Strawberry Chocolate Chip Jumbo Muffins {Bakery Style}

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // April 13, 2016 // 34 Comments

Really moist bakery style jumbo muffins full of chocolate chips and a gooey strawberry sauce centre. These Strawberry Chocolate Chip Jumbo Muffins are super-sized, absolutely delicious and taste just like they came from a fancy bakery. With no mixer or fancy ingredients required and simple tips on how to get extra tall muffins with perfect tops (even without a king-size muffin pan), you don’t wanna miss this recipe!

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Muffins are usually my treat of choice when visiting a bakery, they just look so inviting towering over everything else, and there’s just something about a bakery muffin that is so delicious! Well, I’m here to help you recreate that amazing flavour and those sky high muffins at home, with just a wooden spoon, some mixing bowls and some every day, not-so-secret ingredients and methods. Not all heroes wear capes, some of us wear aprons 😉 In all seriousness though, these bakery style jumbo muffins are absolutely scrummy and totally customisable to whatever flavour your heart desires.

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Banoffee Muffins

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // February 18, 2015 // 38 Comments

Insanely delicious and moist, these Banoffee Muffins are full of yummy banana and sweet toffee flavour – with perfect high muffin tops

I love smooshing words together to make one new word, which is probably why I say y’all every other sentence even though I’m painfully English! For those of you who don’t know what banoffee is – first of all, I’m sorry, because that means you’ve never had the heavenly experience of banoffee pie! Banoffee is a combination of Banana and Toffee, banoffee pie is a no bake pie with toffee, fresh bananas and whipped cream and it’s to die for. I actually have a recipe for it that I posted last year. This year though I decided banoffee would be an amazing muffin flavour and boy was I right!

It’s no secret that I like to buy bunches of bananas and leave them in the fruit bowl to go brown so I can bake with them – I don’t actually like eating bananas by themselves. So I had 4 bananas getting very, very brown and I had to decide what to do with them, my first thought was chocolate banana ice cream and these muffins. I made the chocolate banana ice cream first and while it was it was delicious I couldn’t stop thinking about this muffin idea! Especially since I had a bag of Heath Toffee Bits that I brought back from America with me that would be perfect for them. So out to buy more bananas I went – supermarkets should really have a section of very ripe bananas so I don’t have to play the waiting game! I mean, they sell still green ones so why not already brown ones?!

These muffins were totally worth the wait though. The little bits of toffee melt into the muffin making them indescribably moist and bursting with sweetness all over. The toffee is perfectly balanced with the amazing banana flavour in every bite, the two flavours really do compliment each other in the best way. And while these muffins are incredibly moist, they’re not too dense or heavy, they have the perfect muffin texture with high, chewy muffins tops. There are also semi sweet chocolate chips dispersed throughout, to cut through the sweetness of the banana and toffee and also because I like my banoffee pie with a tad of chocolate (just the way I like life too!).

And don’t just take my word on how good these muffins are. My mum’s work colleagues are my willing taste testers and one of them referred to these muffins as “stunning and better than sex”, which is a pretty good testimonial in my book! So trust us on this one, make these muffins and everybody who tries them will be your new best friend – got your eye on a promotion at work? Pop a basket of these muffins on your boss’s desk and you’re a shoe-in…. not that I’m advocating bribery (nothing wrong with a little buttering up though, hey?).

The one and only downside to these muffins is you can’t buy Heath Toffee Bits in the UK, so I’m waiting on the best friend to mail me over a few bags so I can make these again. In the mean time though I might try experimenting with toffee products I can get here in the UK, or perhaps I’ll try making my own toffee crunch. If you can’t get Heath Toffee Bits where you live and you decide to experiment with other things (which I highly encourage, even if they don’t come out perfect I’m willing to bet the experiments will still be delicious!) please do let me know how it turned out. And hey, if the makers of Heath Toffee want to send me some Toffee Bits they’d be very warmly received -wink wink-

A muffin isn’t a muffin with a nice high, chewy top so I can’t ever post a recipe for muffins without including how I make sure I always get one – the secret is to fill the muffin cases or holes to the top and baking on a higher temperature for the first ten minutes of baking. Because of all the moistening factors in these muffins I used bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and vinegar as my leavening agent so they wouldn’t end up too dense, it really gives them a great lift.

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Banoffee Muffins

2015-02-17 22:32:27

Yields 12

Insanely delicious and moist, these banoffee muffins are bursting with sweet toffee and banana flavour.

