Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

Last week I was wanting to bake something that I could stockpile in the freezer, to pull out when I needed something to take with me for breakfast. I wanted something tasty and beautiful, something that I would get excited about eating. It makes me happy when I have something delicious to look forward to in the morning. My mind went immediately to muffins because they are so easy, and extremely portable. The perfect on-the-go breakfast treat in my opinion. 

I immediately went to my 'muffins and quickbreads' Pinterest board to browse through the options I had there. In the end I decided on these whole wheat chocolate chip muffins. First of all I thought the photo of them was just so pretty, it made me want to make them. It is so true that you eat with your eyes first, and these just looked so tasty. They also were on the healthier side for a muffin which was another plus; a lot of whole wheat flour, not tons of sugar, yogurt and applesauce, and only a little bit of butter. It sounded like a nice combination, so I just had to give them a try. 

So how did they turn out? Well I ended up really liking them a lot. They are hearty and definitely muffins, not cakey at all. They are not overly sweet, but with the chocolate they don't need to be extremely sweet anyway. I did end up having to adjust the amount of liquid in the recipe, adding a little extra milk, because otherwise the batter was just way too dry. And the whole wheat flour definitely shines through, giving them a nice nutty flavor that I really like. It might be a little strong for some people but I really enjoyed it. 

One complaint I did have was they turned out a little on the dry side, still perfectly edible and delicious, but slightly dry, and this was even with me cutting down on the baking time. I want to play around with the recipe a little more and see if I can get them to come out a bit more moist next time. I was thinking about possible adding a little more milk, and maybe trying buttermilk instead of the milk (just because I love buttermilk!). But we'll see, I'll keep you posted. One thing I do know, these muffins are definitely worth trying again. 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from

A Spoonful of Photography

Ingredients

• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Pinch Salt
• 1/2-2/3 cup (around 4 oz) Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup (4.25 oz) Yogurt
• 5 Tbsp Milk 
• 1/2 cup (4.25 oz) Applesauce
• 2 Tbsp Butter or Oil
• 150g dark chocolate chunks

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425 °F. Grease or line your muffin tin with parchment paper. Mix together both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a seperate bowl beat together egg and sugar, then add in the yogurt, applesauce and butter. Gently fold in the wet ingredients into the dry, gently adding the chocolate chips when only some flour isn't mixed in - be careful to not overmix!

Scoop the batter into your muffin tins until each one is filled about 2/3 and put it in the oven at 425 °C for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 °C for further 10-12 minutes. Take out, let cool and enjoy!

Yields: 12 nice sized muffins

Double Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins

Any time some chocolate can find it's way into my breakfast I know it's going to be a good day. These muffins are a delicious way to ensure a great day ahead. They are easy to make, and use simple ingredients that I always have on hand. There is plenty of chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder and chocolate chips, and buttermilk and melted butter add tenderness and lots of yummy flavor (and yea for melted butter! It makes everything just that much easier!). Unlike some other chocolate muffins I have made, these don't have chocolate melted into the batter, but it doesn't seem to matter, they have tons of flavor even without that, and it saves on doing that one extra step. If you're looking for a chocolate pick me up for breakfast, look no further and head into the kitchen. 

Double Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins
Adapted from Hummingbird High
Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chunks or chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 (F) and prepare muffin tins with muffin liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 large eggs and 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar until a pale yellow. Add 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and whisk until just combined. 

Sprinkle the dry ingredients evenly onto the surface of the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold until combined, with one or two flour streaks left in the batter. Add the chocolate chunks, reserving a few for the top if desired, and fold into the batter until just combined. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter between the muffin tins, filling them about 2/3s of the way full. Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with the remaining chocolate pieces. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 16 to 18 minutes or until the tops look set and a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out almost clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes, before turning out onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Perfect Pumpkin Muffins

This past Christmas, my sister Lara and I received a couple of wonderful cookbooks. I got Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi which I had first checked out from the library and loved. Lara got Sarabeth's Bakery by Sarabeth Levine which she has been eyeing for some time now, and finally owns. We dug into Sarabeth's Bakery first. It was so difficult trying to decide what to make. Everything sounds so good and looks beautiful. We finally decided on our first recipe, these perfect pumpkin muffins. 

