Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Dear lovely readers,
I am still here in the big city of D.C. Probably enjoying myself a little too much now. Either that, or I’m crying my eyes out because I miss my babies so terribly much. Most likely the latter. I’ve never been separated from them for more than 1 night and we are now going on night 6. My biggest fear is that I’ll get home and they will take one look at me and make a little ‘heh’ sound and turn the other way. Either not missing me at all for one second, or so mad at me they can’t even look into my eyes. I’m sure it won’t be so dramatic, but I’m full of fear. I could eat fear for dinner.
We are visiting the White House today. We have so much to do in so little time. Hopefully we’ll be able to see everything we hoped to see.
But onto another amazing recipe. I was craving chocolate the other day and thought, what better way to get over that craving than to suffocate myself in chocolate. Maybe I won’t need or want another bite for a good month. We’ll see how much that works. 
These muffins are sooo moist and sweet and delicious. Hope you enjoy. I’ll be back home tomorrow from our trip, so I’ll be back with an amazing post next week and I’ll be sure to let you know how my trip went! Have a good weekend!
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Muffins
recipe by Stephanie
makes 12 muffins
1 stick butter
2 ounces bitter sweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3- 1.55 oz Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars, coarsely chopped
1. Melt butter and bittersweet chocolate in the microwave until melted and smooth. Cool.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Pour buttermilk mixture over dry ingredients.
4. Pour melted butter and chocolate mixture over dry ingredients. Mix all together until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Stir in milk chocolate chunks.
6. Grease 12 regular size muffin tins. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and remove onto wire racks.
Lemony Lemon Muffins
Doughnut Muffins
I like to try recipes from other food blogs once in a while, and while I was glancing at Genesis of a Cook a couple of weeks ago, she had posted about Doughnut Muffins. Â If you use the words “doughnut” and “muffin” in a sentence and make a recipe out of it, I’m all in! Â I knew I had to try them out. These muffins were really delicious. Â They could have been a little bit moister, but the flavor was phenomenal! My husband loved them, and he is pretty picky! Â My daughter loved them, mostly because the tops are dipped in cinnamon and sugar, one of her favorite combinations! Â Every drop was eaten, and that is pretty rare in my house. Â So, if they sound irresistible to you too, give them a try!
A Day In The Kitchen!
It started off innocent enough. I had bought some poppy seeds the other day and I just felt like making some muffins. It was snowing today. Cold, dreary, snowy, rainy, sunny for a minute, then snowy again. Days like these I just feel like baking something warm and cozy and delicious. My 3 year old daughter gets really excited to bake with me in the kitchen, so I do it often. My husband says I have an addiction. So what, he reaps the benefits so what does it matter anyway? Anyways, I finally got my own copy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from my home to yours in the mail the other day, and I’ve been dying to break it in. I found the recipe for her Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and decided to give them a try. Mmmmm…so good. They are moist, delicate, light and tasty. Yes, I do make many lemon recipes here on this blog, only because it is one of my favorite flavors. It just makes everything so fresh and vibrant.
I decided to use my mini muffin pan, just because little muffins are so much cuter. Drizzled with a bit of lemon icing and these were the perfect little treat.
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
For the muffins:
2/3 cup sugar
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick melted butter, cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
For the icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray 12 regular-size muffin tins or 24 mini-muffin tins. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with you fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, and with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them. Mix the icing and lemon juice and drizzle over muffins. Enjoy!
Still Cooking…
So, I thought that since it was a stormy blizzard outside that I definitely needed to make soup for dinner. I don’t care what they say, I make soup all year round. Not necessarily on a hot day, but days like this require soup. I’ve been craving soup, salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden lately, but actually making it to the restaurant after a long day with 2 kids is impossible. So I made my favorite soup, Zuppa Tascana. It is basically thinly sliced potatoes, onions, italian sausage and chicken broth with a little cream and some kale added in just before serving. This soup is delicious! I made some breadsticks and added a yummy salad on the side, and that was dinner.
