Buttermilk, oat and chocolate chunk muffins

Many years ago, back in the day when we could go out for breakfast in relative peace and quiet, we used to visit a little tiny cafe in Drummoyne (Sydney) called the Bowen Island Bakery. We would order a coffee and these incredible choc-chip and oat muffins. The choc-chips in these muffins were more like asteroid-sized chunks of Valrhona and they were spectacularly moist, oaty and just a little bit salty.

I have been trying to re-create this recipe ever since. And I don’t claim to be exactly spot-on for this recipe, but it’s close enough to warrant sharing. These make terrific breakfast treats for kids, or grown-ups who need powerful low-GI hit in the morning. I freeze most of the batch and defrost them as needed because they reanimate better than they retain their freshness… and if you do it just right you get a little of that melty chocolate inside.

Choc-chip Oat Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:
1.5 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp salt
1 packet of Cadbury’s Bourneville (or some fancy expensive brand) dark chocolate, roughly chopped

OVEN 180C

Method:
Soak oats in the buttermilk for 15 minutes.
Melt the butter, allowing it too cool a bit.
Combine all the wet ingredients in a bowl, taking care not to combine HOT melted butter with the eggs – or you’ll get scrambled eggs.
Then add the dry ingredients, and stir till JUST combined.
Divide into muffin cases (I get 12 large) and bake until they’re done.