What a great feeling it is to switch on the oven light and see that your cocoa muffins have risen up, up, up and have beautiful crowns. It’s especially nice when you’re trying a brand new recipe with flavors you know everyone will love. In this case, it’s chocolate with a hint of spice.
The original version of this recipe is in Jame’s McNair’s Breakfast book, but I cut it in half to make 6. I also used Hershey’s Dark cocoa powder, sour milk instead of buttermilk (I was out), and mixed the ingredients differently. That is, I mixed the cocoa powder with the melted butter to get the lumps out. Plus, I vaguely remember reading somewhere that mixing the butter with the chocolate helps bring out the flavor of the cocoa. Hmm. They did have lots of flavor!
Speaking of which, if you don’t love the chocolate spice combo (not everybody does, right?), just eliminate the cinnamon and cloves and throw in ¾ teaspoon of vanilla. I made a second batch this way using no spices and a combo of dark chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. The second batch was great too, though they didn't rise *quite* as high as the cinnamon batch.
Recipe
Spiced Cocoa Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup ½ stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder I used Hershey’s Dark
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk or sour milk -- don't be heavy handed with the milk. Err on the side of less.
- ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 6 muffin tins with baking spray.
- Thoroughly combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter with the cocoa until it is smooth. Whisk in the egg and milk. Add the flour mixture and stir until the ingredients are just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into the tins, dividing evenly.
- Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 (I baked for 18) minutes. Remove immediately from the tins and cool briefly on a wire rack.
stephanie says
Ok, just made these & these really rock. THANK YOU!!! I have tried many chocolate muffin recipes & they just don't cut it. These were very moist & tender. I did have to sub some things due to my kids food issues & I have to healthify everything. I am going to double the recipe & freeze them for their lunches. Here is what I subbed & what worked:
half AP flour & half 100 % whole wheat flour
1/4 cup canola oil instead of butter
Coconut milk (soured with lemon juice) instead of buttermilk/milk
no spices (kid doesn't like them)
Thanks again!
Ryan says
Oh my, these look beautiful! 🙂 I love chocolate and spices together.
Anna says
Aw, sorry all your brownies disappeared. At least you made somebody happy.
pumpkinpie says
I just made your Nesquik brownie recipe, using chili cinnamon drinking chocolate mix (from Byron Bay coffee company). So good that they disappeared while I was out jogging. To console myself, I figured that's like getting two workouts for the effort of one.
BakerMan says
Kind of gingerbready.....yum
Anna says
About the sour milk, I used a little less than half cup and added about 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice. For the second batch, I used SACO powdered buttermilk. That's always a good thing to keep on hand.
Darlene says
Such beautiful crowns on your muffins, I remember you gave us the hint earlier to bake the muffins at a high temp to start with to get a high muffin top. When you said you used sour milk, does that mean milk with lemon juice or vinegar added to it?
vanillasugar says
i will remember that tip of mixing the butter with the cocoa--i mean it does make some sense.
thanks for that.
Renee says
Just whipped up a batch of 12 for this week's lunchboxes!
Katrina says
I, too, love it when the tops have risen nicely. I might have to make these soon, too.
Helena says
I'm not a big chocolate cake/muffin fan, but they're always so good when they are made with buttermilk... somehow makes them very moist 🙂
Upstate NY Native says
Yuuuuuum! I love chocolate/spice mixtures. I am on my way into the kitchen to make these now but going to make 12 :-))
the blissful baker says
Ohh I love cinnamon and chocolate together! These muffins are so tall and fluffy looking!
The Candy Crusader says
Love the idea of spiced chocolate in muffin form. The flavors really compliment eachother!
The Candy Crusader
Lindsey says
I LOVE spiced chocolate - will have to give these a try today. Thanks!
Fallon says
Chocolate is a good way to hide the spices. The muffins sound delicious.