Dark chocolate crinkle muffins

Chocolate cravings! We’ve all been there, managed to get through the week perfectly healthy and then somehow ended up having a lazy weekend binge eating decadent desserts. If you’re here looking for a heathy recipe, look away now these aren’t really the ideal breakfast muffin at all. There’s a bunch of healthy chocolate desserts out there that probably won’t make you feel as guilty on a Monday morning. But if you’re going to cheat, do it right! An overload of chocolate that simply melts in your mouth, perfectly moist and soft that’s what a classic chocolate muffin is all about. These dark chocolate crinkle muffins are heavenly, definitely not for the faint hearted and made for serious chocolate lovers!

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 muffins)

2 cups plain flour (full)
1 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (whole) and 1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup 70% dark chocolate (roughly chopped into small chunks)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar* (optional)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F.

Prepare the muffin tray by either greasing it with a bit of butter or alternatively using parchment paper liners and set aside for later.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl: plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and stir through with a whisk.

In a another large mixing bowl, add in the eggs and the caster sugar and whisk together using a hand-held electric mixer or a stand alone mixer. Cream the batter for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved and you have a pale, fluffy batter.

Slowly incorporate the vegetable oil into the batter. Add in the sour cream, vanilla extract and whisk until combined properly.

Next, sift in the previously combined dry ingredients and fold through. When the batter is halfway there with visible streaks of the flour, toss in the chocolate chunks.

Continue to gently fold through making sure not to knock the air out of the batter.

Grab the lined muffin tray and start to scoop in the batter, dividing it equally and making sure you’ve got a good amount of chocolate chunks in each one.

Note: You could always use milk or white chocolate chunks or even a combination of a few to make this muffin even more indulgent!

Sprinkle a tiny amount of granulated sugar* over the top of each muffin and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted through the centre comes out clean.

Now this part’s a bit trickier because you’re probably going to have melted chocolate chunks on the skewer instead. But if you’ve made muffins before, you’ll know even just the smell is enough to tell you they’re ready!

Leave the muffins to cool on a wire-rack for about 15 minutes before you take them out.

That’s as simple as it is, a really easy and quick indulgent chocolate dessert!

PRESSURE POINTS

Make sure all the wet ingredients such as the eggs, cream, etc. are at room temperature, that makes it a lot easier to combine.

When incorporating the dry ingredients into the batter, do not overwork it, simply fold it through until combined.

Be sure not to overfill your batter into the muffin tray or it’ll spill over as it rises.

If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to see how it turned out. Leave a comment below and share your pictures on Instagram using the tag #thecookbooklife!