Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Muffins

We have casually been exploring Tacoma on the weekends through the means of open houses aka looking at homes we are nowhere near able to buy. As Will likes to remind me, our current house-buying budget is...$0. But that doesn't mean that we can't start to get the juices flowing regarding things we would be looking for in homes, neighborhoods to look at, and the very very beginning stages of looking at what the heck a mortgage is and all the steps you need to take to acquire one. After being in school for four more years (combined) after completing our undergraduate degrees, we kind of feel like we're getting a fresh start on our early 20s, since we missed out on some of the things non-graduate students do. Full-time jobs with two real incomes in a partnership (okay, not everyone has this but WOW is it cool for us to finally be at this point), being able to buy 90% organic food without sacrificing other things, being able to go to sporting events (if it's with a GroupOn or LivingSocial deal), walking to one of the many bars in our neighborhood to grab a beer "just because," and the many other fun things that come with being a full-time adult. With those also come the savings priorities, which is where the open houses come in. After retirement and boosting the regular savings account, as adults...what should we be saving for??

One of the many things we've already come to love about Tacoma is its affordability, which is the #1 driver behind the casual open houses. Even with our non-budget, we have an idea of *what* we could maybe afford if we were truly in the market, and around here, the options aren't terrible! The city is going through a revitalization at the moment, which means you can still find low home prices on starter homes in good neighborhoods. You can also find amazing deals on homes in up-and-coming neighborhoods. My East Coast city friends laugh when I tell them what all we could get, depending on the neighborhood, for our fake budget. It's so fun! Tacoma offers potential first-time homebuyers an incredible market, full of truly awesome options at really good prices. We've seen craftsmen, tudors, upgraded, fixer-uppers, etc. all within our price range.


We have also made the rookie mistake of following open house signs in neighborhoods, to visit homes that we haven't researched in advance to look at. This past weekend, we made a really cool mistake when we were driving around the really nice part of Tacoma called Proctor. We had gone to see an open house and when we got there, there was definitely not an open house going on, so we were bummed. However, on the way to the house, we'd seen about 5 or so open house signs for the adjoining streets, so we decided to go do some drive-bye to get an idea of the homes tucked away on these streets and the prices. We found a house on the biggest corner lot, that looked old and charming, but had recently been refreshed. As we walked inside, we came across an artist's paradise - old-home charm, that have lovingly been restored. Gorgeous flooring, open floorpan, renovated/upgraded kitchen, yet an overall whimsical feel. The type of home that we'd be looking at for the "next home" (keeping in mind we're still not even sure how #1 is going to happen). As Will was wandering into the kitchen for his complimentary cupcake (his favorite discovery of open houses has been the free snacks), we were looking at the paperwork on the price of the house, knowing full well it was definitely out of our budget, when lo and behold, we see an additional sheet of paper with a picture of famous glass artist and Tacoma native, Dale Chihuly. Well by complete mistake, we had wandered into Dale Chihuly's childhood home! Even though someone from his family hadn't lived there in at least 10 years, we have to admit that we stumbled upon the childhood home of the most famous Tacoman (his glass art is everywhere here) we've ever heard of. Plus, it was a gorgeous home and a shockingly reasonable price for what you got!

So why would kids like us want a house? Obviously to have the most amazing kitchen our $0 budget can afford! But for real, the kitchens are where it's at in the homes we look at. It doesn't have to be brand new or fancy, just usable with lots of storage space for all our fancy schmancy kitchen toys that we have. Obviously we like to be in the kitchen, especially if it means baking muffins like these (what, did you think I was going to talk about houses this whole post?). Holy muffin man. These puppies are spot-on. These PB muffins turned out super dense, kind of  like cupcakes. I got on a brief muffin kick after making the Rosemary & Goat Cheese Muffins and was trying to get creative with something that would be filling, without necessarily being full of bran, like my Raisin Bran Muffins. Those are great, but we got burned out on them a few months ago, so we're exploring new options. Well these peanut butter muffins are the way to go. I added the mini chocolate chips for fun, but they were definitely not required to make the muffins so wonderful. These muffins managed to keep us full up until lunch and were such a treat to look forward to every morning. I insist you give them a shot!

Baking Notes: I added the mini chocolate chips just for the fun of it, but I can't imagine the muffins without them. The recipe also called for coarsely chopped peanuts, but I really enjoyed the peanut halves on mine. Once again I used cupcake liners because I didn't have a way to grease the pan!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted from Real Simple; makes 1 dozen)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup whole milk
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Unsalted peanuts, halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-cup muffin pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the peanut butter and combine with a pastry cutter (or 2 forks), until it has reached a crumbly, coarse texture. Stir in the milk, egg, and butter until moist. Add mini chocolate chips, mixing until just combined.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter. Place peanut halves carefully on top of each muffin. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. When ready to eat, zap in the microwave briefly to rewarm and enjoy!

Recipe: Real Simple: Peanut Butter Muffins