Chocolate Before Noon
Jun 25th, 2008 by Marilyn
Why not?
After all, I walked up a very steep hill today.
I’ll climb the Matterhorn tomorrow if it means more muffins.
They are just muffins - mini-muffins, little two-biters, at that - but they are two eye-opening bites of very good chocolate. Even as an adult, chocolate in the morning always seems like a treat.
Like you are sneaking a treasure that was locked up for later.
Chocolate in the morning used to be a giddy entitlement; as in, it’s 9 am and mom and dad are out of town, so we should probably lick all the chocolate frosting off that Heinemann’s cake. And maybe two of Aunt Bobbi’s chocolate chip squares…a frozen Kit Kat…and some Hershey’s syrup from the bottle. Yeah, that’s a good breakfast.
The difference now seems to be that we’ve earned it - or at least the illusion that we’ve earned it.
My friends, sometimes coffee is not enough. Sometimes you must start the day with more than one shade of brown.
Just a little something. And at the end of the day, maybe a little something again?
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Chocolate Breakfast Muffins
makes 12 full-sized muffins (or 24 minis)
2/3 cup (2 oz.) cocoa, Dutch-process or natural
1 3/4 cups (7 1/4 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 cups (8 oz.) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons vinegar
8 tablespoons (one 4-oz. stick) butter or margarine, melted
granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Set aside.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. Add this egg mixture, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend until just well-combined.
Scoop the batter into 12 papered muffin cups (or 24 minis). Sprinkle with an even layer of granulated sugar. Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Watch muffins closely - they can slightly burn around edges if overbaked. Remove the muffins from oven.
Allow to cool about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.
adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
My stove is finally set up to arrive soon. These are going on the Bake Wish List. 6 months no baking its time for some choco-muffins
Why not indeed????
I so totally agree with you. I started making chocolate mini-muffins at the first of this year. They are so little and cute and so easy to pop into your mouth. Yes, even in the morning. If they last that long! THanks for the recipe too.
“…it’s 9 am and mom and dad are out of town, so we should probably lick all the chocolate frosting off that Heinemann’s cake.”
I knew it!!! Just knew it. Are those muffins shippable??
ohhhh…chocolate for breakfast…i’ve done that quite a few times lately.
Vinegar? really? That’s curious
Um, Dad? (that’s Papa - I’m outing him) I just make all this stuff for the blog, you know…it’s not like we drank Hershey Syrup straight from the bottle…or poured Bosco on Honeycombs…or ate Quik straight from the can for breakfast when you guys went to Vegas…really!
ChrisH - the vinegar is a holdover from the original King Arthur Flour recipe, and I assume it’s there as an acidic ingredient to help activate the baking soda. Vinegar is fairly common in certain baking soda-leavened chocolate cakes, like Devil’s Food or Red Velvet.
All I can think of now is Bill Cosby’s “Chocolate Cake for breakfast” routine. “It’s got milk! That’s a breakfast food. And flour! And eggs!”
You can just pass 4 of those right on over here, thanks…
Bill Cosby was right: there’s no reason to avoid chocolate-y foods in the morning, even sweet ones. We (or at least Noo Yawkers) don’t blink at danish pastries for breakfast - why not chocolate cake. I’ve had it for breakfast and it is a good hearty start to the day.
Muffins like these are great: use natural cocoa for bite (and lost of it for that moring lift), add a bit of sour cream (I like the idea of vinegar - gonna try that - thanks!).
Of course there are other ways to get a choc fix first thing
Choc porridge, choc cereal, choc pancakes/waffles/crepes/flapjacks, and of course a strong black cup of cocoa.