recipes: double chocolate muffins

I can’t remember the last time I baked muffins. I think I stopped making them when I started baking cupcakes. I have now grown to appreciate them better – comes with age, maybe. Rustic, easy to transport and simple to make, what’s there not to love? By the way, one of my biggest pet peeves is people identifying cupcakes as muffins.

Many have the common conception that muffins are cupcakes without the frosting or icing. That is the quick-and-dirty way of answer. Muffins are different in several ways, some of which are:

1. Muffins have a characteristic high dome or rounded top with a pebbled appearance
2. Making muffin batters require considerably fewer steps
3. The composition of ingredients in muffins make them less cake-like in texture

I decided to use up my leftover valrhona chocolate for these muffins. Chopped it up in rough chunks and mixed it with chocolate chips. I also adapted the recipe by reducing the sugar and substituting some of the plain flour for wholemeal flour and applesauce for oil. The result was great. High tops, fluffy and evenly-baked interior. It was also very chocolate-y! In future, I think I will reduce the baking time a little to make it even more moist.

Recipe (adapted from Nigella’s Feast as seen on Food Network)

Ingredients

• 175g plain flour
• 75g wholemeal flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 150g caster sugar (I used 80g brown sugar)
• 150g chocolate chips (save 1/4 of it for sprinkling)
• 250ml milk
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 30ml oil
• 60ml unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until just combined. Lumpy batters make better muffins. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases (fill it close to the brim for high tops). Top generously with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.