maple oatmeal chocolate chip muffins

I never used to think I liked maple syrup. Then I went to Vermont and made some. I had been using sugar in my artwork at the time so maple syrup seemed like a logical direction to go while in VT. I only ever had the fake stuff as a kid so I thought that fake maple flavor was what maple was supposed to taste like. Then when I tried real maple syrup as an adult it just tasted wrong. I realize in retrospect that it's like thinking that fake apple flavor tastes the same as actual apples- they don't really have much in common. So anyway I thought I didn't like any of it. Then I started researching maple syrup. It's really just sugar. There is no fake maple flavor. The longer you cook it the more caramelized and smokey it gets and the darker in color it gets. So it's really more like more complex and interesting sugar. It was the only sugar available in the early US. When I first started tapping the trees I thought I had messed up because what comes out looks like water and is just barely sweet. This sap needs to reduce for hours- the official ratio is 40:1 sap to syrup. The last picture above is maple resin (for art...) that I made by reducing it even further. Anyway these muffins are made with maple syrup- it needs to be real maple syrup B grade. That is the darkest most complex one. I think maple and chocolate are an underrated combination-- and these muffins are perfection. I could not stop eating them. They are also reasonably healthy which is always a plus.

Maple Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 1 cup ap flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 teas. baking powder
• 1/2 teas. baking soda
• 2 1/2 teas. cinnamon
• 1/2 teas. coarse salt
• 3/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 maple syrup (grade b)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 teas. vanilla
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk together the wet ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Stir until just blended and then fold in the chocolate chips.

This will make between 12 and 18 muffins depending on the size of your muffin tins- mine are old so they usually make more than the newfangled ones. (Because muffin tins have apparently gotten bigger over the years) Line the pans with paper muffin cups and fill nearly to the top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean 25-30 minutes.