Happy Monday and last day of 2012! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was pretty low-key; I did some grocery shopping and visited a flea market.
Oh yeah, and I made a delicious cocktail and muffins! Hence the title. 
Lately I’ve been digging mule-type cocktails which consist of ginger beer, lime and any type of liquor. My liquor of choice is gin.
Ingredients
3 to 4 ice cubes
1 slice of fresh lime
1.5 oz. of liquor of choice (gin, vodka, rum) I used a shot glass to measure
Ginger beer
First, squeeze the lime into the glass, then add the shot of liquor. Top it off with the ginger beer and voila! A delicious evening cocktail. I’m pretty sure a lot of you know how to make a cocktail, but here ya go. 
And of course, you must be 21 in order to enjoy this!
Since it just snowed recently and it’s been cold where we live, I decided to do what I could to add heat to our home: I baked muffins! I just received a William’s Sonoma muffin cookbook for Christmas and had a ton of chocolate chips leftover from baking for Christmas (chocolate chip, caramel, pecan cookies = 
) so chocolate chip muffins was the winner!
Chocolate Chip Muffins
From the Williams Sonoma Muffin Cookbook
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate morsels)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350*. Grease 12 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners (I used liners).
2. In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
3. In another bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk mixture. Beat until smooth and well mixed, 1-2 minutes. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips just until evenly distributed. Do not over mix.
4. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling it level with the rim of the cup.
5. Bake until golden, dry, and springy to the touch, 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins and let cool completely. Serve them at room temperature.
I had one this morning and woo-wee, they are FULL of chocolate chips. AKA: delicious. I’m taking some in to work and giving some to our neighbor who was so nice to plow our driveway for us.
Have a great week everyone and Happy New Year!
Happy Monday and last day of 2012! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was pretty low-key; I did some grocery shopping and visited a flea market.
Oh yeah, and I made a delicious cocktail and muffins! Hence the title.
Lately I’ve been digging mule-type cocktails which consist of ginger beer, lime and any type of liquor. My liquor of choice is gin.
Ingredients
3 to 4 ice cubes
1 slice of fresh lime
1.5 oz. of liquor of choice (gin, vodka, rum) I used a shot glass to measure
Ginger beer
First, squeeze the lime into the glass, then add the shot of liquor. Top it off with the ginger beer and voila! A delicious evening cocktail. I’m pretty sure a lot of you know how to make a cocktail, but here ya go.
And of course, you must be 21 in order to enjoy this!
Since it just snowed recently and it’s been cold where we live, I decided to do what I could to add heat to our home: I baked muffins! I just received a William’s Sonoma muffin cookbook for Christmas and had a ton of chocolate chips leftover from baking for Christmas (chocolate chip, caramel, pecan cookies =
) so chocolate chip muffins was the winner!
Chocolate Chip Muffins
From the Williams Sonoma Muffin Cookbook
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate morsels)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350*. Grease 12 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners (I used liners).
2. In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
3. In another bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk mixture. Beat until smooth and well mixed, 1-2 minutes. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips just until evenly distributed. Do not over mix.
4. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling it level with the rim of the cup.
5. Bake until golden, dry, and springy to the touch, 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins and let cool completely. Serve them at room temperature.
I had one this morning and woo-wee, they are FULL of chocolate chips. AKA: delicious. I’m taking some in to work and giving some to our neighbor who was so nice to plow our driveway for us.
Have a great week everyone and Happy New Year!