Mini Muffins

Have a bit of catching up to do!! I made two batches of mini muffins for my sister-in-law to take into work as she has been there a year. Muffins used to be one of those things I just couldn't get right, I have spent ages looking for and trying out different recipes. The Delia one for Chocolate Drop Mini Muffins , I spent so long reading the damned recipe I left the butter in the microwave (cue temper!) Even when I calmed down and made them again properly they weren't quite right. I wanted ones that don't stick to the cases for a start.
I eventually found one online that I changed around a little bit to make the quantity slightly different as I hate having any spare mixture left over, it's a pet peeve of mine. I like them to all fit in the oven in full trays. Also I changed a couple of the ingredients so I think I can now claim it as my own.

Double Chocolate Mini Muffins
Makes 24

75g/3oz plain flour
1tsp baking powder
25g/1oz cocoa
75g/3oz granulated sugar
75g/3oz milk chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate
50g/2oz melted butter, cooled slightly
100ml/4 fl.oz milk
1 large free-range egg, beaten

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and chocolate
2. Make a well in the middle and pour on the butter, then the milk and egg.
3. Mix roughly with a fork until just combined. The mix will be very runny.
4. Fill tray with mini-muffin cases and divide the mixture carefully between them. The choc chips cause it to splash everywhere!! I find it best to put it in a jug and pour, or if you have a bowl with a spout use that from the start. Keep close to the cases to minimise ploppage.
5. Bake at Gas 5, 190c, fan oven 180c for 12 minutes. They will be well risen and lovely and shiny. Can be eaten warm or cold.

To make plain choc chip ones replace the cocoa with 25g/1oz more flour and add a bit of vanilla essence. I was also after a recipe for white chocolate and cranberry ones as this one didn't work out at all. They didn't rise and were very sticky and too sweet. I tried it out for the first time with the plain muffin recipe and they turned out fab. 50g/2oz of white choc is enough as too much tends to make them erupt a little but it does go all nice and caramelly. I didn't add the cranberries to the mixture as they make the aforementioned ploppage problem 10x worse. I half filled the cases, added 2 dried cranberries to each and then covered them over with more mixture. I find they take a couple of minutes longer to bake than the double choc ones.

I was making 48 at once so I decided to put all the ingredients ready to save any 'Crap I forgot the sugar/butter' moments. Made me feel very Blue Peter.