i heart muffins

we do this little thing at work every thursday called 'snack in the back', where each person takes a turn bringing in lil goodies for the office to share.

the funny thing is, is that there's not really a back in which to snack. i'd say it's more of a snack-in-the-galley-kitchen-spilling-into-the-hallway-and-sometimes-into-courtneys-cubicle.

either way, i like to come up with a lil something homemade whenever it's my week. and today happens to be my snack day, so i've made one of my favourites - orange chocolate-chip muffins.

ingredients
1 whole medium-sized orange
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 egg
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar

1. preheat the oven to 375F.
   
2. cut the orange into pieces and remove the seeds.
   
3. put the pieces in a blender (vintage model as pictured above optional) with orange juice and whirl (yes, that's what it actually says in my recipe book. whirl.) until finely chopped.
4. drop in the egg and softened butter. whirl it again. yep - whirl it good.
   
5. stir together the dry ingredients. if it tickles your fancy, sifting everything together but the sugar makes it a lil nicer - but is by no means absolutely necessary. whatever floats your boat.
6. pour the orange mixture over the dry ingredients and add in the chocolate chips. Stir only until moistened.
7. at this point, if i'm feelin saucy, i like to add some more chocolate chips.
8. fill muffin cups halfway full with batter; bake for 15-20 mins at 375F.

the original recipe used dates, but i switched them out for chocolate chips. if you'd like to use dates or even raisins, just use a half cup and no chocolate chips.

makes 12 muffins, so you may want to make extras because they'll go quickly.

a word to the wise, though - this recipe tends to work best as a single batch. if you need to make more, don't just double the ingredients on a wing and a prayer ... do it in separate bowls for best results.