Über Dark Chocolate Muffins

Things have been rough all over this week, wouldn't you say? While spring has started off on a lovely foot from a botany perspective, the events of the world seem to be stuck in a cold, dark winter. When life gets like this, I usually try to go to a happy place (physically, metaphysically, whatever works) and not dwell on the negative. This is one of my happy places; pretty sweet, huh?

And of course I have these two rascals to help me stay grounded (and a little soggy). They sure do love their fetch and swim sessions in the woods. Maybe more than I do.

In an effort to keep things lighthearted, I'm going to keep this short. Muffins, they rock. Especially when chocolate is involved. These ones border on devil's food cake in density and flavor, thanks to the addition of the vinegar and intensity of the chocolate. Super yummy, happy feedback from my wonderful gang of eaters. My suggestion is to go make a batch, pack a sweet little picnic, and find some nature to share a lunch with. Stay positive!

Über Dark Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from: Favorite Chocolate Muffins

• ⅔ cup dutch-processed cocoa (hershey's special dark worked for me)
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1¼ cups light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cold coffee
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped chocolate (a 3.53 oz. bar of 85% dark chocolate)
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, coffee, vanilla and vinegar. Add in the melted butter. Add the dry ingredients, stirring until everything is well-combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate and white chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, about ¾ full.

Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow muffins to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to a few days (fresh is always best!). 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

It's my birthday! Squeeeeee! And to celebrate, I bring you Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins for your daily pleasure. Finger-licking goodness right here.

Continuing on with my pumpkin recipe craze, I recently made these when I discovered I needed to use up both some pumpkin puree and cream cheese about to expire in the fridge (I am a very opportune baker, you know).

After researching high and low, I decided to base my recipe off of one featured on Naturally Ella. The receipt itself had a complete overhaul, adding extra spices, changing how the wet and dry ingredients are combined, and of course adding extra love. These muffins are great for breakfast or as a mid-day treat. If you happen to be carving a pumpkin, save any of the fleshy meat from inside and make a batch of Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins!

And to leave you all with a bit of glee, here are a few fun shots from last year's epic bday celebrations - 2011 Awkward Prom. Prost! Genatzt! Cheers!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Adapted from: Naturally Ella 

• 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp each: cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp each: ginger and pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp allspice 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar 
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature 
• 1 can pumpkin puree

Filling:

• 4 ounces whipped cream cheese
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• Topping:
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease. 

In a small bowl, whip together filling ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients for the main part of the muffin and stir to combine (flour, spices, salt, baking soda). 

In a separate bowl in your mixer, beat the butter for 1 minute. Next add both sugars and continue to combine. Follow by adding the eggs one at a time and finish with adding the pumpkin puree. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, being careful not to over mix (a few lumps are still okay.) Fill each muffin tin half full with the batter. Then spoon a teaspoon to tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on top, and finally finish with the remaining batter (if you don’t cover all the cream cheese, don't worry, it makes the muffins look more marbleized). Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins springs back when you press lightly. I also rotate halfway through so that the muffins bake evenly. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and finish cooling. Make sure to store in an airtight container, preferably in the fridge if not eaten immediately due to the dairy in these babies. 

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Bananas! Zucchini! Chocolate! Oh my, did this recipe turn out well. For some unknown reason, this summer I  often find myself with an abundance of these three ingredients (yes, even chocolate) and a hankering to bake. Not too long ago I whipped up a batch of these little tasty muffins for a few pals. And boy were they a hit!

Omitting the oil and using applesauce instead made the muffins a bit less fat heavy, but not too worry...I ate enough of them to make up for it in the end.

Lately, I've been thinking of taking a survey to see what fall goodies folks would like me to make heading into the next season. There have been more than a few requests for another Foodie Fest (which we are long overdue for) and I'm thinking of doing a sweet 'n savory pie foodie fest sometime in October. Thoughts, anyone? And enjoy the recipe!

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins 

• 1 large ripe banana, mashed
• 1 1/2 c zucchini, shredded
• 1 3/4 c flour
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 3/4 c sugar 
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c applesauce 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp almond extract 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a muffin pan or line with paper cups.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In another medium bowl, mix together egg and sugar. Next add applesauce, vanilla and almond extracts, and mix well. Add in mashed banana and shredded zucchini. Then mix the dry ingredients into the wet until well incorporated. Finally, add the chocolate chips.

Bake for 11-15 minutes, depending upon muffin size. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack or the counter.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Holy hell, are these delicious. I literally had to give all of these away so as not to continuously eat them. The reason for their creation? A friend's birthday request for zucchini bread matched with my constant need for dark chocolate.

