On Monday, I invited the Tiny Kitchen Assistant’s best friend and her younger brother over to make muffins. Three kids under the age of four? What could possibly go wrong?
As you laugh at me from the safety of your clean kitchen, I have to admit that it went much better than I would have expected, barring Miss M’s affection for sampling the batter, much to the horror of the Tiny Kitchen Assistant. The entire experience highlighted the difference between the two: Miss M believes in being impulsive; the Tiny Kitchen Assistant believes in following the rules of the kitchen.
We made another split batch of muffins, half strawberry and half raspberry chocolate chip.
Strawberry Muffins
Add-Ins
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup diced fresh strawberries, macerated with ½ tsp granulated sugar
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Add-Ins
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped frozen raspberries
- Approximately 1 cup mini semisweet chips
Results: Lots of very enthusiastic thumbs up from M (almost 4), J (19 months) and the Tiny Kitchen Assistant (3.5).
Hindsight: The strawberry muffins could have benefitted from another ½ cup of berries, and/or strawberry extract. A colleague has also suggested that a touch of lemon juice would have brightened the berry flavor.
As for the raspberry chocolate chip muffins, I’ve come to the realization that it doesn’t matter what else you add, as long as there’s plenty of chocolate. Let that be your lesson of the day.