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Ingredients

220g plain flour (all purpose)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 bag of Heath Toffee Bits (8oz/225g)
200g semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 very ripe bananas
125ml Vegetable oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 large eggs
100g brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with papers.
Add the flour, cinnamon and bicarb to a bowl and whisk to combine. Remove 1 tbsp and put in medium bowl. Set both aside.
Mash the bananas in a large bowl (you can also put them in blender if you want them smooth, I like a few small lumps in mine).
Beat in the oil and vinegar until combined.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat to combine.
Add sugar and beat to combine.
Add flour (not reserved 1 tbsp) and gently beat until just combined (do not overmix).
Remove 1-2 tbsp of the toffee bits and set aside, add the remaining toffee bits and chocolate chips to the bowl with the 1tbsp flour mixture and stir to coat (this helps stop them all sinking to the bottom of the muffins)
Gently stir the toffee bits and chocolate chips into the muffin batter by hand until evenly dispersed.
Spoon batter into muffin papers, up to the top. Sprinkle the tops with the reserved 1-2 tbsp of toffee bits.
Bake for 10 minutes at 230C/450F. Without opening the oven door, turn the oven down to 200C/400F and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and skewer comes out without wet batter.
Cool in tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
Yummy served warm or cooled

Notes

It's important not to over mix the batter, the less you mix it the lighter your crumb will be
I used Heath bits o' brickle toffee bits, but I'm sure the milk chocolate ones would be good too
Store in air tight container for 3-5 days

By Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake

A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/

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Chocolate Banana Muffins

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // January 1, 2015 // 40 Comments

Happy New Year everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and 2015 is full of non stop awesome for you! I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, especially diet related ones! I’m a baker and I’m very attached to my butter and sugar, dieting just isn’t for me even if I would like to lose a couple pounds. With that said, the first recipe I’m posting in 2015 is pretty healthy! I’m not a calorie or nutrition counter so I don’t know how healthy these are but they have no butter, the majority of the sweetness comes from the bananas with only a small amount of brown sugar supplementing it. They’re also made with wholemeal (whole wheat) flour – they’re practically a health food! These will also be dairy free if you use chocolate chips that don’t contain dairy (I use semi-sweet chips, which do contain traces of milk I believe). You could also potentially make them vegan with a little fiddling, replacing the eggs with applesauce would probably work but I haven’t tested that, so I can’t say for sure.

These chocolate banana muffins are also delicious, way more delicious than they are healthy which is my kind of muffin! They’re a nice dense, moist muffin, I hate those muffins that are like biting into air, I want some substance in my muffins – leave the light and airy for the cupcakes! They’re equally chocolatey and banana-ry, with a hint of cinnamon to give them a nice flavour depth. The chocolate chips are definitely a must too, they add little chunks of chocolatey goodness and a little extra sweetness,

These muffins came about because I had a few way too ripe bananas – my first idea was, naturally, banana bread, but I only had three bananas so it would have been a very small loaf! Muffins seemed like a great idea and they really were! Over ripened bananas are so great for baking, never ever throw away those brown bananas okay! They look pretty nasty and aren’t fun to eat, but the riper they get the sweeter they are, so when they’re all brown and mushy, there’s so much natural sweetness in them that’s perfect for baking, you can even cut down on your sugar usage because of all the natural sweetness. Next time you have some bananas getting a bit too comfy in your kitchen, you should definitely turn them into these muffins, you’ll love them! They’re worth buying bananas especially to make these muffins, you’ll have some waiting time but they’re so yummy it’s worth the wait.

Because of all the natural sweetness, you really can have them at any time. Grab one for a quick and tasty breakfast in the morning, pack one in the kid’s lunchbox for a snack or treat, or even pass them out as dessert after dinner – everybody will love them any time of the day. They have those wonderful domed and chewy muffins tops that are essential for a good muffin! The best way, I find, to get a good muffin top is to fill the paper cases up until they’re almost full and then bake on a high temperature for 10 minutes before lowering it to bake throughout – I never fail to get a great muffin top with that method!

So, 2015 is finally upon us! The year of my golden birthday, the rugby world cup, the year of general elections in the UK and, assuming she’s still reigning towards the end of the year, Queen Elizabeth II will be our longest reigning queen, beating Queen Victoria! And lots more yet to be determined I’m sure. I haven’t made any proper resolutions but I do plan on a few changes this year to help make it a good year – and of course, there will be lots of baking! Do you guys have any big plans for 2015? Have you made any resolutions?

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Clementine and Pomegranate Muffins

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // November 28, 2014 // 51 Comments

These Clementine and Pomegranate Muffins are the perfect way to get your Christmas fix in the mornings, full of festive flavours and totally delicious!

