My Kitchen Café #6: Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins With Deeba Rajpal, A Passionate Baker!

Its almost the middle of another month and time to dust the chairs and tables, put out the table linen, lay the tables and throw open the doors to My Kitchen Café letting in the warmth of the summer sun. Its also the opportunity for me to introduce my guest here today, Deeba of Passionate About Baking.

To most of you, Deeba needs no introduction and, as her blog tells you, she is indeed very passionate about baking. She started blogging a little before I did, and I first "met" her during our first challenge as Daring Bakers where we joined up at the same time. Since then we have become good friends, chatted virtually and on the phone, even though we haven't met each other in person, yet!

Let me leave you to enjoy what Deeba has brought to share with us - one of her delicious bakes.

When Aparna invited me to do a guest post, I wanted to bake something simple  for her blog, yet something that was the kids favourie comfort food. Sometimes I am pressed for time, and have to bake in a hurry for the kids. I usually make these cappuccino muffins for them. Why? Because they are EASY and because they don't require the beater etc. Just a whisk, 2 bowls and ingredients and I have the batter ready in 10 minutes.

I like to break free from norm sometimes, and days like that leave me restless. I need a change, any change... a tiny change. This particular day reaching out for the coffee, I was suddenly staring monotony in the face. I can't be making coffee muffins again?

Looked around and saw 2 oranges. With the egg and milk already having met in the bowl, I stopped the coffee just in time. Yes, I would make orange chocolate chip muffins! Do you like to break free from norm at times? Do it!! It will give you loads of satisfaction.

The daughter walked in from school and the conversation went something like this..

"Something smells good in the kitchen

Wooo muffins. Nice. Warm.

Ooooooo...Orange! Chocolate chips .... N I C E!!

Can I have another?"

I also didn't feel like using muffin liners that day. I have often seen pretty brown paper ones on some blogs. In India, we barely get decent muffin liners, so decorated brown paper ones exist in my dreams.
I took some parchment paper, cut it into squares, cut the edges with my crinkling scissor and was happy to experiment with a few like these! I'm posting these especially for my readers in India who often have a problem finding cupcake liners. I really liked using these!

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins adapted from Nic @ Cherrapeno


Ingredients


1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup vanilla sugar (or granulated sugar)

1/2 cup melted butter, cooled

1 cup milk (room temperature)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1 orange

1/2 cup chocolate chips


Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 12 hole regular muffin tray.

Whisk zest, egg, milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add melted butter, and whisk again.

In a big bowl mix well the following - both flours, vanilla sugar, baking powder and salt.

Now pour in the milk mixture and the butter mixture, and mix in gently with a spatula until just moist. DO NOT over mix or muffins won't be nice & soft. Fold in chocolate chips lightly; do not over mix.

Fill up the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full. Sprinkle over with orange sugar ot mini chocolate chips if desired.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes.

Cool on rack.

The copyright for this post and photographs rests with Deeba Rajpal of Passionate About Baking, and are reproduced here with her permission.

On an aside, my blog has its own custom domain (its a [dot]com instead of a blogspot[dot]com) from today, and you should be automatically redirected to the new address from the former blogspot address. If you subscribe to my posts, please update your readers.