Wednesday, March 18, 2009

CRUMB TOPPED CHOCOLATE CINNAMON SWIRL MUFFINS


Recently, Elyse, of Elyse's Confectionary Creations, posted a
delicious-looking coffee cake
that she adapted from Baked. I wanted to try it, but coffee cakes are too big for a family of two where one person doesn't eat desserts. So I adapted the recipe for muffins.

My first adaptation including reducing the fat content by subbing banana for part of the fat. The muffins were good, but not great. I decided to try again. This time, I subbed applesauce for part of the fat and used fat-free yogurt for part of the sour cream, with a little cream added.

I also added "coffee essence," a flavoring I use a lot of. It's coffee brandy with instant coffee granules added. I store it in the fridge in a little jar. And, since I won a bag of Ultragrain flour recently, I decided to try it. (Ultragrain flour is 30% whole wheat and bakes up just like all-purpose flour.) These muffins were the bomb! Not only is the flavor divine, the texture of these muffins is tender and soft and the crumb topping is nicely clumped for a soft crunch. There's plenty of chocolate in these babies, too. I highly recommend these muffins. Thanks, Elyse, for a great recipe.


Crumb-Topped Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
Adapted from Elyse's Confectionary Creations and Baked
Rating: 10 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: TOPPING:
1/4 cup Ultragrain flour (or all-purpose, if preferred)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. butter

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in food processor and pulse till mixed. Add pecans and chocolate chips. Pulse till fully ground. Add butter and pulse until combined. Refrigerate.

CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON SWIRL: 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa (or natural unsweetened, if preferred)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients in small bowl; set aside.

MUFFINS:
1-3/4 cup Ultragrain or all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick)butter, melted and partially cooled
1-1/8 cups sugar
1 large egg
6 oz. fat-free vanilla yogurt + 2 oz. heavy cream OR 8 oz. fat-free vanilla yogurt
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coffee essence*
1/2 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In small bowl, whisk butter and sugar together; add egg, yogurt, cream, vanilla, coffee essence and applesauce and whisk till well combined and smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and stir with spoon or spatula till barely combined. Place a rounded Tbsp. in each muffin cup. Divide chocolate cinnamon swirl ingredients evenly among cups, using about 2 tsp. for each. Top with remaining muffin batter. Divide crumb topping among muffins, pressing in slightly. Place in oven and immediately reduce heat to 325F. Bake 18-20 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in muffin returns with just a few crumbs. If you hit chocolate, reinsert toothpick carefully and don't go all the way down -- remember there's a pocket of melting chocolate down there. Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.
































*Coffee essence: In small container, place 1/4 cup coffee brandy or creme de cocoa. Add 4 Tbsp. instant coffee. Seal; shake; refrigerate till needed.



9 comments:

Elyse said...

Judy, your adaptations sound fabulous!! You have me wanting to get into the kitchen to try these muffins right now. I mean, they are just gorgeous!! You are such a stellar recipe maker/adapter!! I was just about to make myself some dinner, but I may make some muffins instead!

Barbara Bakes said...

I love that it has a sweet topping and a swirl!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Judy, your muffins look yummy. It's my breakfast time right now so I'll be right over. I wish I lived next door.
Sam

Debbie said...

Judy they look delicious. I love the combo of coffee, cinnamon and chocolate!

Sophia Lee said...

gosh, those are just too scrumptious looking! I'm drooling all over! lovely combo of flavors!

Anonymous said...

These look so good - I'd just eat the tops though - that's the best part!!

Talita said...

Yummm... delicious! I almost can smell these muffins in the oven! Fabulos!

Katrina said...

These look great!

Donna-FFW said...

yes, Judy I almost missed this one, thank you for pointing it out, it is right up my alley. I am adding this to my must try list!Thank you soo much!