These muffins are pretty close to perfect. They came out of the oven looking absolutely gorgeous. Tall and domed as every muffin should be. Even with an entire can of pumpkin puree, these muffins actually aren't overly pumpkin-y. They are actually quite mild, and not overly sweet, exactly what I need on some days. But if you're feeling a little extra indulgent, I think a handful or two of mini chocolate chips would be an excellent addition, that's what I'm going to try next!

In the cookbook, it says this recipe will yield 12-14 muffins. Well, I got 24 out of it. They weren't huge, but they were the perfect size for me. I didn't have to bake them as long either, so if you make them smaller make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't over-bake. 

Like I above, these muffins aren't overly sweet, they are definitely muffins, not cupcakes, which is how I like it. The batter is super thick which helps them bake up beautifully domed and craggily. In fact, after they were baked I could still see where each individual scoop of batter was placed in the muffin tins, the batter is that thick. So if you want beautifully domed muffins, make sure not to smooth out the batter after you fill the tins, keep the scoops nice and rounded (this is where a cookie scoop comes in handy) because this is how they will bake up.

Perfect Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from:

Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours

Ingredients

• Softened unsalted butter, for the pan
• 3 2/3 cups pastry flour, sifted (I used about 17 ounces all purpose flour with a few tablespoons cornstarch)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 1/3 cups superfine sugar (I used 10 ounces granulated sugar that I processed in my NutriBullet)
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• One 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Brush the insides of 12 to 14 muffin cups with softened butter, then brush the top of the pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt together into a medium bowl. Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until creamy, about I minute. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue beating, scraping the sides of the bowl often with a silicone spatula, until the mixture is very light in color and texture, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs. Reduce the mixture speed to low. Beat in the pumpkin; the mixture may look curdled. In thirds, beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, and mix until smooth. 

Using a 2½ inch-diameter ice-cream scoop, portion the batter, rounded side up, into the prepared cups. 

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a wire tester inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes more.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely.

Bakers Note: If you use generous scoops of batter, the yield will be 12 muffins. For smaller muffins, use 7 muffin cups in each of 2 muffin pans. Distribute the batter in a random pattern (not in rows) in each pan so the muffins bake evenly. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

As you may have noticed, I really love muffins. A few weeks ago, I went online to look up a new bakery/restaurant I'd heard of. When browsing their menu one particular thing jumped out at me; peanut butter chocolate chip banana muffins. Do you ever get that? One thing just catches your eye and sounds so delicious that you feel like you have to try it? I don't know what it was about this combination that made me want desperately to try it, it was just the right thing at that moment. I of course went straight to the internet to try to come up with a recipe that sounded as yummy as these did.

When I saw this recipe it sounded perfect. They were described as somewhat healthy, yet not so much that they tasted healthy, and not too dense, but more cake-like. That's a wonderful combination if you ask me. They turned out wonderfully, just what I was looking for. Both the flavor of the peanut butter and the banana really comes out and complement each other very well. Add a little chocolate to this combination and you have a winner!

There is no oil or butter in this recipe, the fat comes from the peanut butter and Greek yogurt. I know sometimes quick breads without oil or butter can have a funky texture, or baked up dry or dense, but these didn't have any problems. They are moist and light and full of flavor. I really like the addition of a little cinnamon and just a dash of both cloves and allspice. These spices all add a subtle flavor to the finished muffins that is detectable but hard to place. The muffin base itself is not very sweet, but that's okay, and with the addition of the chocolate chips you don't even notice. All in all, a very nice muffin to enjoy for breakfast, or as a mid afternoon snack.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
From The Craving Chronicles
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (8 ounces) flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash cloves
• dash allspice
• 2 very ripe medium bananas
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (about 6 ounces) Greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips 

