big dirt garden

After numerous calamitous cooking attempts, it was about time I got one right. So I thought “How about some muffins?” Muffins are usually foolproof. Besides, baking muffins always make me laugh when I think of this…

Do you really think we need the exclamation point? Because it’s not top of the muffin TO YOU.

-Elaine Benes; Seinfeld Season 8, Episode 21; here, at 1:40

Call me crazy but that video clip features a cameo, :32 seconds in, by someone who looks exactly like Thomas Keller. Or at least what he might have looked like 15 years ago. Can anyone confirm this or am I creating a convenient coincidence?

So, I turned to Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito’s book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. A few pages into the book I spotted an easy target — Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins. The headnote on this recipe reads “You can wake up in the morning, put on a pot of coffee, and have these warm and wonderful muffins ready in under an hour.” That sentence was the catalyst to get me into the kitchen.

You will most likely already have all of the items you need to make this recipe. It does call for instant espresso powder which, if you’ve baked anything super chocolatey before, you might even have some in your pantry, as it seems to keep forever.

I love muffin recipes that call for melted butter. I am too impatient to wait for butter to soften. This recipe is truly mix the wet ingredients together, mix the dry ingredients together, fold in the chocolate chips and bake.

As promised, ready to serve in under an hour.