Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffin

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

 

Although Cooking Light already came out with a good Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe, it took me several modifications to come up with a moist muffin using 100% WHITE whole wheat flour. After experimenting with several types of cocoa powder, I prefer using the Dutch-process cocoa powder in this recipe which delivers a more intense chocolate taste. Replacing the water with buttermilk made the muffins more moist, tender and light. I'm pretty satisfied with these modifications. The muffins are not too sweet and perfect for breakfast.

1/2 cup semisweet MINI chocolate chips (3.2 ounces)
7.9 ounces WHITE whole wheat flour (about 1-3/4 cups)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (4 ounces)
1/3 cup sifted Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder OR Hershey's Cocoa Special Dark (1 ounce)
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten (1.8 to 1.9 ounces)
1-1/2 cups well-shaken cultured low-fat buttermilk (12 ounces)
1/4 cup EXTRA LIGHT olive oil or expeller-pressed canola oil (1.7 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Position oven rack to the center of the oven. Spray 11 standard-size muffin cups with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.

Measure 1 tablespoon chocolate chips (0.4 ounce) from the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to a separate small dish. Set both aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir well with a whisk, using your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar. Set aside.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk, olive oil, and vanilla. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Make a well in center of the flour mixture. Add the entire buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Using a wire whisk, gently stir the flour mixture with the buttermilk mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently fold in the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.

Divide batter among 11 prepared muffin cups, about 3/4 filled. Sprinkle with remaining reserved 1 tablespoon chocolate chips and very lightly press the chips into the batter. Bake for 16 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the pan and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield 11 muffins, approximately 224 calories per muffin