In five years, I’ve deleted exactly three recipes from this blog. I’ve kept terrible photos, absurdly lengthy writing and even some personal stuff on here, so you may be wondering why I’d remove whole recipes. The answer is simple: because they were bad. Not “not perfect,” not “unoriginal.” Just bad. They didn’t taste good and/or work properly, and those are basically the only two requirements for me to put a recipe on here, so I deleted them. Among the group were a batch of Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins that were truly atrocious, and which I have finally found the time to rework into something delicious.Now, I didn’t intentionally write a terrible muffin recipe. There were circumstances. I wrote the old recipe for Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins when I was five days off the break-up a four year relationship. That was my first mistake—don’t try to do good work when you’re heartbroken.

My next mistakes were not adding enough fat, eggs or dairy. My best friend made the old version a few years back and the only word she used to describe them was “lumpy.” Yikes. I took down the recipe shortly thereafter and put the words “Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins” on my to-bake list once again.Two weeks ago, I found myself five years more experienced, very over that boyfriend, and with a large bag of mostly-unallocated whole wheat flour. Armed with that and a newfound favorite muffin recipe, I set out to fix my past mistakes. Dare I say I nailed it?These Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins are soft and just sweet enough, with plenty of chocolate chips and whole grain flavor. Butter, sour cream and eggs keep them moist and balance the potential for heaviness that comes with using all whole wheat flour. They also get a little lift from starting in a 400F, then continuing at 350F until they’re fluffy, puffy and perfect.

Thank goodness for second chances.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins
makes 12 standard muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk, room temperature (not skim or nonfat)
1/3 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 12-cup standard muffin tin, or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a whisk to beat eggs. Whisk in butter and vanilla, followed by whole milk and sour cream. Add wet ingredients to dry, using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to combine. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Dot the tops with additional chocolate chips, if desired.

Tap full pan on the counter five times. Bake for five minutes at 400F. Do not open the oven door. Reduce baking temperature to 350F, and bake an additional 15-16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. Serve.

Muffins are best the day they are made, but may be kept covered at room temperature for a couple of days. They will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.