After some research, I stumbled across the recipe from College Baker Girl. Her online version was the closest match for what I was aiming for in my foodie quest. I tripled her original recipe and of course altered it for my personal tastes: less whole wheat flour with the addition of white flour, added brown sugar and almond extract, replaced the oil with cinnamon applesauce. Imagine fruity, sweet, filling, chocolaty, moist...yum.

Now, stop reading and check out your cupboard, see if you have the ingredients to make these. If not, off to the store with you! You can thank me later. Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Adapted From: College Baker Girl

• 1 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup white sugar 
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/8 tsp salt
• 3/8 tsp baking powder
• 9 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup milk, rice or almond works as an alternative milk
• 1 cup applesauce
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract 
• 2 1/4 cup shredded zucchini
• 6 tbsp dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tray.

In a large bowl combine the flours, sugars, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cocoa. Mix thoroughly.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, applesauce, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. Add the shredded zucchini and stir. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tray, filling each cup to the top and sprinkle with dark chocolate chips.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If making mini-muffins, bake 12-15 minutes.

Banana Blackberry Lemon Muffins

A few weeks ago I had a request for more breakfast muffins as a parting gift for a friend's office, this time without any peanuts or strawberries. After doing some hunting, I came across an old Banana Blueberry Lemon Muffin recipe from Dragon's Kitchen. With some finessing and modifications, I created my own version of Banana Blackberry Lemon Muffins and damn if they aren't delicious!

Light, fairly low fat, and healthy. Next time around - no muffin liners. They had the nasty habit of sticking to the liners, which made for a messy eating experience. And they definitely tasted better the next day. Enjoy!

Banana Blackberry Lemon Muffins 
Adapted From: Dragon's Kitchen

• 1 1/4 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour 
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup blackberries, frozen or fresh
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease muffin tin and add liners if desired.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of the lemon rind.

Beat together bananas, eggs, brown sugar, applesauce, lemon juice, almond extract and vanilla extract until blended.

Stir in dry ingredients until blended. Stir in blackberries just until combined. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, dividing batter equally.

For the topping, combine sugar and remaining lemon rind in small dish. Sprinkle evenly over the muffins.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes about 16 regular muffins.

Sweet Potato Banana Muffins

Muffins are one of my go-to comfort foods. Savory or sweet, they serve up a delicious plate of flavors and reassurance that life is good. Hence why my recipe collection includes quite a few muffin recipes.

Honestly I have no idea how I stumbled across this recipe, but these Sweet Potato Banana Muffins proved both delightful and reasonably healthy.

I made quite a few changes to the recipe in my adaptation. Major ones include using white and brown sugars while using less overall, adding allspice and nutmeg, swapping oil for applesauce, and of course adding bananas. Other additions could include chocolate chips (yum), walnuts, yogurt, cranberries, oats, and just about anything else you can think of. PS - your kitchen will smell AMAZING while these babies are in the oven. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Banana Muffins
Adapted From: This Chick Cooks

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• pinch of salt 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten 
• 1 cup cold mashed sweet potatoes, plain
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup rice or almond milk 
• chopped walnuts for topping

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line the muffin pan with liners or grease.

In a bowl, mix together dry ingredients, including the flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt.

In an electric mixer, combine sugar, applesauce, eggs, and milk together. Next, mix in the vanilla. Follow with the mashed bananas and sweet potatoes.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, until just barely mixed. Finish mixing by hand, folding gently together until incorporated. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and sprinkle walnuts over the top. Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending up mini or regular muffin size. Cool on a rack on the counter. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Coconut Muffins

Another breakfast muffin, another tool for bribery. Can't blame a girl for using her talents, right?

After the layered coconut cake from a few weeks ago, I had extra shredded coconut leftover and needed to get some baking therapy action going. Hence my newest breakfast nosh was born - Coconut Muffins.

The recipe is similar to an old one from Mr. Breakfast.com, however I did some modifying (can't help myself). I reduced the baking powder, added some baking soda, swapped the oil for applesauce, used coconut milk in place of regular milk, added vanilla and coconut extracts, and some sugar. Wow, I guess I did change a lot of the original recipe. They ended up great! Not too sweet, very tasty, exactly what you want in a breakfast muffin. Enjoy!

Coconut Muffins
Adapted from: Mr Breakfast.com

• 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened is preferred)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1/3 cup applesauce  

In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients except coconut (flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt). Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine together egg, milk and applesauce. Add vanilla and coconut extracts and mix. Then add egg mixture at once to dry ingredients.

