Tuesday, July 5, 2011

{TWD} Chocolate Chunk Muffins



The bakers of the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group had an intriguing assignment this week. The chosen recipe was for Chocolate Chunk Muffins which sound - and, from the picture in the cookbook, look - a lot like cupcakes. But Dorie Greenspan calls them muffins, and placed the recipe squarely in the middle of the "breakfast" section of the book, so we got a chance to see how a recipe with a bunch of chocolate nevertheless could be considered muffins.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- This week's muffin recipe was chosen by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles, and you can click over to her muffin post to get the recipe, along with a short course on the difference between cupcakes and muffins.

- I made half a batch of these muffins in my silicone 6-muffin pan.

- The recipe is easy, and the muffins came together quickly. I used dark cocoa powder and Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate baking pieces.

the verdict:

As the saying goes, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating," and after a personal taste test, my verdict is definitely "muffin." They were fluffy, tender, and on the cakey side of the muffin spectrum, but their open crumb, minimal sweetness and unmistakeable tang from the buttermilk ensured that they did not stray into cupcake territory. The random pockets of melted chocolate pieces were welcome little rewards. The muffins were perfect for breakfast or along with a cup of afternoon tea.

9 comments:

Nicole said...

I thought they were very muffin-like too. And cupcakes need frosting! Mine were good with extra chocolate chunks and with jam.

Criollobylisa said...

My chocolate chunks disappeared.

Pamela said...

Definitely more muffin than cupcake in my opinion, too. Favorite part was those chocolate chunks!

natalia said...

ciao Nancy ! I actually cheated and added more chocolate to double the peasure !

Unknown said...

I never turn down an opportunity to eat chocolate for breakfast so I loved these. That said, since I can't trust myself to portion them, I left them with Shane's parents. Dorie's muffins are among my favorites from her book :)

Kayte said...

I'll take your word for it...that they are muffins, okay? Whatever they were, they disappeared very quickly around here. Yours look VERY chocolatey. That's a good thing, right?

margot said...

Yours look nice and dark, yum! I was wondering if these were going to be too cake-like for breakfast, but they really do have a muffin texture and taste.

TeaLady said...

Yes, I can go with chocolate for b'fast. And these were perfect because they weren't very sweet. Delicious yes. Cakey, kinda. Tasty.

Yours are so nice and dark.

spike. said...

it's great that they are distinctly muffins (that means you can have a chocolate cup cake later in the day, right)