Coffee Chocolate Muffins

I was looking for a simple muffin recipe I could make with pantry staples to bring for an island outing - the Toronto islands, that is, not very tropical but always fabulous fun in the summer. We sit on the beach, gorge ourselves on snacks, play some cards and badminton... except for the wicked sunburn on part of my leg, it was lovely! Before I left, I filled a tin with some Coffee Chocolate Muffins, grabbed a few small jars of jam (strawberry and blackcurrant) and set out for the ferry docks. Note: I made the recipe a little differently because I was browsing through many different recipes for ideas.

Dry ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, the wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup strongly brewed coffee (at room temperature) and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Mix the two together, and when they're almost incorporated, add in 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips. This is to make sure you don't overmix. Never overmix your muffin batter! Mmm, this batter was a lovely brown colour and looked super chocolatey!

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. And voila - chocolate muffins just waiting to be eaten slathered with jam. You don't taste the coffee too much, it just helps the chocolate taste even better. To get coffee flavour you'd have to add instant coffee granules or coffee flavouring. These were simple, decadent and - most important for a picnic - portable! And they helped me use up some coffee beans that were too weak for my taste. Win-win.