I think there might be something wrong with me.

Some people like to unwind in front of the TV with a glass of wine, or read a book, or take a bubble bath. I myself, as much as I enjoy all of the above, really find baking relaxing. Whenever I feel like unwinding, I think about what I should bake. There’s just something about mixing all these ingredients together and turning them into something wonderful and delicious. I think I might even like the process of baking more than actually eating the finished product (which works out well for those around me). Baking to me is my passion, my hobby and my therapy.

So this week I felt like baking something all week, but I just kept running out of time. I was working, exercising, catching up with friends, and you can hardly put your life on hold just because you want to bake, can you? I wish! So I finally found some time to bake, and then it was just about finding the perfect recipe to try.

For some reason, I had a real urge to bake muffins. I haven’t made them in such a long time, and I’m not sure why, because they are so delicious. My favourite are gooey in the middle, more filling than muffin, and of course they have to have a crunchy muffin top. Muffin top is totally acceptable in my books.

I had a recipe for dairy free blueberry muffins on my Pinterest that looked really delicious, but I realised when I went to make them that the only milk I had was cows milk. So I figured, what’s the harm in adding in some chocolate if I’m going to make them with dairy. Because chocolate makes just about everything 10 times better, and muffins with chocolate in them are just about the best type of muffin.

I feel a little guilty as the website I got the recipe off is a dairy free website, but it just looked like such a good recipe. And where’s the fun in exactly copying a recipe, when you can change it up and try something new? I guess I won’t know which one would taste better, but I like to think of this as my spin on it. Hopefully you like it!

Chocolate and Blueberry Muffins

Adapted From	Go Dairy Free
Serves	12 muffins
Preparation Time	10 minutes
Cooking Time	20 minutes
Ingredients ·         1 and ½ cups of plain flour ·         1 tablespoon of baking powder ·         ¼ teaspoon of salt ·         ¼ cup of brown sugar, firmly packed ·         ¼ cup and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar, divided ·         2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice ·         ¾ cup of milk ·         2 large eggs ·         2 and a half tablespoons of melted coconut oil, or canola oil ·         1 cup of blueberries (preferably fresh) ·         1 cup of chocolate pieces, roughly chopped ·         ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon Method 1.      Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners 2.      Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. 3.      In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, ¼ cup of caster sugar, lemon or vinegar, milk, eggs and oil. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. 4.      Add the wet mixture into the flour mixture and whisk to combine. Mix to ensure that there are no lumps, but avoid over mixing. 5.      Fold in the blueberries and chocolate to the mix. 6.      Divide the batter between the cupcake pans, ensuring each has an even amount of blueberries and chocolate. 7.      Combine the remaining tablespoon of sugar and the cinnamon in a small dish. Sprinkle each muffin with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. 8.      Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until brown on the top and cracked. 9.      Allow the muffins to cool on a wrack, and serve warm with butter, or on their own.

The muffins themselves ended up beautiful and gooey, full of blueberries and melty chocolate, and so crunchy on the top. The sugary top really added a nice crust to the top of the muffins, which I think really took them up a notch! Plus, they were really easy to make, you only need two bowls and didn’t even need an electric mixer! It’s a perfect recipe for a late night baking expedition, and then you will have delicious muffins for your breakfast in the morning! These muffins are delicious warm because the chocolate and blueberries are all gooey and delicious, so I would highly suggest doing this for maximum enjoyment!

When I think about it, these muffins aren’t that bad for you. They have no butter, use coconut oil and you could substitute the milk for a non-dairy alternative and remove the chocolate chips if you wanted to. They are also pretty low in sugar. So you don’t need to feel that guilty about making these and eating one, or five.

These went down a treat at work, everyone really needed a Friday pick me up and these made for a delicious one. Perfect for a morning tea snack, or time or occasion really. We don’t discriminate when it comes to muffins!

What do you think? Would you give these a go to unwind, or perhaps for a spot of procrasti-baking? Is anyone else weird like me and enjoys baking to de-stress? I’d love to know if I’m not the only one!

Until next time, happy baking!

Ella xx