Zuppa Tascana Soup
1 lb Italian Sausage
2 large russet potatoes, sliced in half and than sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2- 32 ounce cartons chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 bunches kale, chopped
freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, if desired
Brown sausage in large soup pot. Remove sausage and set aside. To the pot add chicken broth, potatoes, onion, and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cream and sausage to the pot and warm through. Add kale right before serving. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Nope, still in the kitchen…
Nope, not done yet…I still had more baking to do. I had a birthday in the family and had decided to bake cupcakes for the special day. I knew I wanted to make Carrot Cake Cupcakes, but couldn’t decided whether to make Dorie Greenspan’s recipe or The Sweet Melissa Baking Book recipe. Everything I have made so far out of Sweet Melissa’s has been gourmet. I decided to give her cake a try. Of course this recipe was made for a layer cake, but I thought it would work fine as cupcakes. They were delicious, but definitely would have been better as a cake. They just lacked the firmer texture of a cupcake. They were a little too soft and delicate to. But since they tasted so delicious, I decided to make the frosting and hoped that they would be enjoyed. I found these adorable cupcake holders (picture below) at Target and I loved the finishing touch. Now, I am exhausted so I’m going to curl up on the couch and watch “The Office”.
Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound carrots, grated medium fine
3/4 cup walnut pieces, coarsely chopped
For the Frosting:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Zest of 1 orange
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8×2 inch round cake pans. Line each pan with an 8 inch round of parchment paper.
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs at high speed until light and frothy, about 1 minute. Decrease the speed to medium and add the oil, sugar, and salt, and mix until just combined. Decrease the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
3. Remove the bowl from themixer. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the carrots and walnuts.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Spin the pans to level the batter. bake for 45 mintues, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a rack to cool for 20 minutes before turning the layers out onto the rack. Cool completely before filling or frosting.
Frosting:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and zest. Start on low speed and then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the butter and mix on medium speed until just fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
Frost between the layers and around the cake until smooth. The cake keeps in a cake aver in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It tastes great eaten at room temperature or chilled!
The Best Muffins You’ll Ever Eat
So, a while ago I won a wonderful cookbook from the delightful Tartlette. I was so excited to recieve the Sweet Melissa Baking Book! It is an awesome baking cookbook, and I want to make every recipe in this book. Melissa Murphy has an amazing Patisserie in Brooklyn, New York and I want to go there so badly. I’m sure everything is delicious, and one day I will make it there, for sure! So far I have made her Sweet Muffins, I chose to use fresh strawberries, and I’ve made her amazing Cinnamon Buns. Yum!!! I seriously devoured every bite and I can’t wait to make them again. For these muffins, I decided to add a pecan crumble topping to top them because I love that sweet crunch on my muffins. They were sooooo good, just like eating a gourmet muffin.
You will love them too. What I love about her recipes is that she gives you many different options of making them your own. Different fruits or different versions and I love that, because I can mix and match and make it according to my tastes. I hope you give these a try, because they are sooo worth it. These definitely are not low in fat, she uses cream and all the good stuff, but it’s worth every calorie!
Strawberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble Topping
adapted from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature ( I used 2% milk)
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup fresh fruit, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces ( I used strawberries)
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling ( I used a pecan crumble–recipe to follow)
Pecan crumble
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peal
1 tablespoon melted butter
Mix all ingredients until well combined.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12- cup muffin tin with muffin papers (or butter and flour the cups, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.)
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth – no lumps. Whisk in the heavy cream and milk until combined.
3. Add the zest to the flour mixture and with you hands, gently rub the mixture together, releasing the oils and breaking up the bits. Add the fresh fruit and gently toss with you fingers to combine. Make a well in the center of the bowl. Pour the butter mixture into the center of the well and, using a rubber spatula, gently pull the flour mixture into the center of the well until just combined.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup until full. Sprinkle pecan crumble (if using) evenly among muffin tops and gently press. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and sprinkle with sugar (if not using pecan crumble.) Let cool to warm.
The muffins are best eaten the day they are made, but they can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for 2 days. For longer storage, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to 3 weeks. Defrost still wrapped at room temperature.
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