Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I don’t think there is anything worse than the summer cold. I am suffering from a nasty one right now. Sore throat, congestion and fatigue. It’s a good thing the weather here has been rainy or else I would seriously be feeling ripped off. We only experience super warm weather here in Winnipeg approximately 3-4 months out of the year. The rest of the year the weather fluctuates between mediocre and freezing cold. You may recall that even when I tried to escape the freezing cold this past winter and escaped to Arizona to visit Claudia, I was hit by a nasty flu bug and was bedridden for the entire vacation. I guess I’m simply not meant to bask the the glorious sun while being poolside and healthy.

Speaking of Claudia, she’s back in town after a few weeks in Saskatchewan. Of course, she brought me back a plethora of freshly-picked berries – Strawberries and Saskatoon Berries to be exact (Saskatoon Berry recipe coming soon!). Since I have inherited my body weight in berries, I decided to get rid of the current ones in my fridge. Enter these delicious Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins. I absolutely love them. LOVE THEM. They are delicious! The perfect balance of juicy tart raspberries combined with the sweet/bitter dark chocolate and cinnamon baked goodness. They are a hit here in my house. The other bonus about this recipe is that you don’t need an electric mixer. It is highly recommended that you mix all the ingredients by hand to prevent over-mixing and, in turn, dry muffins.

You will need:

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup milk, at room temperature (any regular milk or soy milk will do)
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-¼ cup fresh raspberries (I don’t recommend frozen)

In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs, white and brown sugar until completely combined.

Next, whisk in your vegetable oil, milk and vanilla.

Mix well.

Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir until all the flour is just combined.

Again it’s important to not over-mix. Mixing with a spoon versus an electric mixer is your best bet.

The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy. This is totally normal.

Gently fold in your chocolate chips.

FInally, very gently fold in your raspberries.

You want to be careful not to break the berries as this prevents streaking. Doesn’t affect your overall taste but does affect the visual presentation.

Spray muffin pan with non-stick baking spray.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins, filling all the way to the top.

This recipe makes 1 dozen regular-sized muffins or 6 jumbo-sized muffins.

Bake at 425 degrees fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees fahrenheit and continue to bake for 18 minutes (25-28 for jumbo-sized muffins) or until tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.