Cranberry & Chocolate Muffins

In less than 36 hours we will be on a plane, on our way to sunny and warm Mexico! The timing couldn't be better, apparently a blizzard is moving it's way in and the temperatures are going to drop like crazy over the week. Fingers crossed that the blizzard arrives after our plane is set to take off!


In preparation for the 6 hour plane ride, followed by a wait in customs, and then a 1.5 to 2 hour bus ride to our final destination, I made some tasty and quick muffins to keep us from becoming famished.  I don't know about you, but I need to eat on a very regular basis, or I become a grumpy girl! These muffins will definitely do the trick :)

This recipe is adapted from the Cranberry Sparkle Muffins recipe in the Mostly Muffins cookbook by Company's Coming.  They were super easy to make, and you can use any type of berry that you have on hand.  The recipe originally called for fresh cranberries, but since I had some dried ones on hand from the Christmas season, I threw those in instead and they worked great.

Another bonus about this recipe? It is quite healthy too! I think next time I make these I will try substituting half of the white flour for whole wheat flour.  This makes 12 deliciously light and tasty muffins.


Cranberry & Chocolate Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup vanilla or plain yogurt (I used low-fat plain, and it worked great!)
• 1 tsp vanilla (if using plain yogurt)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat your oven to 375F, and grease a muffin pan
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt
3. In a second bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until fluffy
4. Add the eggs (one at a time) to the margarine/sugar, and mix well after each egg
5. Add the yogurt, and vanilla if using, to the wet ingredients and mix well
6. Prepare a well in the dry ingredients, and slowly pour the wet ingredients into the well
7. Add the dried cranberries and chocolate chips to the bowl, and mix slowly until the batter is just moistened
8. Fill the prepared muffin tin with the batter and then sprinkle the top of the batter with the extra sugar
9. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a muffin
10. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, before turning onto a rack to cool
11. Enjoy!

I will do my best to add some new material to the blog over the next couple weeks, but I am not sure what the internet situation will be like. Please bear with me if I am unable to access it over the next two weeks :)