I’m baaaaaack!
In fact, I’m back in more ways than one. Back to blogging, back to school, and back in the swing of things. It’s good to be back.
But let me tell you, being back isn’t all fun and games, rainbows and unicorns, flowers and fairy dust. In some ways it’s difficult to be back because, by being back, one tends to leave behind aspects of being away.
Back and away are metaphors of our divided lives. Everyone’s life is a proverbial give-and-take between back and away; as back emerges from the recesses of time, away recedes into the background, as does it’s memory. Baking and blogging are things I do while away from work and school, so being back makes it more difficult to cling to these pursuits I so love.
However, I’ve decided to resist this typical transition from away to back, and back to away. Because things get lost in this transition. Important counterbalances - guilty pleasures versus textbooks, relaxation versus work, long-distance relationships versus cohabitation - compete for attention and our lives become unbalanced.
But isn’t moderation and balance what we all seek? Can I have my cake and eat it too? I really hope so. But in this case, I’ll have my muffins instead. Chocolate peanut butter muffins with big, cracked muffin tops.
The batter is also utterly fantastic…or so I hear. *ahem* Yeah, I’ve never, ever eaten batter by the spoonful. I swear. That would be so…unsanitary. You believe me, right?
I want to be back and away. I want academic success and chocolate peanut butter muffins. I want to be back at school, back at work, back to the grind, and all the while be away in the kitchen, away blogging, away having fun. Impossible? Perhaps. But I’ll never know unless I try. In the meantime: stay tuned, because I’m not giving up this blog without a fight.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
Yield: Approximately 9 regular muffins (with huge muffin tops!)
- 1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup Splenda (or other sugar substitute, or sugar)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup (100 g) dark chocolate peanut butter (recommended: PB&Co brand)
- 3/4 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup light chocolate soymilk
- 3 Tablespoons (46 g) egg white
- 1 Tablespoon (14 g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease or line 9 molds in muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, sugar substitute, and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl, stir together peanut butter, milks, egg white, oil, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.
- Divide batter amongst 9 prepared muffin molds (which should be nearly full). Bake for about 18 minutes, or until done.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
As school resumes around the country Jenny and other parents face the unique challenges of school lunches without peanut butter. It’s too bad she can’t have these; they look absolutely spectacular! Especially the huge muffin tops.
These look divine! Thanks for sharing! I’d like to have one (or two) of these right about now.
Good luck with the academic year. I just started classes up again last Thursday, too.
Hi Lauren! First, just let me say how much I LOVE your blog’s title! I got a kick out of it.
Secondly, thanks for the academic well wishes – I’ll certainly need all the good luck I can get. Best wishes to you as well!
Gorgeous muffin tops
no really, I might need to make these right this second.
Then by all means, please do! That’s my favorite part about muffins: the ease with which they can be quickly made.