Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have been wanting to make chocolate chip muffins for awhile now. Today, I found a recipe and tonight I made them.

O.M.G. These are so good. Amazingly so.

First, the website I got them at is http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/01/17/bakery-style-chocolate-chip-muffins/ She deserves all the credit, and you should read that post just because it's kind of awesome. And so are the pictures. Much better than mine. LOL.

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional, I chose not to do it because I couldn't find coarse sugar at the store)

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease muffin tin (or line with paper cups) and set aside.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk eggs and sugar, then add milk, oil and vanilla and mix.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix together using a wooden spoon, until all the flour is off the bottom and there are no pockets of flour in the mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon/pour batter into the muffin tin, filling all the way to the top. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar, if you're doing that.

Bake in the 425F oven for 5 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 375F and bake for another 13 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

I wish I knew where I found this recipe, so I could give whoever came up with it credit. But alas, I found it somewhere online, copied/pasted it to a sticky and long forgot where it came from. Tonight though, I made it and holy toledo is it ever good! We will definitely make this again.

4-6 chicken breasts or thighs (I actually used 3 chicken breasts)

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup lemon-lime soda

2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

2 Tablespoons corn starch

2 Tablespoons water

Rice or noodles, cooked

Red pepper flakes (optional) 

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken in slow cooker (frozen or thawed, doesn't matter). Mix together brown sugar, vinegar, soda, garlic, soy sauce and pepper. Pour over chicken.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours (that's what I did). 

I actually skipped this next step and may try it next time, but may not because it was awesome without doing it.

Take chicken out of the cooker and pour remaining sauce into a saucepan. Place over high heat. Mix together corn starch and water, pour into saucepan and mix well. Let sauce come to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken and turns into a glaze. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute or two.

Serve chicken over rice or noodles and top with glaze. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired (I didn't do that either).

We had ours with basmati rice. It would definitely be good with pasta too. 

Sorry for the somewhat crappy picture. I just took a quick one with my phone.