One of the many things I'm slightly obsessed with (alongside cardigans and Russian dolls to name but two) is animal print.
Yes, it can be trashy sometimes but I think a little hint of animal print can be rather sophisticated. Or at least that's what I tell myself and anyone who will listen.
Sadly, my boyfriend doesn't quite share my joy as exemplified by his reaction when he came home from work one Saturday to discover that I'd been out and bought some neon pink leopard print bedding (which I see is on sale right now if anyone feels like following suit).
I had an inkling when I bought it that it wasn't going to do down particularly well but my mother convinced me that it would be absolutely fine - I don't know why because I'm not sure my father's reaction if my mother had brought it home with her would have been any better. I tried the argument that it was nice bedding because it was all shiny and satiny but all that happened was my boyfriend would slide off when he sat on the bed to put his socks on. Still, as soon as he goes away for any length of time, out it comes.
There's not much that my boyfriend can object to, however, if I throw on a tiger print cardigan or slip on a pair of snakeskin heels, both of which I do with what is, most likely, a disturbing frequency.
Luckily, I have some wonderful friends who enable my addiction and I'd been looking for just the right opportunity to use some of the animal print muffin cases that I'd been bought for Christmas. I'm quite partial to a muffin at the best of times but give me a muffin in an animal print case and life probably can't get much better.
These are not just any old muffins though. I'd been wanting to make chocolate chip muffins for a while and was idly considering the best way to incorporate brown butter when I saw Lauren and Tracy both making brown butter blueberry muffins from the new Joy the Baker cookbook.
The book isn't released here for another couple of weeks but if this recipe is anything to go by, it will be worth the wait. The batter for these muffins was probably some of the best that I've ever tasted, all sweet and nutty and rich and wonderful and the end product is just as good as you would hope. I thought I was actually going to have to fight my boyfriend for the last one (despite the animal print cases). ~
Brown butter chocolate chip muffins Adapted from Joy the BakerYield: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 105g unsalted butter
- 80ml milk
- 1 egg & 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 170g plain/AP flour
- 165g caster sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 100g chocolate chips
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Line a muffin tin with paper cases.
- Cook the butter in a small pan over a low heat until it is a light brown colour and there are little brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and cool until needed.
- Beat the milk, egg, egg yolk and vanilla in a large bowl until light and frothy. Add the cooled brown butter and stir to combine.
- Add all the dry ingredients at once and fold until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and fold through the mixture.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.