I've had a pretty busy couple of weeks recently, there has been some very grown-up stuff happening (words like mortgage! Solicitors! Conveyancing!), and some not-so-grown-up stuff (epic pirate cake baking!), as well as several friends coming to stay; so unfortunately I've had very little time for blogging and my social media has been thoroughly neglected. I thought I would ease back into things with something simple - double chocolate almond raisin muffins, because muffins are some of the easiest things you can make.
The muffins are really quick and easy to make, it is a simple matter of mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another then stirring them together and adding some dark chocolate, almonds and raisins. I made six jumbo muffins, though you could make eight smaller ones if you prefer. They make a brilliant snack or decadent breakfast although they are best eaten on the day they are made, like most muffins they go stale quickly. They do freeze incredibly well though and just require a short blast in the microwave to defrost them.
Double Chocolate Almond Raisin Muffins
Ingredients
- 150 g (1 + ¼ cups) plain flour, sifted
- 40 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder, sifted
- ½ tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch salt
- 125 g (½ cup + 2tbsp) caster sugar
- 50 g (scant ¼ cup) butter, melted
- 125 ml (generous ½ cup) buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 75 g (3oz) dark chocolate, chopped
- 40 g (1.5 oz) raisins
- 40 g (1.5 oz) almonds, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Line a 6 hole muffin pan with large muffin liners (or you can make 8 smaller muffins).
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and the salt.
- In a separate bowl or jug whisk together the sugar, melted butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined, don't overmix, the batter will be thick and fudgy.
- Reserve ¼ of the chocolate to sprinkle on top of the muffins then fold the remainder into the batter along with the raisins and almonds. Divide the batter between the 6 liners, filling them completely full. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate pieces. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a skewer comes out almost clean (check after 15 minutes if you are making smaller muffins).
Alison Macdonald
Love plain chocolate with orange
tracey baker
Love any Coffee flavoured Chocolate x
EJ Dunn
I love white chocolate
Oksana Fitzgerald
Mint chocolate
Beryl drake
Mint chocolate
Diana
Milk chocolate 🙂
Nicole S.
Milk Chocolate! 🙂
Ruth Wollerton
White chocolate with strawberries. Yummytastic
Clare B
OOooo almost any chocolate but especially chilli and or ginger
Kerry Webber
My favourite is dark chocolate - the darker the better!
alison clark
Dark chocolate with ginger