Double Chocolate Muffins

Yum

It’s been a rough day.  You were up all night with a screaming baby who drifted effortlessly off to sleep just as you scraped open your bloodshot eyes for work.  You were racing out the door when you splashed coffee all over your white blouse, just in time to run late into a meeting and show off the coffee stain as everyone in the world looked at you.  You forgot your lunch and tried to placate your growling stomach through the longest workday in history with a stale pack of tic-tacs you found lurking in the depths of your purse.  Just as you were leaving for the day the skies opened, and it started to pour.  You arrived home soaked, exhausted, and just in time to hear your kids and husband clamoring about how hungry they are.  (Seriously?  I’ve eaten, like, ONE CALORIE all day!  You don’t know what HUNGRY IS!!!!!!!!)

And then . . . you remember.  These glorious Double Chocolate Muffins can go from much-craved idea to much-loved reality in about 20 minutes.  Yes, friends.  In the time it takes you to change out of your soaked, coffee-stained clothes and slip into some comfy jammies, you can have a plate of glorious chocolate muffins, ready to rally the troops from starvation rebellion until you have a chance to catch your breath.  (*You mean you’re suggesting feeding the family CHOCOLATE before dinner?  What’s wrong with you?!?!)  I’m a Mom.  That’s what. We have the best of intentions, but sometimes, a day just begs for chocolate.  And who am I to ignore the call?

What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!

Double Chocolate Muffins

(adapted from basic muffin recipe on allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil

1 cup milk or buttermilk

1 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for top garnish, if desired

Directions:

Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, together in a mixing bowl.  Stir in chocolate chips.  In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, vanilla, oil, and milk.  Use a spatula to fold dry and wet ingredients together, just until moistened (do not overmix).  Place batter into muffin cups (can use regular or jumbo muffin tins) and fill to roughly 1/8″ below the tops of muffin papers.  Top with extra mini chips, if desired.  Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425, and then without opening oven, change temperature to 375 and bake for another 15-20 minutes (depending on size of muffins) until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove muffins from tins and cool on a cooling rack until ready to serve.

Now, in pictures! 🙂

The beautiful thing about these muffins?  They are ready in about 20 minutes.  This means that after a long, hard day, you can have fresh muffins in about the amount of time it takes you to change into your jammies and make a nice, steaming cup of coffee or tea.  The doctor just called . . . he wrote you a prescription for CHOCOLATE BLISSSSSSSS.  You’re welcome.  😉

All muffins are basically “quickbreads.”  That just means that they use baking powder as a leavener, rather than yeast.  And they are also ready in, like . . . 3 seconds (well . . . that may be a bit of an exaggeration).  But you’ll be enjoying blissful chocolate dreams in no time.  Start by whisking the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder) together in a mixing bowl.  Whisking just helps the baking powder to get incorporated throughout the flour, so you don’t have one muffin in the depths of despair while one rises head and shoulders above the rest.  😉  And you thought YOU were having a bad day!  Stir in your chocolate chips so they’ll be ready to go, too.

Now this next part might seem a little fussy, but it’s important, so bear with me.  Mix all your wet ingredients together, in a separate bowl, and then add them all at once to the dry mixture.  Using a spatula, kind of fold the wet ingredients into the batter, just until mixed.  Don’t whip it or beat it to death.  I wouldn’t even use a whisk– the spatula kind of sweeps things together without overmixing.  Yes, it’s a pain.  But it will keep your muffins light and fluffy, instead of heavy.  I don’t know why that works, but it does.  Take the “Anne of Green Gables” advice: “Don’t overmix child!  They’ll be as tough as nails!”

Here’s a little secret: to get your muffins all the same size, use a cookie scoop to portion them.  I used to always use 2 spoons, like everyone else, but finally I broke down and bought a cookie scoop.

And the heavens opened.  I think I heard the angels sing.  Seriously.

Now all my muffins and cookies are exactly the same size, with perfect, sweet little domed tops.  I also use them for everything from making perfectly sized meatballs, to OCD-esque ice cream scoops. hehe.  Come on. You deserve this.  You had such a horrible day that you had to make deliriously chocolate muffins the second you stepped through the door.  You deserve to treat yourself to a cookie scoop.  Get one here.  I use the blue one for muffins.

Pop your muffins into the oven at 425 degrees for 5 minutes, and then, without opening the oven, change your temperature to 375.  That little puff of heat at the beginning just helps give these little beauties a lift, so you have a nice, airy peak on them.

 

I gave mine about 10 minutes at 375 and then checked them.  If the toothpick comes out clean, they’re done. If it’s got some chocolate batter on it, give the muffins another 6 or so minutes of baking time, and then check again.  When the toothpick test comes out clean, they’re done.

Of course, right now I should be telling you to let them cool, completely, on a cooling rack before eating.  You don’t want to burn your fingers on the . . .  OOEY GOOEY CHOCOLATE GOODNESS ALL OVER THEM.

Or maybe . . . after the day you’ve had . . . you do.

Pour yourself a nice cup of coffee, or a big glass of milk.  And dig into one of these little chocolate lovelies.  You totally deserve it.

Because you did it. And I’m just so proud of you.

 

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