The Best Chocolate Muffins

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The Best Chocolate Muffin Recipe is here…

It’s Sunday morning and that means freshly baked muffins.

The muffins I’ve baked today are the American-style, made from a batter which is leavened with a raising agent. The American style muffin differs from the English which is basically a flattish roll, leavened with yeast. These are split and toasted, buttered and often served with jam or filled with bacon and egg.

Who doesn’t love an American-style muffin? They give us the excuse to eat what is basically cake for breakfast. How good is that? Baking a batch of muffins is deeply satisfying but the pleasure of eating a still warm, freshly baked muffin, no words can adequately describe. They are at once warm and comforting and utterly delicious.

These muffins are simple to make. The combination of flours and the buttermilk combine to produce a muffin with a light, tender crumb. For the best flavour, I recommend a good quality Dutch processed cocoa. I use Plaistowe, it’s available in tins from the supermarket.

For those who follow a gluten-free diet, you will be delighted by these muffins.

Gluten-free muffins often rise beautifully in the oven only to deflate when they’ve been out of the oven a few minutes, causing my spirit to also deflate, but not so with these. They hold their shape beautifully and nobody will know they are gluten-free.

There’s an added bonus, the comforting smell of the freshly baked muffin. The delicious, sweet aroma of fresh baking fills the kitchen; it is comforting and enticing. They are lovely as is but I have two variations, as shown below in the Notes.

These muffins are perfect for breakfast, mid-morning, the school lunch box or an afternoon snack. In fact, you could serve these for a quick, easy dessert. Just warm in the microwave or oven and serve with berries and whipped cream on the side.

Please try these muffins, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

xx Alex and Faye

I have adapted this recipe from a book called “Sharing Sweet Secrets”  by Pamela Moriarty.

P.S. Want some other great breakfast ideas? Check out my recipes for:
Overnight Oats with Apple and Sultanas, Peach, Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins or Healthy Oat Yoghurt Pancakes

The Best Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are delicious - and they also happen to be gluten free!

5 from 85 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: English

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 190kcal

Author: Alexandra

Ingredients

• ¼ cup gluten free self-raising flour (I use Orgran)
• ¼ cup white rice flour
• ½ cup maize cornflour
• ½ cup Dutch style cocoa
• 1 tspn baking powder (gluten free)
• ½ tspn bicarbonate of soda
• 125 gm butter cubed, at room temperature
• ¾ cup caster/superfine sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• ½ cup buttermilk approximately

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200oC/390oF.(3)
• Sift together flours, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer or with hand held beaters cream together butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Occasionally scrape own the sides of the bowl.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add vanilla and then buttermilk. The mixture may appear curdled but don’t worry, it will be fine.
• Using a low speed, gently fold in the dry ingredients, and again, scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing. Do not overmix as this will result in tough muffins.
• Spoon evenly into a well-greased 12 hole muffin tin or into a tin lined with paper cases. (4) Bake for 5 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 180oC/350oF. Bake a further 10-15 minutes.
• Test with a skewer which will come out clean when cooked. Cool the muffins slightly (if you can bear to) before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
• If you wish, dust with icing/confectioners’ sugar to serve.

Notes

NOTES: 1. When baking with rice flour, I buy mine from an Asian grocery. It is very finely ground. I have found that some rice flour from the supermarket can be quite grainy. 2. Check that the cornflour you buy is actually made from corn as quite a lot is made from wheat. 3. The initial higher oven temperature causes a faster rise for the muffins, resulting in a more domed result. Don’t forget to lower the temperature after 5 minutes. 4. Once you’ve made the batter, place your muffins into the oven immediately as the baking powder will have begun to work after coming into contact with moisture. VARIATIONS: 1. Prior to baking, when you have filled the muffin tin, make an indentation in the top of the muffin batter and add a teaspoon of raspberry jam. OR 2. I make a cream cheese filling which is delicious. Soften 100 gm cream cheese, add ½ tspn vanilla and 1 tbspn of icing/confectioners’ sugar. Mix well, half fill the muffin tin with the batter. Make an indentation in the batter and divide the cream cheese amongst the muffins. Add the rest of the batter.

Nutrition

Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 108mg | Potassium: 86mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 315IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 0.7mg

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The Best Chocolate Muffins