Soft, moist, fluffy chocolate muffins studded with pops of juicy blueberries and rich chocolate, and topped with a crunchy, dark chocolate streusel. These fabulous muffins make an outstanding start to the day, but are also wonderful served with a cup of tea at any time of the day.
Makes 8 - 9
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to fan oven 200°C/220°C/425°F/Gas 7 and place 8 - 9 muffin liners into a muffin tin.
First, make the chocolate streusel: weigh the butter into a small saucepan and melt over a moderate heat.
Add the sugar, flour, cocoa and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Do not add the chopped chocolate until the streusel is completely cool.
Next make the muffins: finely chop the dark chocolate, for the streusel and the muffin batter, and set 25g aside for the streusel topping.
Halve or quarter any large blueberries and then mix well with 1 teaspoon flour.
Weigh the olive oil, sour cream, egg and sugars into a mixing bowl. Sieve over the cocoa and coffee powder. Mix thoroughly with a balloon whisk.
Sieve over the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Fold until nearly mixed in and a few flecks of flour remain.
Add the 75g of chopped dark chocolate, as well as the floured blueberries, and fold in. Be careful not to over-mix at this stage.
Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter equally between 8 - 9 muffin cases.
Break up the cooled streusel into small pieces, add the remaining 25g chopped dark chocolate, and stir well.
Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the muffins. If freezing before cooking, put in the freezer, in the tin, immediately. It is important to do this straight away to prevent the raising agents activating. When frozen, cover with cling film.
Either:
- if cooking immediately – cook in the centre of a pre-heated oven at a high heat for 5 minutes, OR
- if cooking from frozen – put the frozen muffins in the centre of a pre-heated oven at a high heat for 10 minutes.
After 5 minutes (or 10 minutes if the muffin batter was frozen), turn the oven down to fan oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and cook for a further 15 – 20 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked.
Remove from the oven when they are cooked and leave to sit for 5 – 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Eat warm or at room temperature.
Equipment:
Storage:
These muffins are best eaten on the day they are made. However, they will store well in an airtight container for 2 -3 days, or in a fridge or up to 4 days. If you are storing in the fridge, allow to come to room temperature before eating.
Freezing uncooked muffins:
You can freeze these muffins before you cook them. All you need to do is:
Freezing cooked muffins:
You can also freeze these muffins after they have been cooked. Once cooked, allow to cool and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.