Chocolate chip and walnut muffin

It has been  a month since I bought my new Panasonic microwave cum convection oven. At 42 liters, this is the biggest oven I have ever owned and I am more than pleased with it. Within a matter of weeks,  it is running on overdrive, churning out so many cookies  that I have to give away my oven experiments. Down the oven-verification list is this muffin 'experiment' , much looked forward by the muffin monster in the family. The end of the story ? A muffin success story and a happy muffin demolition hubby on standby.

This is the first time I use a self raising flour substitute since the wet weather is a turn-off for any run-to-the-store remedial action. For 1 cup of self raising flour called for, I use 1 cup of plain flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Verdict ? It is  as good as the real McCoy.  For best effect, sieve the baking powder and plain flour twice.

Makes  6 muffins :

2 cups   plain flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup dark chocolate buds

1/2 cup   caster sugar

1/2 cup  coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup sultanas

1 egg, lightly whisked

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup low fat milk

Preheat oven at 200 C. Prepare a baking tray with 6 muffin cups.

Sift plain flour and baking powder twice. This composite replaces 2 cups of self raising flour.

In a big bowl, combine flour, chocolate, sugar , walnuts, sultanas.  Combine thoroughly. Mixing dry ingredients first prevents overworking the dough when wet ingredients are added.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg, oil and milk until emulsified.

Create a hollow in the centre of the bowl with dry ingredients . Pour in wet ingredients and mix.  Here, I use a hook dough to avoid over working the batter. Use a spoon or spatula to do a final check, making sure there are no pockets of flour lurking around.

Spoon batter to muffin cups, 1/2 full. To prevent a muffin 'volcano-eruption-effect', avoid filling the cup beyond the 2/3 mark.

Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven or until the top is golden brown. Cool on a rack and serve warm.

Now take time to enjoy the muffin's  thin crusty top, with occasional crunch of  walnuts interspersed with sudden bursts of sultana sweetness and pockets of melted chocolates. Heavenly !

This recipe has been submitted to "Sweets for a Saturday" at sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com