Wintry Baltimore is finally starting to get warm and this weekend my mum and I are going to New Jersey to visit friends from Abu Dhabi. I love to bake, they love to eat and we love how perfectly this always works out! 🙂
As per usual, I was having trouble figuring out what to make. I knew I had a feel for making muffins as they would be easy to pack and take, but didn’t know what kind. A few days back, I came across this recipe for a chocolate chip rosemary cake and I had had that on my mind since then. The combination sounded way too interesting (and maybe a little weird?)
The recipe of this cake batter rightly resembled a muffin batter recipe and so I thought of making chocolate chip rosemary muffins. Although this recipe had great reviews, I was still anxious about the combination of flavors. Yet, nothing stopped me from giving this a try.
I made the muffins, took them out of the pan and stared at them for minutes. They looked scrumptious. Regardless of how pretty they looked, I was afraid to taste them. But my sister and mum taste-tested them with quite a lot of incitement. They loved the flavors and went ahead to take a second bite. My mum said her favorite part about the muffin was the crunchy top.
I made two batches of these muffins — in the first one, we felt that the rosemary sharply overpowered the bitterly sweetness of the chocolate and so I decided to reduce the amount in the second batch. Apart from that, these muffins were perfectly dense in texture with tender crumbs, chunks of dark chocolate, peppery rosemary and fruity olive oil all held together.
Chocolate Chunk, Rosemary & Olive Oil Muffins
adapted from Oeufs Mayonnaise who got the recipe from 101 Cookbooks
Olive oil for the pan
Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup – spelt flour (can use ground oats instead)
1 1/2 cups – plain flour
3/4 cup – sugar
1 1/2 tsp – baking powder
3/4 tsp – kosher salt
Wet ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup – olive oil
3/4 cup – whole milk
1 1/2 tbsp – fresh rosemary, finely chopped (I used 1 tbsp)
5 oz – bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
2 tablespoons sugar for top crunch
1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin pan with olive oil.
2) Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring any bits of grain or other ingredients left in the sifter back into the bowl. Set aside.
3) In another bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the olive oil, milk and rosemary and whisk again. Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, gently mixing just until combined. Stir in 2/3 of the chocolate. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate and 2 tbsp of sugar on the top.
4) Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top is domed, golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
5) Serve warm or cold.
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