Wednesday 27 November 2013

Marmalade Chocolate Chip Muffins.......the Aftermath of a Disaster


Want a good laugh? Two weeks ago I baked Marmalade Muffins. I happily put finishing touches to the muffins before placing them into the oven. When I walked back to the dining table, this was what I found :


Melted butter left behind.

Yaaaaarrrrghhhh!!!! I FORGOT TO ADD BUTTER TO THE BATTER!!!!!!! I was dumfounded at 5:30am on a Sunday morning. What was I to do? These muffins are a goner for sure and since they were already in the oven, nothing could be done to save them. Looking on the bright side (in research and development mode) I can now answer this burning question with absolute certainty - can we leave out butter/vegetable oil when baking muffins? The answer my friends, as you all jolly well know, is a resounding NO! But........there is a but.........Swasthi did an Eggless Banana Chocolate Muffin - No Butter, No Oil, No Sugar Recipe so I could be wrong.



With my heart in my stomach (that's what it felt like), I cleared my baking tools and took a peep into the oven. No wonder the muffin cups looked under-filled. But being well behaved muffins, they rose high and proud. When they were done, I dutifully took them out of the oven to cool. I took one out of the pan and gave it a squeeze. It was soft, nothing out of the ordinary. Looks and feels like a normal muffin. But when I took a bite, well, it tasted bleaghh! The texture was dryish. something like "huat kueh" after two days. So there you go, my thesis on muffins with no butter.



Has this ever happened to you? This is not the first time that my ingredients missed the bus. I have left out vanilla essence, pandan essence and baking powder. And there was that other time when I finished blending a spice paste and to my horror saw that the chillies were still sitting pretty in the bowl. But this I would say is the most disastrous yet. My muffins all went into the bin :(



But all is not lost as I am now more vigilant when preparing muffins. I cross check to make sure I don't miss anything and it led to these very nice Marmalade Chocolate Chip Muffins. I found the muffin liners last Friday at Tesco and I thought they were rather pretty. But expensive. RM5.90 for only 10 liners.



I opened a new bottle of marmalade and added 1 cup into the batter. I also used 2 tubs of plain yogurt and got worried that the batter might be too wet. But it was just nice after I added flour. I think the muffins looked quite nice studded with extra chocolate chips. I was a bit careless when placing the baked muffins on the cooling rack because one of them took a tumble. Butterfingers!


This fellow did a kamikaze and lost a few chips.

I was very happy with the end product as the muffins were moist and tender. The marmalade did not taste too strong. It's orangey flavor complemented the chocolate very well. And even though I did not add any sugar to the batter, the sweetness from the marmalade and chocolate chips were sufficient to sweeten things up. Of course, for those of you who prefer a sweeter muffin, you may need to add some sugar. 













Marmalade Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe Source : A mish mash of the many mufin recipes I sourced from the internet
Makes 12 regular sized muffins

Ingredients :
- 230 grams self raisng flour
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 95g butter, melted and cooled
- 270ml plain yogurt
- 1 cup marmalade (I used St Dalfour)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips plus extra for topping
(I left out sugar intentionally as I found the ingredients sweet enough. Please add if you prefer sweeter muffins)

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 160C
2. Line muffin pans with paper liners
3. In a mixing bowl add yogurt, eggs, melted butter, marmalade and vanilla extract. Stir to mix.
4. In another mixing bowl, add flour and 1 cup chocolate chips. Mix to coat the chocolate chips with flour and make a well in the centre.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and lightly fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
6. Scoop batter into lined muffins pans and top each muffin with a few chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

46 comments:

  1. Phew.....at least it still stay moist else you will need extra cup of coffee or tea to go with these cuppies to swallow down....hehehe.. or right after you took out from the oven, maybe you can drizzle the butter on top at least it wont be that dry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mel, I threw the first batch away because gone case liao! Second batch was nice because I made sure everything went in :)

      Delete
  2. I have forgot ingredients many times. Now marmalade muffins? This sounds great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cathleen, the orangey flavour imparted by the marmalade was great! Very handy when you don't have fresh oranges.

      Delete
  3. Hello Phong Hong...

    Pagi pagi I masuk sini, sudah baca you membebelkan yourself. Hehehe... Never mind, take it as the mouth excercise, and in this case, fingers excercise! Hahaha...
    You've forgotten to add melted butter into your muffins... you know what I once forgotten to add into my muffin mixture? SUGAR!!! Of all the things in the world! And to make things worst... I baked that when I had guests at home! Luckily they are close family, so can kautim la... hahaha..
    Anyway, your muffin looks yummy. Must go to the store to get some yougurt. Adoi so malas to get out of the house... huhuhu....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MamaFami, I frust sangat tau masa tu! Membazir semua bahan-bahan lain. I rasa macam nak ketuk kepala sendiri! Anyway, God didn't want me to eat muffins kot, dah lah suppose to diet. But second batch was good, I learnt my lesson :)

      Delete
  4. I so want to try baking these already...
    I am reading this from my office desktop.. Feel like trying this weekend.. But I do not have a few stuffs in your recipe: yogurt, marmalade and choc chip..
    When I am reading this, my brain is thinking about switching to raspberry jam coz I have a tub sitting at home and nobody want to touch it, haha..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Louiz! Raspberry flavour nice also. Yogurt really makes the muffins moist, so I always use it in place of buttermilk. Your Kenzie boy will like the choc chip muffins.

