Double Chocolate Muffins

I'm back!! I finally finished my Sophomore year of college at UW!! No words can express the relief I have after that school year. Let's just say I'm glad that it's over. ha. Now I have 2 weeks to bake up a storm before I start Summer classes. So, here goes, Treat Number One: Double Chocolate Muffins.

I'd like to think of muffins as "naked cupcakes". Isn't that what they really are? Same texture of a cupcake but lacks its outfit of a yummy buttercream and accessories like sprinkles. Call them streakers or nudist, muffins are fantastic. ha. Not to mention, they are a good excuse to eat a "cupcake" for breakfast!

One of my favorite muffins of all time is a Double Chocolate Muffin, specifically, Costco's Double Chocolate Muffins. Beyond delish! They are moist, have a great flavor and full of chocolate chunks. A Chocoholic's dream? I think so. I can't imagine anyone who hasn't tried this muffin. If you haven't, well what are you waiting for? Go to your local Costco, buy a dozen muffins and sink your teeth into a bite heaven!

It's been months since I had their muffins that I had to try and make them somehow, someway. Thus, I found this recipe from scratch that had the same look as the ones from Costco. How did they come out? Here it goes!

Tips
-I used a scale when measuring out the ingredients and forgot to measure out the ingredients to make the recipe easier for you all. Sorry!!

-I used a regular cupcake pan, filled each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup of the batter and they cooked in about 15 minutes

Results
Taste: Has a slight bitterness chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder with semi-sweet chocolate running through out. Not the same exact taste as the one from Costco.

Texture: Not the same as the Costco muffin yet again. Actually, the muffin itself was pretty tough than what I'm used to. Wasn't light and fluffy at all and was running on the dry side which shocked me because it used oil! Back to square one to perfect a Costco Muffin.

Double Chocolate Muffins (makes 12)
Recipe from A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit

Ingredients
200gr plain flour
100gr caster sugar
50gr cocoa powder
1tsp cinnamon (I omitted)
1tbsp baking powder
125gr dark chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet)
2 eggs
100ml vegetable oil
250ml milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 200C. (400 degrees F)

In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder and dark chocolate.

 In a separte bowl whisk the eggs. Add the oil and stir well until combined. Add the milk and mix in again. Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry with a fork or wooden spoon until just combined. You don't want to overwork it.

Divide the dough between a 12 hole muffin tray, lined with paper muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.

-Aaron John

Donut Muffins

This past week, I gave away "goodie bags" to 20 lucky friends since it is the season of giving after all. Boy, was that time-consuming. ha. It took me about 6 hours to fully complete the baking and about 30 minutes to package them all up. In the time leading up to these "goodie bag" giveaways, I had to decide what I was going to put in them first of all. I was going over all my recipes figuring out what would work best. I definitely knew I wanted some sort of a cake and cookie combination. Then, I had to choose exactly what. Well, for the cookie part of the bags, I wanted something that would last and not be affected by sitting over night. From this, I chose my Chocolate and Almond Biscotti and Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies. But what cake can I make?

When deciding the cake aspect, I had different ideas floating around in my head. Making whole cupcakes, mini cupcakes, cake truffles, cake pops, cake petit fours. The list went on and on. I narrowed down my choices to either Donut Muffins or Red Velvet mini cupcakes/petit fours. However, I had never made Donut Muffins before and I wasn't about to let my friends become guinea pigs.

So, these were the Donut Muffins I tested out. Sad to say, these didn't make the cut of my giveaway. Instead I made Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes. Overall, the giveaway was a success and was worth every minute of it. Too bad I didn't take pictures of the gift bags....I did take pictures of the Donut Muffins though! ha.

Tips
-Don't over-mix the batter. The batter will seem rather thick and not combined but a few mixes and it should be good to go.

-I used paper liners to bake them up simply for easier cleanup.

-I found that after the muffins came out of the oven and you are ready to cover them in sugar, dunking them in butter and letting them sit for about 30 seconds before dipping them into the cinnamon sugar worked best. It prevented clumps of sugar to accumulate on the muffin.

Results
Taste: Actually tasted close to a cake donut with the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg. However, something seemed to be missing for me in these muffins.

Texture: The muffin itself was moist and the cinnamon-sugar topping gave a nice crunch. The muffin had a texture close to a coffee cake, not as dense as a real donut which is probably the reason why I felt it was "off"

Donut Muffins (Makes 12 Muffins)
Recipe Found Through The Pioneer Woman @ Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoons Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/3 cups Oil
3/4 cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
3/4 cups Milk

FOR THE TOPPING:
1/4 cups Butter
1/3 cups White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Directions
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.
Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

-Aaron John

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Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Because of the disastrous Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze recipe yesterday, I decided to make Ina Garten's Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins today. Tomorrow I have my Sociology Final and I was hoping these wouldn't be another flop of a recipe. Since I had a ton blueberries left over from yesterday, I might as well use them, right? This recipe was extremely simple and straight forward. Plus the blueberries didn't get crushed!! And why would they in this recipe? It's an actual batter which makes it less stressful. **Tip: Toss the blueberries in a little bit of flour before folding them into the batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin when baking. I also added the zest of one lemon to the batter because it goes well with blueberries. Making the batter was quick. The longest part of the recipe was the baking period but that was about it. These came out with a pale golden brown top and were delicious!! Finally, redemption from yesterday. These were moist, sweet yet tart from the blueberries and the lemon definitely rounded out the flavors. Hopefully these will be a great "brain food" tomorrow! They actually say that blueberries help with memory so let's see if that's true with my Sociology Final. Now I have to get back to studying!! Here's the recipe!

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins (Makes 16 Muffins)
Ingredients
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.


-Aaron John
My Food Outings: AJ's Food Adventure
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Honey Cornbread Muffins

So, I wasn't actually planning on baking Honey Cornbread Muffins today. I was saving this recipe for later on. I already baked Mexican Wedding Cookies earlier and so I thought I was about done baking for the day. I was working diligently to finish my 3 essays, art homework and read for my Asian Studies Class. A couple hours went by and I decided to take a break and get something to eat in the kitchen. While in the kitchen, my brother comes out of his room and says "What you making? Cornbread?!". I replied "No, if you look over there, I already made some cookies". He then said "Come on. You should make some cornbread". Well, that's why I made these Honey Cornbread Muffins. I got the recipe from the Neelys. These were super simple to make and I made them in no time which was great because I had a lot of other work to do. The Honey Cornbread Muffins were moist and had that classic corn/nutty taste from the corn meal, sweetness from the sugar and honey (the honey also gave a nice floral note) and the sweetness was balanced out by the salt. Overall, very good recipe. I didn't like the crumb of these however. I think I need to figure out how to make the crumb better and I have an idea in mind. I also think the temperature should be lower because these did brown up fairly quickly. Well, here's the recipe.

Honey Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
Special equipment: paper muffin cups and a 12-cup muffin tin

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.


-Aaron John
My Food Outings: AJ's Food Adventure
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