It is offcially summer break now! To start it off a bit rocky my husband had to leave the country for business the very first full day of break. That’s right, me and three rambunctious boys alone for nearly seven days. This calls for baking and keeping their mouths full. For our first morning without Daddy we made these muffins. They were a huge hit. Sean declared them “the bestest muffins ever”!

They provided the boys with enough energy to play outside and help in the garden. I planted some more zucchini and yellow squash seeds. Just because! I pulled up two big areas of lettuce last weekend and figured why not try to grow something it those spots. It is still a little early for the pumpkins seeds to go in and squash was the answer. We’ll see if it grows.

The boys and I love chocolate and peanut butter. They like toast with Nutella and peanut butter so this really wasn’t a far stretch. I started with my recipe for peanut butter caramel apple muffins and tinkered around with the base. Add in chocolate chips instead of apples and caramel and there you have it.

I added more peanut butter to make that flavor stronger. Besides, a little more protein is always good! I used both regular and mini chocolate chips. What can I say, the boys and I live it up when Daddy is gone! We resisted the urge to also add peanut butter chips. To make myself feel better about all the peanut butter and chocolate I used some white whole wheat flour too.

We packed the leftover muffins this morning (after they already each had one and a pineapple mango smoothie for breakfast). Jack and Ewan had swim practice at eight in the morning and definitely wanted a snack afterwards when they were in the babysitting room while I exercised. They needed to refuel, especially since they have their first swim meet later today!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 c. flour
1 c. white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 Tbs. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line or grease a muffin pan. In a medium bowl whisk the flours, baking powder and salt together until combined. In a small bowl cream the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add the brown sugar and mix well. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add the vanilla and milk and mix well. Pour the liquid mixture over the flour mixture and stir until combined, do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill in the prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Yields 1 dozen