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mash together bananas and brown sugar with a fork. Add yogurt, milk, egg, peanut butter and vanilla. Whisk to combine (may be lumpy). Add flour and stir until just combined. Don’t over mix! (Batter will be thick.) Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full. (Scoop any remaining batter into lined mini muffin cups.) Bake at 375°F for 15-18 minutes (10 minutes for minis) or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Bakery Style Muffins

When it comes to muffins, there are just muffins, and then there are real muffins. I'm sure you know what I mean, some muffins are short, flat and to be honest, rather ugly, not that this means they don't taste good, but let's be honest, it's more fun to eat something beautiful. Then there are the real deal; tall and handsome muffins with those perfectly domed tops, slightly crispy edges and a dense yet tender crumb that will never be confused with a cupcake. This is the kind of muffin I pine after. It's surprising how difficult it can be to find a recipe for this type of muffin, however, I think I've finally done it. These muffins were gorgeous and delicious, true muffins with the perfectly rounded top, exactly what I've been looking for.

What's interesting about this batter is that it doesn't use any milk or other liquid. The dairy is all yogurt, and a lot of it. This makes the batter super thick, almost like pancake batter, and helps create that beautiful mushroom top that doesn't overflow the muffin tins or flatten out too much. For this go around I made half of the mushrooms just plain, so I could really taste the muffin as is. For the other half, I tried swirling in some homemade strawberry rhubarb jam for a little added sweetness. I topped both with some coarse sugar for a little extra crunch.

The results were simply marvelous. The plain muffins were very nice, simple, slightly sweet and perfect as a basic muffin. The jam swirled version was also quite wonderful, a little extra sweet and sticky, the jam brought the muffin up just a notch. I would definitely do it again. Since the batter was so thick and my jam was really thick, it was difficult to actually swirl in the jam,  it mostly just stayed as a blob, but that was okay, it turned out really well in the end. This recipe comes with several delicious looking variations that I hope to share with you all soon.

Bakery Style Muffins
From Food.com, originally from America's Test Kitchen
Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

Directions
Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 375 F (or 450 F for mini muffins). Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternating 1/3 at a time, beat in the dry ingredients and yogurt until a smooth, thick batter just forms.

Spray 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or coat lightly with butter. Scoop batter evenly into cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes for the large muffins (and 10-12 minutes for the mini muffins). Set on wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

I know I've posted a lot of pumpkin things lately, but this is probably my last one, so if you are sick of pumpkin just bear with me. Personally, I don't ever get sick of it. Since muffins are always at the top of my list of things to bake, pumpkin muffins were a no brainer this fall, and these muffins didn't disappoint. A nice basic pumpkin muffin, topped with a simple streusel, they are pretty and tasty. Sometimes a simple recipe is just the thing I'm looking for. If you need a easy but delicious pumpkin muffin recipe, this fits the bill.

I actually made these muffins twice in the last couple of weeks, first for myself, and the second time to share with friends at school. For the first batch that I made, I used the streusel recipe that I found with the muffin recipe. This is the streusel that is shown in my pictures. I thought it was very pretty, and tasted quite nice, but just didn't quite cut it as a streusel topping for me. It was a little too floury. I prefer my streusel to be chunky and buttery, so for the second batch I used a different streusel recipe which worked out very nice. I've listed both options below; either one you choose will be very tasty, it's just a matter of opinion. What really matters is just that you make these muffins. They are the perfect breakfast treat for a chilly fall morning!

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Adapted from: Buns In My Oven
Ingredients
For the muffins:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Streusel topping option #1:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold butter

Streusel topping option #2

• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
For the streusel, combine the flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside. 

For the muffins, cream together butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs and molasses. 

