Old Fashioned Chocolate Cakey Muffin

This recipe is adapted from Nigella's old fashioned chocolate cake, which I baked not too long ago for my husband's birthday. I was pleased with how the cake turned out - I like the texture and the fact that it is ridiculously simple to put together! All you have to do is place the ingredients into the food processor!

Yesterday, I turned this one fashioned cake into an old fashioned chocolate cakey muffin :) I made it a little bit healthier by replacing most of the butter with applesauce and reducing the amount of sugar. Recipe is at the bottom.


I made a lemon cakey muffin batter before the chocolate batter.


I topped some of the chocolate muffins with a toasted pecan nut. Toasted pecan nuts taste so good!


And some topped with Kit Kat.


Old Fashioned Chocolate Cakey Muffins

Ingredients (makes 9 muffins)

• 200g plain flour
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 40g best-quality cocoa
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 50g unsalted butter + 120g applesauce (or 50g butter + 125g unsalted butter if you are not using applesauce)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 150ml non-fat yoghurt or low-fat sour cream
  

Method

1. Take everything out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C and line muffin tins.
3. Now all you have to do is put all the cake ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarb, cocoa, chocolate chips, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream – into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins and top with toppings of your choice (pecan nut, chocolate chips, kitkat etc.).
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Note: If you have a 12 cup muffin tin and only bake 9 muffins, pour water into the other 3 cups to keep from damaging your tin!


A few tips on storing and freezing muffins

• Cool muffins completely before wrapping and freezing. To freeze, wrap securely in foil or freezer wrap, or place in freezer bags. Label all packages with the name of the recipe and the date. Use within the recommended storage time for the best flavor and texture. Baked products should be stored at 0°F or lower. Muffins can be stored frozen for up to 3 months.
• Muffins can be thawed completely at room temperature, or heat frozen muffins in the microwave or conventional oven as directed below:
  For microwave oven, place unwrapped muffin on napkin, microwave-safe paper towel or plate. Microwave on HIGH about 30 seconds for each muffin.For conventional oven, heat foil-wrapped muffins at 350°F 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the muffins.