Double Chocolate Muffins

“Hello, there! Come on in and warm up in the kitchen. I just took a batch of double chocolate muffins out of the oven and I’ll start the water for some hot, strong coffee”… is what I would say to you if you stopped by my house right now.

As I write this, it’s 13 degrees F (-10 C) and that’s how it’s been for days. We’re in the January deep-freeze here, in what currently feels like the frozen tundra, and turning on the oven to make bake up some hearty and delicious comfort food feels more like a necessity for survival than a luxury. Making a batch of double chocolate muffins is a fun way to warm up the kitchen and make winter seem a little less bleak.

*Double chocolate muffins on a cold winter morning*

Don’t get me wrong, I love winter. I love the cold, frosty mornings, the sight of frozen lakes, the snowy Nor’easters, and the possibilty that everything will be canceled and we’ll all have to stay home. My favorite part of winter is enjoying the coziness and warmth of home. There’s nothing like coming inside from the biting cold to warm up in the toasty kitchen with a hot cup of coffee and a freshly baked muffin.

*Hot coffee and freshly baked chocolate muffins*

These double chocolate muffins are made with rich Dutch-processed cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate chunks for a decadent chocolate flavor. They’re soft and moist and will keep for a couple of days. I recommend popping them into the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up and make the chocolate melty before enjoying them.

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Double Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 standard-sized muffins

What you need:

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. Dutch-process cocoa
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 ¼ c. granulated sugar
½ c. oil
1 c. sour cream
½ c. buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Sparkling sugar for tops (optional)

What you do:

Preheat oven to 425° degrees and prepare a standard muffin pan with paper liners, or thoroughly grease the individual cups in the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until well-combined. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until pale yellow. Add oil, sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk to combine thoroughly. (If you do not have buttermilk, you can substitute with sour cream or use a sour milk mixture, made by adding a teaspoon of vinegar to ½ cup of milk and let sit about 5 minutes. You can also swap in plain greek yogurt for sour cream.)

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently. Combine just until all of the dry ingredients are moist. The batter should be thick and lumpy. Add most of the chocolate chips, reserving a few to top the muffins, and mix just until evenly distributed. Fill your prepared muffin tins to the top of the liners. Sprinkle tops of muffins with a few chocolate chips and some sparkling sugar (if you have some on hand).

Bake muffins at 425° for 5 minutes, or until the tops are starting to rise over the pan. Reduce the temperature to 375° and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes, keeping a close eye on them after 12 minutes. They will go from batter to overdone easily, so test them often and remove from the oven as soon as a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached, or the tops are springy instead of squishy. Let them sit in the pan for a minute or two before removing to a cooling rack. Be very careful of the chocolate on top of the muffins as it may look firm but will be screaming hot, like little blobs of lava, and could burn you if you touch it.

The muffins are best eaten warm and will keep for several days, in an airtight container.I recommend giving them a 15-second reheat in the microwave when you’re ready to enjoy them.