Chocolate Chip-Coffee Muffins

On Wednesday, I set forth to make Glazed Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake. It came together easy, the batter tasted amazing, and it came out of the oven looking amazing. I put it on the cooling rack to cool, and couldn't wait to take some pictures and get to blogging.

I waited about an hour, and then tried to get the cake out of the pan. It completely fell apart. My hopes were dashed and I was grumpy the rest of the day. I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm not an expert baker and that I am still learning. Sigh.

It ended up tasting pretty good, even though it's in pieces instead of nice, neat slices.

I decided to redeem myself yesterday and make something easy. I'd seen these muffins a couple of issues of Cooking Light ago, and muffins seemed like a safe option.

I like these muffins. They didn't rise much during baking, and they are a denser muffin. They are crispy on the outside, but moist on the inside. You can taste coffee and chocolate in every bite. I found them perfect with a cup of coffee in the morning. I'm a big fan. I might even have another before my morning workout :)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
5 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp instant coffee
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine milk through canola oil. Stir well with a whisk, set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour through the salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill cups 3/4 way full. Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, remove to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before storage.

Adapted from Cooking Light