Muffin Monday : Chocolate Brownie Muffins

The Muffin lady is back again!

Well, that is the title I have been bestowed by none other Arva of I Live in a Frying Pan.

I kind of like the sound of it.

For this Monday An of Bakerstreet shared with us the recipe of Chocolate Brownie Muffins. There was no way I was going to miss making these lovelies.

An called them the best of both worlds – Brownies + Muffins. It cannot get better than this. They also are full of nutella goodness and I added plenty of choco chips to make it even more irresistible.

The recipe has been adapted from the Women’s Weekly Home Baked and in my opinion, is a keeper.

The only change I should have made would have been  to avoid pistachios and add walnuts  instead. Pistachios felt a little weird but then they did give them that spot of colour which I loved. I also added 2 tablespoons of instant coffee for that special punch.

Recipe for Chocolate Brownie Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients 

2 cups Self Raising Flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup caster sugar

2 tbsp coffee powder ( my inclusion)

60 grams melted butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

1/2 cup nutella

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400F

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar.

3. Add in the nutella, egg, milk, sour cream and butter. Gently stir to combine.

4. Stir in the pistachios and chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into a prepared muffin tray.

5. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes

Baking these lovelies definitely makes me feel festive but as I observe my expanding waistline, all the cheer evaporates almost instantly. I wish that God give me the strength to resist baking in the coming months, so that I can get my diet and exercise schedule on track. Until then, well, I am going to enjoy these brownie muffins with my morning cuppa.

Hopeless, I know!!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Muffin Mondays: Rocky Road Muffins

Yes, I am back at it again. I missed baking muffins for 4 whole weeks and it was terrible. My blues did not leave me. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit here. But I did miss baking with these maniac muffin bakers who brighten up my Monday. This time, we were in for a choco – treat that sounded decadent and fun. Rocky Road Muffins sounded so much fun that I had a questionnaire ( a verbal one, ofcourse) circulated among my family and friends, asking what came into their mind when they thought of a rocky roads.

Replies ranged from,

” Rocks!” ( ofcourse, why else would you call it Rocky Road )

” Stones and boulders”, (ookay)

” Trucks and Heavy vehicles”, “Iguanas and reptiles”  ( Hey wait! I think there has been some misunderstanding here. I did not tell them we were talking muffins !)

After the questionnaire was rectified, the replies were a lot saner.

“Huge Choco chunks” ( Tick mark)

“Maltesers” ( Interesting. Tick mark, again.)

“Marshmallows “( Tick Mark)

“Cashews and Hazelnuts” ( Now we are talking . Tick Mark)

Then I had to stop them there as I feared there would be more rocks and rock -like things than flour and other stuff that constitutes a muffin.

Rocky Road Muffins were a breeze to make but somehow were a bit dry for some reason. Another  thing I should have been careful of was to remind myself that the recipe called for self raising and I should have been a little conservative in filling up all those muffin cases to the brim. They seemed like they were ready to explode and which they did ( in a very subtle way) by bubbling out into a gooey mess in the oven. It broke my heart since I almost feared that I wouldn’t have any report aka muffins to share at the end of the Survey exercise. Muffins were alright but weren’t the best that my baking days have seen.  I feel responsible somehow about how they turned out but cannot really put a finger on what  went wrong since I followed the recipe precisely.

Thank you An, for sharing this muffin recipe with us. It feels terrific baking with you guys, as always.

Recipe for Rocky Road Muffins

From Susannah Blake’s Muffin Magic

Ingredients

2 cups (300grams) self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

75 grams milk chocolate chopped ( Handful of maltesers)

1/2 cup walnuts  ( I used cashews and hazelnuts instead)

60 grams mini marshmallows or you can just chop large ones into small pieces

2/3 cup (150 grams) soft brown sugar

3/4 cup (200 ml) milk

2 eggs

75 grams butter

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and marshmallows. Set aside.

3. Reserve about 1/3 of the chocolate chunks and walnuts and add the rest to the flour mixture.

4. In a separate bowl or jug; combine sugar, milk, eggs and butter.

5. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined.

6. Spoon dollops into muffin cases and sprinkle chocolate and nuts on top. Press them gently into the batter

7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack

So on that chocolate filled note and until another wonderful Monday, wish you all a chirpy week ahead.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Muffin Monday : Olive Oil Muffins with Toasted Almonds and Chocolate

What do you think of  when you read Chocolate chunks +Toasted Almonds+Orange zest + Brown sugar?