Stirring mixture only until the dry ingredients are moistened; add shredded coconut. The batter will be lumpy.

Spoon into lightly greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup half to two-thirds full. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. If using regular or jumbo size muffin tins, bake for a few minutes longer.

Carrot Cake Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Baking requests are always welcome, and if the person gets lucky I will actually whip up a batch of whatever was requested pronto. This week I received a request for a healthy version of carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Sounds insanely delicious, right?

Upon digging around I unearthed a healthier version of carrot cake cupcakes from Healthy Food for Living. The lovely Lauren over there at Healthy Food for Living had taken a typical carrot cake cupcake recipe and toned down the amount of fat as well as sugar.

 
Now before you get all sore thinking we killed the sweetness of these little babies, just wait to taste a batch. You really won't notice much other than the taste of delicious in your mouth.

As this week's request is likely to end up as bribery in the local university office, I decided to make a double batch, mixing mini cupcakes with normal sized ones. As I ended up with a little extra left over, I had these mini bundt pans I recently picked up and decided to make a few for kicks.

One thing you will notice is that I call these muffins as opposed to cupcakes. To me, they taste and feel like muffins, especially with the lessened sweetness. However, the beauty of this recipe is that you can add more sugar to the batter or make the cream cheese frosting sweeter. My modifications to the recipe included adding walnuts, using olive oil as it was all I had on hand, using cinnamon applesauce as opposed to natural, using maple flavor as opposed to extract, and using more maple syrup for the cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!


Carrot Cake Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

yields about 12 normal muffins

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 2 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil, such as canola
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (use 1/4 cup more for added sweetness)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp cinnamon applesauce
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup finely grated peeled carrots, about 2 medium (A microplane grater works best)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 
• 4 oz 1/3-less-fat neufchatel cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3-4 Tbsp pure maple syrup (personal taste)
• 1/8 tsp pure maple extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or coat with canola oil cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients (through ground ginger).

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla extract.

Stir in the grated carrots.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir just until fully incorporated.

Using a large spoon, divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin  comes out clean.

 

Allow muffins to cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, maple syrup, and maple extract using an electric mixer, until smooth.

Frost muffins once they have completely cooled. Store any uneaten muffins in the fridge.

Panda's Breakfast Muffins

The person I share my abode with adores breakfast muffins, scones, granola, and the like. To be a good cohabitator (and win brownie points for him at his office), I often make these little gems. My breakfast muffin recipe came about after a summer of fiddling with various morning muffin recipes and finally discovering the right blend of ingredients. Some recipes call for too much sugar or too much dairy for my liking. However, these stellar babies emerged from the flames of their predecessors and win smiles quite frequently.

Note - they are kinda healthy. Yep. I know. You were hoping for something a little more naughty maybe? Alas while they taste like little fattening muffin treats, they in fact are low-fat, low-sugar in comparison to other breakfast muffins. So feel free to lather them up with your favorite natural spread! Enjoy!

Panda's Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients
3/4 Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 White Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
1/3 cup Applesauce
1/3 cup Milk (non-dairy is my choice)
1/2 cup Blueberries (frozen or freshly washed)
1/2 cup Raspberries (frozen or freshly washed)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (optional)

Method 
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper muffin cups or grease the pan by hand.

In a medium sized bowl, add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sift.

In a mixing bowl or with a mixer, add the sugars, vanilla extract, and egg and blend. Note, I sometimes add a splash of almond extract as well (say 1/2 a teaspoon or less). Add the milk of your choice (usually rice in my case) to the batter and mix.

Next add the applesauce and gently blend. If you prefer, you can use one of the flavored applesauces (such as cinnamon) to enhance the flavor.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients until well mixed. Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl down from time to time. If using nuts, mix these into the batter.

Next gently fold in the berries (by hand works best so as not to crush or burst the berries).

Fill each muffin cup 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full. Typically, this recipe yields about 10 average muffins. They are also great as mini-muffins too.

As a final touch, I dust the tops of all the uncooked muffins with a bit more cinnamon and nutmeg as well as a few nuts if I haven't used them in the batter.

Cook for about 15-20 minutes (watch them during the final 5 minutes depending upon your oven) until the muffins are set. Note - I have occasionally had to cook these to 25 minutes if the oven was off or the berries extremely ripe as well as cook them slower at 350. Leave them in the pan for about 2 minutes to start cooling, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish the process. You can also modify this recipe into a breakfast bread!