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix into the batter. Stir just until combined. Fill paper lined muffins cups 2/3 full with batter. Spoon streusel topping over the muffins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 375, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Zucchini, Carrot, and Banana Muffins

Are you looking for a moist and delicious, beautiful and healthy summer muffin? A muffin that incorporates not only two types of vegetables, but some fruit as well? Well, I am always on the lookout for this type of muffin to bake up for a breakfast treat. Earlier this week I had an abundance of zucchini sitting on my counter thanks to both a coworker and a neighbor. Of course, zucchini bread came to mind right away, but my internet search for an amazing sounding recipe didn't turn up much. There are about a gazillion zucchini bread recipes out there, but none of them jumped out at me and got me excited to bake. That's when I turned to my trusty cookbook collection and came up with a nice looking recipe from what is probably my favorite cookbook, The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread. It was the perfect solution to my baking conundrum.

The original muffin recipe was for zucchini, carrot and apple muffins, but I hate having chunks of apple in my bread, so I decided to sub bananas in instead. It was a brilliant substitution if you ask me. The recipe also calls for coconut and toasted walnuts, both of which I omitted. I'm not a big fan of coconut, and I don't like nuts in my bread either. I didn't miss either of them, the muffins were wonderfully flavorful without them.

These muffins turned out incredibly soft and moist, they were not dry in the least. They did not have the lightly crisp tops that some muffins do, but instead were soft and almost sticky because of how moist they were. I found them to be incredibly delicious, and also surprisingly healthy. Yes, they have some sugar, but only half a cup of oil for 24 muffins. I don't think that is bad at all. Now that I have a bunch of frozen, grated zucchini in my freezer alongside my collection of frozen ripe bananas, these muffins will show up all year long.

Lined up and ready to go

Dig in to deliciousness!

Zucchini, Carrot and Banana Muffins
Adapted from: The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread
Ingredients

• 3 cups (435 g) flour
• 1 1/8 cups (227 g) sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups (340 g) carrots, peeled and grated
• 2 cups (255 g) zucchini, grated
• 1 cup (270 g) mashed, ripe banana
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (120 g) vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Set aside.

In a large bowl, gently toss together the carrots, zucchini, and bananas. Pour the liquid egg mixture over the grated vegetables and bananas, and fold in gently to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold in until just combined.

Scoop the batter gently into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake for 8 minutes at 400 degrees, then rotate the pan and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for an additional 9-11 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and place on a wire reach to cool completely.

Yields: 24 muffins

Mocha Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

My recipe binder is continually expanding, filling up with all the yummy new recipes I try. Every once in a  while I attempt to clean it out, but I liked almost everything in it and I want to want to keep all the recipes. They all bring back memories, almost all of them good. It's rare that I make something that I don't like. These muffins have been in my recipe binder for a couple of years now. I remember the first time I made them I really liked them, but I don't remember much else. So when I finally had some ripe bananas I decided it was time to try these again, and I'm glad I did!

These mocha muffins are full of chocolate chips and bananas and are very tender and buttery with a nice crispy top. Both the coffee flavor and the banana flavor are nice but quite mild. I might increase the amount of espresso powder I add next time if I'm feeling like a little more mocha flavor. I love their darker, golden brown color due to the espresso powder. The moment they came out of the oven I wanted to devour them all. If you have a few extra ripe bananas lying around and want to try something new, I would definitely recommend this recipe. A wonderful muffin to accompany a morning cup of coffee.

Start with the butter

Then the sugar

Egg next

Finally the banana and espresso powder

And don't forget the vanilla

Mix it all up

(I didn't quite follow the recipe, next time I'll 

remember to cream the butter and sugar first)

Add the flour mixture

Nicely mixed together

Time for the chocolate

Into the muffin pans

Top with a few extra chocolate chips

Bake them up until golden brown

Breakfast anyone?

Mocha Banana Muffins
From allrecipes.com
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso (or 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon water)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, banana, instant espresso and vanilla and beat until combined. 

Add the flour mixture, mixing until almost combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix a few times by hand, just until incorporated. Spoon the mixture into lined muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool on wire racks.