Cookbook Challenge
Baking is not one of my forte. And even when I do follow a recipe exactly, the end product is usually still not up to scratch. So this week, I thought I will stick to a no fuss muffin recipe. I found a berry muffin recipe in Women’s Weekly, Old fashioned Favourites. It looked farily simple and with very little ingredients and only 3 steps!. Sounds like a fool proof recipe.
And as always, I decided to change the recipe. A few days before muffin making day, I posted a random question on my facebook page asking Mars or Snickers. Most preferred Snickers and I do too. The caramel in Mars makes it heavier and way too sweet for my palate. I had a couple of 18g Snicker and Mars bar so I would use this instead of berries in the muffin recipe.
Snickers vs Mars
I made mini muffins instead of the normal sized ones. This recipe makes 24 mini ones. And I just have to say I love the colourful cups! Cuteness 
Mixture in pretty mini cups
Ingredients:
- 190g self-raising flour
- 45g cold butter, chopped
- 110g castor sugar
- 155ml buttermilk
- 1 small egg, lightly beaten
- Snicker, Mars, Twirl & Cherry Ripe 18g bars
Bits of naughty chocolate in muffin mixture
Method:
- Preheat oven 160C fan-forced oven. Place pretty mini cups into muffin tray
- Sift flour into a large bowl. Rub in butter. Stir in sugar, buttermilk and egg. Do not over mix. Doesn’t matter if it is still lumpy. Spoon mixture into muffin cups
- Drop bits of naughty chocolate into each mixture. Bake for 20mins. Stand for 5 mins and then turn out on wire rack to cool
Which was our favourite?
The original recipe was for 12 big muffins. I halved the portions for my mini muffins. And in that process, I mis-measured the amount of sugar. The muffins was still pretty moist but lack sweetness. The Snickers and Mars were in the first batch of muffins that I made. Mister and I did not really like it. Maybe it was the lack of sweetness in the muffin. So I changed the second batch and added Twirl and Cherry Ripe instead. They turned out pretty good. And this could be a fun party treat as well! What do you think?
Head over to Jeroxie’s facebook page. Could you tell which was my favourite?
Will you make muffins from pre-packed mixture or have you tried and did you like it?
The list of yummy muffins from the rest:
Silvermoon Dragon from Dragon Musings – Cheesecake muffins
Ange from Vicious Ange – Apple & berry crumble muffins
Leigh from Chit Chat Chomp – Cherry muffins
Shellie from Iron Chef Shellie – Dark chocolate & raspberry muffins
Sarah from The Sugar Junkie – Tomato & basil muffins
Carolyn from Gluten Shmooten – Carrot & coconut muffins
Maree from Melbourne Delectable – Black Forest Muffins
Cherrie from Sweet Cherrie Pie – English muffins
Rilsta from My Food Trail – Cheese & spring onion muffins
Agnes from Off the Spork – Citrus poppy seed muffins
Bri from Bri Eats – Butternut pumpkin muffins with a frosty top
Anthea from What’s For Tea? – Semi-dried tomatoes, vintage cheddar & chive muffins
Yen from Food for Four – Pandan & coconut cupcakes
ohhh yum! they look really good. And I love your thinking – chocolate bars are always a good substitution!
hehe, you funny thing substituting chocolates instead of berries! Great chocolate selection
I have made muffins from a box before but there’s something just not quite right about it. It doesn’t seem to save any time anyway, I don’t think, as you still have to mix all the wet stuff through. Fair better to “cheat” by just going and buying some muffins!
Conor @ HoldtheBeef´s last blog ..Gnocch gnocch, who’s there?
You are my kinda gal. The recipe says “berries” but noooooo, Penny uses chocolate!!! Cherry Ripe muffins? The best of both worlds. I miss Cherry Ripes.
Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite´s last blog ..La Mère Pourcel, Dinan (France)
How cute! And what a great idea to make muffins with chocolate candies! Now I know what to do with all those chocolates my daughter got for Valentine’s day!
5 Star Foodie´s last blog ..International Gnocchi Party: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Nori Butter
Pfft, who puts fruit in a cupcake. Good choice I say
I can see you guys are back on the challenge thing
) – very cute muffins, I like mini “things”, some muffins are way to big! I would go with the chocolate ones! and I bet you did too?
citronetvanille´s last blog ..Seafood obsession part III – Spicy mussels and clams with leeks, beer, chili and herbs
Very cute. I think kids would love to make this recipe. Too bad you forgot the sugar. I always feel a little sad when I stuff up what should be a good recipe.
Mark @ Cafe Campana´s last blog ..My First Post – Steak Tacos With Pica De Gallo
Well, I like the idea of the mini muffins – I would have thought using the chocolate bars would have given it the added sweetness…
Trissa´s last blog ..Movida Rustica Review & Turron Recipe
That was what I thought and so I thought to add less sugar BUT not true!
Cute cute cute!!! I would have a problem making these though … cos I’d probably finish up those mini choc bars first!
The Little Teochew´s last blog ..Spaghetti Carbonara
Very cute indeed! I can’t bake at all except banana cake
3hungrytummies´s last blog ..Sweet and sour chicken spareribs 糖醋雞排
I love making small cupcakes- they’re so much cuter! I can never find patty cases that are exactly the size of my small cupcake tin though….haha
These cupcakes are really cute- and they look delicious too! I like the idea of putting chocolate on cupcakes- it sounds really nice!
Von´s last blog ..Yellow Cookies
Penny, your muffins look yummy!
Whenever I bake muffins, I’d bake mini ones too. They look cute and more inviting.
Christine@Christine’s Recipes´s last blog ..Japanese Style Bacon and Cheese Bread (Tangzhong Method 湯種法)
Hard to choose which one.I like them both. The mini muffins are cute indeed. It complements a cup of coffee or tea having having lunch or dinner.
those are the cutest muffins! I love the candy topping, Chocolate makes everything better too
Yum! Hehe I love adding things into recipes and I would have voted Snickers!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella´s last blog ..Kiama, “Glamping” & Jervis Bay
gonna love these – bitesize just for me
Drick´s last blog ..Shrimp in Beer
Hey, they look cute, doesn’t matter if they’re not sweet enough, healthy, no fear of diabetes, ha, ha!
Cheah´s last blog ..Pumpkin carrot with dried shrimps
Too cute!! And great choice to replace berries for chocolate!
Rilsta @ My Food Trail´s last blog ..Sydney Review: Red Lantern, Surry Hills
This is going to be a handy recipe come mid April when everyone is getting sick of the sight of easter eggs too!
And this post was evil, because it reminded me I have mini mars bars waiting to be cooked in bananas-in-their-skins and I went and ate some, and now I only just have enough left for the bananas!
SilverMoon Dragon´s last blog ..Flash Game Friday
I love the fact that you completely took out the fruit & thereby made no pretense whatsoever of these being healthy, just wicked goodness through & through.
Ange´s last blog ..The Cookbook Challenge – Week 16 – Noodles
OMG Penny! These look sooooo good! Great idea using those mini chocolate bars.
Cherrie´s last blog ..The Cook Book Challenge – Week 16 : Noodles
You are hilarious. These muffins are v, v, cute!
Trix´s last blog ..Sticky Buns, Challah Bread, Dinner Rolls & Doughs: Culinary School is Back in Session