Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

Dry

• 220g plain flour
• 1¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 50g cocoa powder

Wet

• 180g milk, HOT
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules (optional)
• 86g canola oil
• 175g brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g sour cream
• 1 large egg

Mix-in

• 250g dark chocolate chips

Method

1. 1.Preheat oven to 210°C. Shelf in top ⅓. Line 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. 2.Sift flour, baking soda, salt into a large bowl.
3. 3.Bloom cocoa: sift cocoa into separate bowl, add coffee + HOT milk. Whisk until lump-free.
4. 4.Add sugar, oil, egg, sour cream, vanilla into cocoa mixture. Whisk until smooth.
5. 5.Pour wet into dry. Whisk until smooth and glossy. Stop as soon as it comes together — DO NOT over mix.
6. 6.Fold in most of the chocolate chips, reserve ~60g for topping.
7. 7.Divide batter into 12 holes, fill to 0.5cm from the rim of the liner. Don't overfill or they won't dome, they'll just blob over.
8. 8.Top each muffin with a pile of reserved chips in the center.
9. 9.Bake at 210°C for 5 min first — this kick-starts the rise.
10. 10.Turn oven DOWN to 190°C, bake another 20 min. Check at 15 min with toothpick. Don't mistake melted chocolate for raw batter!
11. 11.Rest in tin a few min, transfer to rack. Wait at least 15 min before eating… or don't idk.

Notes

• Brown sugar > white sugar for moisture and shelf life. White sugar works but dries out faster.
• Dutch process cocoa = deeper colour and more intense chocolate flavour. Regular cocoa is fine.
• Coffee doesn't make it taste like coffee, it just makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey. Trust.
• Stays fresh 3 days at room temp in airtight container. Freeze up to 3 months. 10 sec microwave brings them back to life.