Bye Bye Thanksgving, Hello Christmas! I figured it made sense to start off my Christmas themed recipes with a breakfast recipe! Because what better way to get yourself in the festive spirit than tucking into a yummy muffin full of Christmassy fruits and flavours in the morning? Of course, you can eat these any time of the day, don’t limit yourself to just breakfast time!

(the problem with taking photos with shiny baubles is you can’t avoid including yourself in the photos!)

Pomegranates are such a great Christmas fruit, those red jewels are just so festive and they taste their best in the winter. I can’t really place why clementines are festive, but they are aren’t they? Maybe it’s because it’s customary in many places to include a clementine in Christmas stockings, did you get one in yours? Or will you be popping one in your kids stockings this year? Personally, I prefer a chocolate orange in mine, that’s fruit too right?!

But wherever these traditions come from, you can’t deny the yumminess of the combination of these two and they taste like elves dancing on your tongue – or something less weird sounding! My brain is too fried to think of a better metaphor so I’m afraid you’re stuck with that one! They’re not just festive, they’re beautifully moist with a chewy top, so delicious! Just the way a muffin should be. The trick to getting that classic muffin top is to fill your cases almost to top and bake at a high heat for 10 minutes, before reducing it down to bake all the way through. That way the muffins puff up on the top and retain the moisture throughout.

Getting the pomegranate seeds to evenly disperse is a little trickier. I like to toss them in a little of the flour mixture, which definitely helps, but since the batter is a bit on the thinner side for these muffins a lot of them are still going to sink. But you’ll have a few up at the top and they still taste wonderful, so who cares! There’s no muffin police here!

These muffins are beautifully moist because they’re fully of lovely clementine juice, I also used kefir milk in them because it’s my new favourite thing, but also because they also keep them moist and rich tasting.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may already have seen me post about the semi break I am taking from blogging at the moment. It’s not a full break because I enjoy it too much for that, but as I’ve mentioned before I have a few health issues and right now I really need to take care of myself. Those of you who blog know how much effort can go into it, it’s so much more than just writing a few posts, and as much as I do enjoy doing it I need the rest more right now! I’m not going away completely, my next post will be sometime next week (Wednesday at the earliest) and hopefully after then I’ll be back on a regular schedule (or at least most of the time). Over the next week there won’t be much activity on my Twitter or Facebook accounts either – but there will still be a little posting on my Instagram, I’m heading to Atlanta on Monday so come follow me on there if you wanna see what I get up to or just my general ramblings, I’d love to chat with you on there!

I hope this recipe will tide you over for a little while anyway, it is a good one! I’m gonna bring these muffins along to Fiesta Friday, in the hopes they get you all in a nice, festive mood! Come party with us, it’s always a lot of fun and along with our fab host Angie, we have two wonderful co hosts to party with this week – Prudy and Jess. And I’ll be back with a post in time for next week’s FF, I’m never one to miss a good party 😉

Keep safe guys, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving if you celebrate it and have fun getting ready for whatever holidays you may celebrate this winter!

Clementine and Pomegranate Muffins

2014-11-27 23:37:56

Yields 10

Moist muffins with clementine and pomegranate and a chewy muffin top!

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Ingredients

220g plain flour (all purpose flour)
170g caster sugar (super fine granulated sugar)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 clementines, peeled
240ml kefir milk*
1 large egg
115g unsalted butter
1 pomegranate - seeds only

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F and line a muffin tin with papers
Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Put the clementines in a food processor, and blitz until you have a puree. Stir in the kefir milk.
Put the egg and butter in a large bowl and beat.
Stir in the clementine mixture.
Put one tbsp of the flour mixture in a small, and add the remaining to the muffin mixture. Stir to combine.
Put the pomegranate seeds in the bowl with the 1 tbsp flour and stir to coat.
Stir the pomegranate seeds into the muffin mixture gently, until evenly dispersed.
Spoon the mixture into the cases, filling almost to the top. Sprinkle a little caster sugar on top if desired.
Bake at 230C/450F for 10 minutes. Leaving the muffins in the oven, turn the temperature down to 200C/400F and bake for another 10 minutes, or until they're a light golden brown and springy to touch.
Remove from the oven, leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely

Notes

*If you don't have kefir milk, you can use greek yogurt instead.
Will keep in an air tight container for 3 days

By Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake

A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/

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Nutella Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Mini Muffins

by Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe // July 18, 2014 // 39 Comments

Oh, what can I say about these little drops of heaven that doesn’t sound like some inappropriate love poem? They are probably some of the best things I’ve ever baked, and I’ve baked a lot of great things (who needs modesty, right?). Unfortunately I can’t claim the credit for this recipe, it’s from the wonderful Sally’s Baking Addiction. The only changes I made was I made them in mini form and used plain flour!

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