      Delete
  5. Phong Hong you know or not your muffin looks so cute I love the look of it but too sayang to eat it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EE, must eat! If not just looking at it will be a waste hee..hee...

      Delete
  6. Hi Phong Hong,

    You are funny! I like your kamikaze muffins... No fat, No sugar muffins??? How is this possible? Got to check out Swathi's recipe :p

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Zoe! I was wondering too, but it seems to work for Swasthi. I guess for banana muffins it should be OK as banana provides the moisture and sweetness.

      Delete
  7. Oh, these muffins look so normal & if you didn't tell us, we won't have known, hehehe! Did you put the butter far far away? May be can try making this again next time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jessie, actually the muffins you are looking at are the second batch. I didn't take photo of the first batch because so sian liao. Wasted my ingredients :(

      Delete
  8. Just had lunch but looking at these cakes, I think I need tea break soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hah! Hah! These muffins would be perfect for your tea break :)

      Delete
  9. I love to read your post, I like the way you describe the baking process...finally you did it even though you left out the butter in the first bake.I was laughing when I read that your muffin "kamikaze"...I must say,well done Phong Hong! Your muffin looks so good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jozelyn! Now I will always remember to add all my ingredients :)

      Delete
  10. Hi Phong Hong, so sorry to hear your muffin adventure. Don't worry, I must admit these things do happen to me. Now, I make sure all ingredients are laid right in front on the table top before I start any baking or cooking. I'll try this muffin soon cos' I have homemade marmalade in the fridge. Muffin liners are quite costly, that's why I don't bake muffins that often...Kiam siap, hehehe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kimmy! Hee..hee...nowadays I try to be systematic like you. Lay out everything properly and double check before scooping the batter. Normally I will use cupcake liners because they are cheaper (I also kiam siap) but these muffin liners were quite pretty I couldn't resist.

      Delete
  11. ha ha yes I have done it before! I have forgotten oil, eggs, sugar! Your second batch looks great. Never baked muffins with marmalade and it sounds interesting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mich, I am so glad I am not alone hee...hee...

      Delete
  12. I keep on forgetting ingredients, first: to buy them (luckily the shop is just a few meters from my house) and to add them:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ola! It also happened to me when there is missing ingredient! I would be too lazy to walk out and buy :(

      Delete
  13. I'm getting forgetful too nowadays...so I count my ingredients and counter check with my list. Your 2nd batch looks great, bookmarked!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheah, that's the right approach! Just like a surgeon checking the surgical instruments :D

      Delete
  14. Hi Phong Hong,
    You are so funny! Make me smile, reading your post at midnight! And am feeling a little hungry looking at your muffins! Your muffins looks so good!
    I do have my forgetful moments too, once I have forgotten to add in melted butter too for a cake, I took the tray out of the oven even though it has been about 5 minutes in the oven, mix in the butter and the cake became a kuih! Haha! I have even missed out on baking powder before!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! Hah! Hah! These misadventures make for good sharing. I learnt a lesson from this muffin fiasco (should have learnt lesson long ago) and I try to be systematic. It is such a waste to throw a whole batch of muffins!

      Delete
  15. I once forgotten to add oil in my pandan chiffon cake, the cake rose nicely but as expected tasted dry. It happens to the best of us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bungatelang! Your words are comforting and I feel relieved it's not just me!

      Delete
  16. Sometime it happened to me too..anyway, the second batch looks good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sonia! Myself more careful now :)

      Delete
  17. Disaster? But they look soooo good! No butter? Then it would be something like kay-nerng kor or kuih bahulu? Those are nice too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arthur, this is the second batch. The first one with no butter was yukkss!!

      Delete
  18. Looking delicious cakes. I like your post, nice bakes.... thanks for sharing healthy food guide
    .

    ReplyDelete
  19. oh dear, phong hong :) it is very entertaining to read your blog :) you turn your disastrous trial into a good laugh. i'm very keen to try out! btw, i have been there, done that, too. i admit. i can be super absent-minded too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sibu Food Diva! Very comforting to know that I am not alone!

      Delete
  20. hahahahaaha! Sorry for laughing but it's a brilliant story! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm such a klutz too! Looks like the fiasco ended well anyway- the muffins look yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, yeah, I do this sort of thing ALL the time. Just this week I left the salt out of a bread recipe and kneaded it in at the last minute. I was so glad I realized before it was too late. Glad your second batch was a success :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Liz! If Liz Berg does that sort of thing too, then I am normal after all hah! hah!

      Delete
  22. Hi Phong Hong, I think it happen to many of us, miss out one or two ingredients. After cook/bake only realize the ingredient still sitting on the kitchen table top. LOL

    Anyway your this muffin look delicious. Love the chocolate chips.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amelia, I love chocolate chips in muffins. I love that burst of chocolate when I bite into it. That is one ingredient that I won't forget!

      Delete