Moist Butter Cake. The result is fantastic, a soft cake with a lovely citrus lemon scent! :)

Thanks to The Little Teochew for sharing the recipe. :)

Lemon Butter Cake
Adapted from: The Little Teochew

Ingredients (Makes an 18-cm round)
97.5 g plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
85 g unsalted butter, softened
60 g sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest, grated
4 tbsp fresh milk

Method
1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease and line an 18-cm round cake pan.
2. Sift plain flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy for about 2 minutes.
4. Add in lemon zest and egg gradually and beat until well-combined. If the mixture curdles, add 1 tbsp of flour and continue mixing. 
5. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk, beating at low speed until the flour mixture is fully incorporated in the batter.
6. Switch the mixer to medium speed and beat for 10 – 15 seconds, just until the batter appears uniform. The batter should look thick and creamy.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smoothen the top with a spatula.
8. Bake at 190°C for 30 – 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes clean.
9. Leave the cake to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Unmold and cool on a wire rack completely.

Notes
- Omitted the Lemon Curd Cream.
- Use a smaller pan.

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

Apart from the slight wet lines that is seen at the bottom of the cake, the crumbs are really fine and the cake tastes great! :)

Thanks to Table for 2 or more for sharing the recipe. :)

Condensed Milk Pound Cake
Adapted from: Table for 2 or more and baking fiends unite!

Ingredients (Makes an 8-inch loaf)
120 g unsalted butter
45 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup (125 ml) condensed milk
120 g cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs

Method
1. Sift cake flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer till light and fluffy for about 2 minutes.
3. Add in salt and vanilla essence and beat well.
4. Add in condensed milk and beat till well-combined.
5. Using the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions. Mix till the batter is smooth.
6. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix till the batter is smooth.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 1 hour.

Dried Plum Muffins

At the back of my mind, I remembered that I have some dried figs at home. But when I was preparing the ingredients, I couldn't find it! Well, since I have already melted the butter and juice, I continued on and substituted with dried plums. Lesson learnt: To check all the ingredients before baking! :P

Thanks to Happy Home Baking for sharing the recipe. :) I made some modifications to the recipe to make Dried Plum Muffins.

Dried Plum Muffins
Adapted from: Happy Home Baking

Ingredients (Makes 5)
15 g dried plums
45 g unsalted butter
125 ml apple juice
Lemon zest, grated from 1/2 lemon
157.5g plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 g castor sugar
30 g brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method
1. Heat apple juice and butter in a saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted.
2. Remove from heat and add in the dried plums and lemon zest. Leave to cool until the plums are softened, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease muffin cups with butter or line with muffin liners.
4. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, salt and baking powder.
5. Make a well in the centre and add the cooled plum mixture, eggs and vanilla. Stir until just combined. Do not over-mix, the batter will be slightly lumpy.
6. Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling to the rim of the cup.
7. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden, and the skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Transfer the muffin pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for 5 mins. Unmold the muffins and cool completely.

5 Recipes to celebrate Easter

Happy (belated) Easter. I've been invited by Cheah of No-Frills Recipes to place a menu tagging game for the Easter party. Rule of the game is to suggest 5 to 10 recipes and upload the photos with their respective links. After that, I've to tag 10 bloggers to do the same.

Since Easter is already over, I will simply join in the fun and skip the tagging part. Welcome to my Easter dessert party. :)

Here's my Easter menu from my past recipes. Click on the titles to go to the recipes.

Matcha Madeleines

Cornflake Cookies

Mango Coconut Chiffon Cake

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Sugar Crust

Lastly, I have something for everyone to bring back home. :)

Almond Sponge Cupcakes

Do you like what I have prepared for all of you? :)