For all chocolate lovers

Yesterday, for the third time in a few weeks, I made chocolate muffins. I've seen the recipe so often I almost have it memorized. These muffins are pure goodness, people. I wanted to share the recipe, just in case you get the same itch for some homemade chocolatey heaven that I did. It's from my favorite cookbook in the world, The Illustrated Kitchen Bible.

Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk [if you don't have buttermilk lying around the house - I never do - just mix 1 cup milk and 2 tbsp lemon juice, and let it sit for 5 minutes before using]

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. [Or do as I did and just spray the pan with cooking spray.]

2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, then make a well in the center.

3. Whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the well in the flour mixture and stir until the batter is just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each one three-quarters full. [Side note: If you're only making 12 muffins, you're going to have to fill each muffin cup way more than three-quarters full. In fact, each muffin cup will be overflowing. But that's okay.]

4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely.

I'm pretty sure this recipe is foolproof. The first time I made it I didn't have any vanilla extract, so I left it out and they turned out fine. The second time I used vanilla extract and they didn't taste any different from the first time. And the third time, yesterday, I didn't use any eggs. I couldn't believe it actually worked. I had everything all mixed up (and had accidentally poured the vegetable oil into the dry ingredients instead of mixing it with the liquids), and realized I didn't have any eggs in the house. I didn't want to let my batter go to waste, though, so I mixed in about 1/4 cup more milk and 1/4 cup more oil, and popped the muffins in the oven anyway. They turned out beautifully. I couldn't taste the difference.