Recipe-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Been thinking about adding a food element to my blog since along with everything else mentioned here cooking, baking and eating are big passions of mine. I'm going to share recipes I've created, adapted or tried and my general comments about them.

Original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Chip-Oatmeal-Muffins-12765

* are changes to the recipe, described in detail below

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar *

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon **

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted***

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup rolled oats, toasted lightly

1/3 cup white chocolate chips ****

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (next time I hope to use unsweetened for better contrast)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. In a bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon and the salt.
3. In another bowl whisk together the egg, the butter, and the milk, stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until the mixtures are just combined, and stir in the oats and the chocolate chips.
4. Divide the batter among 6 paper-lined 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the muffins in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
5. Transfer the muffins to a rack, let them cool slightly, and serve them warm.

Comments: Overall I loved this recipe. Chocolaty like I wanted, but not overpowering. Oats give it a heartier texture, but I thought the muffins were fairly moist. Most of the negative reviews on Epicurious complained of dryness, but I didn't have a problem. Perhaps the double amount of chocolate offset dryness.

Planned changes: Next time I plan to add some vanilla (many reviewers suggested this), unsweetened chocolate rather than semi-sweet and perhaps a bit more oats. I might also try whole wheat flour, though I am a bit worried that might suck a lot of the moisture. Maybe a little extra butter and the vanilla will offset the flour?

*I used brown sugar rather than white because I find it sweeter and more flavorful

**Whenever I bake cookies (or in this case muffins) I add cinnamon if it makes sense because I love that extra flavor

***Do NOT follow the Epicurious recipe to cool the butter. I did this and while it didn't ruin the recipe, I forgot butter congeals quickly and it was a mess. I've never had to do this for other recipes and I don't see why it is necessary for this one

****The original calls for walnuts and if you're a walnut fan by all means use them. I didn't have walnuts and I don't like nuts in general all that much so I decided to use the extra dose of chocolate and went with white to add contrast and a slightly different chocolate flavor.