Dark Chocolate Muffins July 16
Tall, dark and delicious (as opposed to handsome) is the best way to describe these dark chocolate muffins, although indulgent, decadent and rich are suitable descriptors, as well. The muffins are the perfect food to complement your latte during your morning coffee break - assuming that you’re a fan of chocolate and aren’t overly concerned with having something a bit dessert-like before lunch.Dark chocolate is the way to go for these muffins. Not only is it in the name, but good quality dark chocolate gives the muffins a depth of chocolate flavor that you can’t quite get with, say, milk chocolate. It also prevents the muffins from being overly sweet. In fact, the rest of the muffin batter only uses a small amount of sugar in the first place. That being said, there is no need to use the darkest chocolate you can find for this recipe. I used 72% Callebaut, but any good dark chocolate (65-80% cacao is probably ideal) will work. If need be, you could subtitute semisweet chocolate for dark if you prefer something a touch sweeter, or if it’s simply what you have on hand.
The batter for the muffins comes together quickly, as the butter and chocolate and melted together and stirred in to the rest of the ingredients, no creaming necessary. When baked, the resulting muffins are tender and moist with a heavy hit of chocolate; they’re loaded with chocolate chunks (or chips) in addition to the melted chocolate in the batter. Be sure to check them with a toothpick for doneness when the baking time is just about up. If they are overbaked, they might become slightly dry.
Dark Chocolate Muffins
5 oz-dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chunks, dark or semisweet
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt together the butter and chopped dark chocolate. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring frequently until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Whisk until almost smooth. Stir in melted chocolate mixture, making sure the batter is smooth and the chocolate is evenly incorporated, followed by chocolate chips.
Bake for about 18-22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool muffins on a wire rack before serving. May be served at room temperature or slightly warmed. Store in an airtight container if not eating right away.
Makes 12.
JEP Jul 16
I like the idea of using brown sugar in this recipe!
HungryKat Jul 16
Mmm.. I’ve tried a few of your recipes and this one looks really good like the rest of them. I especially like the pretty silver muffin liner.
mj Jul 16
You think I could use 1/2 cup of oil instead?
Lydia Jul 16
Just the type of recipe I’ve been looking for — my husband is a huge dark chocolate fan and this would be perfect for him. I’m bookmarking.
Nicole Jul 16
MJ - You could definitely try it, but I think that melted butter will give you a better flavor in the finished product. If you do try oil, melt the chocolate by itself (not with the oil) and stir in the oil separately.
McAuliflower Jul 18
Awesome! This is the brand of bakery evil that lures me in the mornings with iced tea.
Interesting that the batter doesn’t use cocoa powder.
Anna Jul 19
Yum! That looks like a good one.
Allison Jul 27
Are you sure there’s not a typo in that recipe? I tried making these and they didn’t turn out at all! The batter was very doughy and sticky and not like muffin batter at all, but I decided not to mess with an unknown recipe, so I baked them 22 minutes. They didn’t rise at all — they look just like when I put them in the oven. They’re edible, but a weird, dense texture. They definitely don’t look anything like your picture. Maybe they need more buttermilk?
McAuliflower Aug 5
Allison,
I just made a batch with the recipe as written and it came out just as pictured: fluffed raised muffins.
I’d check the usual suspects regarding your non-fluffy muffins:
+ make sure your baking powder isn’t too old
+ use an oven thermometer
+ don’t overmix the batter
+ combine ingredients as specified
Marichelle Aug 15
Allison, I also made a batch and it came out almost as pictured. I had my own issues because I decided to add ingredients that I wasn’t supposed to
I just posted my experience on my blog. I would agree with McAuliflower - it’s probably the baking powder?
Lisa Aug 27
I followed the recipe exactly (but my chocolate was only 60%) and mine looked just like the picture but a little lighter. I wasn’t amazed by the flavor, though. They were a little heavy, not very sweet and not even super chocolatey and quite dry. They were very good out of the fridge the next morning, though–especially if you weren’t thinking “muffins” while you ate ‘em. I’ll make them again and won’t cook them so long, I guess.
chef clyde Jun 25
lovely recipe…….had fun doing the basic receipes…..was really good loved the effect.
amy Jul 28
Allison,
where there enough eggs in your mix? my mix was initially very sticky, and I think it was because I only had quite small eggs. The next time I used three medium eggs and it made a big difference
Chocolate Wedding Favors Jul 29
Thanks for the info, I\’ll be back tomorrow to read more!
Pan Oct 27
Thanks
Helena Jan 12
Allison, I had the exact problem. Sticky, sticky batter and they didn’t raise that much. I used large eggs and my baking powder was newly bought. They also tasted really dry.
It felt like a huge waste of ingredients!
Diana Apr 25
I followed this with a bit more, 200g, of dark chocolate and 1c of oats instead of the chocolate chunks, and they came out perfectly. I also used 1/4c white sugar and 1/4c brown sugar and made my own buttermilk using 1c soy milk and 1T apple cider vinegar.
Thanks for sharing!
steph Jun 6
the batter was thick so I added more buttermilk and cocoa. I’m just use to tweaking the recipes if the overall batter doesn’t seem right but thats just me.Also, I put it in an angelfood cake pan-just wanted to do something different.
edward Jun 12
yer that muffin really does look delicious you should make a dark chocolate cake that would be even better