Good Chocolate Muffin Morning!

Today is the LAST day of our comment contest, so if you want a chance to win something home-baked from me (I ship!) be sure to comment on this or any post by midnight tonight, June 30, 2013!

For this last day of June I'm bringing you something very special: Chocolate Breakfast Muffins! I found the recipe on the King Arthur Flour site, and the reviews were phenomenal, so I was just bursting at the seams to make them! I realized, late last night, that I had all of the ingredients. So, there I was, at 11:30 at night, mixing up the batter (just stirred together, no mixer necessary) and popping them in the oven. The timer announced they were done just after midnight, and it was all I could do not to dig right in to one. I mustered up the little bit of self-control still remaining and set them out to cool, then loaded up the dishwasher, and called it a night.

So here we are this morning, with a dozen of the most beautiful chocolate muffins you can imagine. They are substantial -- dense, firm, moist -- and crowned with a sparkling of coarse sugar. I've never actually had a chocolate muffin before, but this recipe is a home run and I'll be making them again for special breakfasts or brunch. They are not too sweet and yet pack a real chocolate punch. I could go on and on about how happy I am with this recipe. Try it, and see for yourself. You'll have a new keeper for your recipe collection, I'm sure!

CHOCOLATE BREAKFAST MUFFINS
recipe that follows is from King Arthur Flour

Oven, 350 degrees F

2/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (King Arthur!)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 cup butter, melted OR 1/3 cup vegetable oil
coarse white or pearl sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line a standard muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups (I didn't grease the paper liners, just put them in the ungreased muffin pan).

In large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; there's no need to beat these muffins, just make sure everything is well-combined.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin; the cups will be heaped with batter, and the muffin will bake into a "mushroom" shape. Sprinkle with pearl sugar if desired.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes (mine went for 25 minutes) or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, allowing them to cool for about 15 minutes on a rack before peelig off the muffin papers or silicone cups. Yield:  12 muffins

KAF nutrition info per serving (1 muffin, 101g): 335 cal, 13.8g fat, 6g protein, 18g complex carbohydrates, 28g sugar, 3g dietary fiber, 69mg cholesterol, 273mg sodium, 265mg potassium, 101RE vitamin A, 3mg iron, 108mg calcium, 117mg potassium, 18mg caffeine.