Bringing Glory to Chocolate Chip Muffins

...by making them Belgian Cote d'Or Double Lait Praline Muffins

To continue with our Sunday night de-stressifying, lab-meeting baking, last week Brenna and I made some delicious muffins.  Muffins are so simple to whip together and so scrumpdidillyumptious.  We thought, who doesn't like a good ol' chocolate chip muffin?  I can't think of anyone personally...  But we wanted to make these even better than the classic!  Luckily, I still have several bars of delicious Belgian chocolate from my last shipment from Daddy, and I will be receiving more chocolate within a week or two...so it was the perfect time to use my bar of Cote d'Or Double Lait chocolate.

The star of the show.

I don't normally like milk chocolate straight up, so I wasn't planning on eating this bar by itself.  Putting it in a muffin (especially a recipe like this one where the batter isn't too sweet) was the perfect application.  The result was divine!  Oh how I wish I had one to munch on right now...

Belgian Cote d'Or Double Lait Praline Muffins
(adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups chopped Cote d'Or Double Lait chocolate (or substitute with some other delicious Belgian chocolate)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put paper liners in your muffin tin(s).  (We made 16 muffins that came up to just above the paper when baked.  I would predict that you could make 12 muffins if you wanted to without any overflowing catastrophes.)
2. Mix together the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In another medium bowl, mix together the cooled, melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
4. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the wet.  Stir until just combined!  A few lumps are ok...it is imperative that you do not over-mix though!
5. Stir in the chopped chocolate.
6. Spoon into your paper-lined muffin tins.
7. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until a knife/toothpick poked in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tins and then remove to allow to cool completely.

The set-up.

Dry and wet, ready to go.

Action shot.  Shoop.

Don't over-mix or your moooofins will be tuff stuff!

Hello, beautiful chocolat.

Ready to be plopped into muffin tins.

Almost forgot to photodocument the before-baked muffins!  Luckily I remembered just after we closed the oven door.

16 muffins (the other 4 were in another pan) makes just the perfect sized muffins in my opinion, but if you want mushrooming, pillowy muffins, dividing the batter into just 12 cups should do that for you.

Waiting for these beauties to cool was a painful process...

...couldn't wait very long...we tried one warm, and it was delicious.  Ooey gooey, sweet chocolate pieces enveloped by a spongy, moist and vanilla-y crumb.

Almost as painful as waiting for them to cool: just eating one and saving the rest for the lab people...at least we each grabbed a second one the next day before they disappeared (and disappear they did, poof!).

Not exactly sure what this week's weekend baking holds in store...perhaps chocolate? perhaps another muffin recipe?  Stay tuned because you know it's gonna make you drool!