Food has the power to capture our imagination.

It  transcends us through the Space – Time continuum ( I am watching a lot of Star Trek!) and bring to us memories from the past.  It transports us to the good time shared with people we love (or loved). But at times it is potent enough to make us see sights of places that we may not have been to. Olive Oil Muffins, this Monday did just that.

Early morning baking has it’s advantages. With my daughter still sleeping and my hubby already on his way to work, leaves me all the time, to create, innovate, adapt, photograph,  think,  write and most importantly bake without any disturbances. Sip-fulls of coffee in my system and playing with beautiful ingredients such as olive oil, orange zest, chocolate, toasted almonds can warm up the imagination. I could see pristine blue beaches of the Mediterranean, stocky white buildings, seagulls, the sun, the sand and bare feet. These homely and unpretentious muffins can do this to you.

This Monday, Anuradha of BakerStreet called us to bake together these fabulous muffins and dare I say, it cannot get better than this. It got an overwhelming thumbs up from family too.  I know in my heart that I haven’t seen the last of these gorgeous muffins because they were  good to the last crumb.

The Recipe for Olive Oil Muffins with Toasted Almonds and Chocolate

Ingredients

1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar ( I used 1/4 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of muscovado sugar)

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons orange zest

2 teaspoons lemon zest ( I didn’t add any)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons whole milk

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1/2 cup of chocolate, chopping coarsely ( my addition)

Powdered sugar, for sifting ( forgot to do this)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.

3. In a medium bowl, blend together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, eggs, and zest in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

5. Beat in the vinegar and milk. Gradually beat in the oil.

6. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. ( used a spatula to mix manually until just blended)

7. Crush the almonds with your hands as you add them to the batter and stir until mixed ( added chopped chocolate at this point)

8. Fill the muffin tin almost to the top of the paper liners.( crucial for lovely  dome shaped tops)

9. Bake until golden on top and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.

10. Remove the muffins onto a platter and let cool for 5 more minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the muffins and serve

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

Muffin Mondays: Zucchini & Sesame Seeds Muffins

I feel so delighted to be baking with a bunch of wonderful Monday – Muffin bakers week after week. I was sorry about not being able to bake last Monday, but this Monday, I am here with some lovely Savoury Muffins. If it were not for this group and An’s attempts, I would have never tried this savoury version. Since An always lets us on a base recipe and asks us to interpret it the way we want to, it makes it incredibly exciting to try different flavour combinations.

This week, she invited us to bake Zucchini & Sesame seeds muffins. Sounds very interesting, right? Well it was since it called for herbs of our choice and I added some fresh, chopped parsley, dried rosemary and dried sage. I couldn’t resist adding a little cheddar since it is my go-to for anything with zucchini; savoury ofcourse.

I halved the recipe, so I got 6 muffins and fresh from the oven, they were simply yummy. The topping of browned cheddar and black sesame seeds gave it just the right amount of crackle. I am giving out the quantities, as in the original recipe provided by An with little notes of modifications that I made, on the side.

Recipe for Zucchini & Sesame seeds Muffins

Gives 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini (roughly 300grams)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoon sesame seeds (Plus extra for sprinkling on top) I used black & white sesame seeds.

1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs ( I increased the quantity of herbs from 1/2 tsp to 3 tbsp of fresh parsley, dried rosemary & dried sage)

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

6 tablespoons sunflower oil or melted butter

3-5 tbsp of cheddar ( optional) and some for topping

 Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C

2. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line it with paper liners

3. Grate zucchini and squeeze out any excess moisture.

4. Lightly beat the eggs in another bowl. Beat in the buttermilk and oil.

5. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the mixed herbs and half the sesame seeds.

6. Make a well in the centre and add in the liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined.

7. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin pan and scatter the sesame seeds to top.

8. Bake for about 20 minutes

9. Let the muffins cool in the pan and then serve warm.

I enjoyed my muffins with a bit of tomato ketchup.( I know, it’s shame but couldn’t help the temptation)

My family, is still of the traditionalist thinking and weren’t too excited about the savoury version of their breakfast muffins. In a way, it is a good thing because, I get to eat all the muffins everyday; as I like and when I like.

So happy Monday to you all!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week