(12 Servings)
There are not many times that I would consider myself lazy and one to choose the “easy” button. But there are two very specific times that I am 100% lazy – the first is when my husband is traveling, and I do everything I can to avoid making extra dishes since he is the dishwasher in our household. The second is weekday mornings – I don’t think I have ever gotten up and made a “real” breakfast during the workweek. I admire the people up making themselves scrambled eggs at 6:00 a.m. before going to work. This is impressive behavior, and I congratulate you if this is something you do.
To make the weekday mornings easier, I make things ahead of time that we can just grab without effort – think a big batch of oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, breakfast bites, etc. These muffins are a nice treat, just add some yogurt, a hard-boiled egg, and/or some fruit and presto… a nutritious breakfast is served.
You Will Need:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg – about half of one nut
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups chopped pecans
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Turbinado sugar, for topping (optional)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a standard muffin pan with liners and set aside. Alternatively, spray the cups with baking spray or coat with butter and dust with flour.
- Chop the pecans and set aside.
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the nutmeg into the bowl– grating about half of the whole nut with a handheld grater. Whisk to incorporate. Set aside.
- Measure out the chocolate chips and sprinkle a pinch or two or f the flour mixture over the top and toss to coat. This keeps the chocolate chips from settling on the bottom of the muffins as they bake. Set aside.
- Whisk the vegetable oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla together in a small bowl or large measuring cup.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. It’s ok if some lumps remain.
- Fold in the pecans and the chocolate chips (including any extra flour mixture).
- Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. The cups should be pretty full (resulting in good sized muffins that aren’t too small).
- Sprinkle a pinch of turbinado sugar over the top of the batter in each cup. This gives the muffins a slight crunch (and a little sparkle).
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes until they are slightly browned around the edges and a tester inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
- Move pan to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note – Using freshly grated nutmeg makes a HUGE difference in the flavor of these muffins. Resist the urge to use the pre-grated jarred nutmeg. Get yourself some whole nutmeg and a handheld grater. You will not be disappointed.
