dark chocolate chunk clementine muffins

Assalamualaikum and hi everyone!

Happy Chinese New Year to those who were celebrating! I know I’m late, well i just got a time to write something here (and i have some more treats lined up!).  Although I've been truly enjoying my time off, the last week has rudely reminded me just how miserable my student life was. I can’t tell you how. But if there’s one thing I do love about February, it’s the readily available citrus fruits at the local stores. Everywhere! I could eat 10 clementines in one sitting, but normally I set my limit to 5. No worries about scurvy over here! I also enjoy my fair share of oranges, but who can resist the little clementines that are so sweet and easy to peel.  We always have a box around during the holiday, so when I went to make some muffins a few weeks ago, I didn't have to go far to look for some inspiration. I think the combination of orange and chocolate is amazing (anything combo of chocolates actually!) and although my little sister was a little skeptical of this concoction at first, we all loved them!

I’m always looking for muffin varieties so I’m glad I went out on a limb here a bit to make this clementine one. They had just the right amount of bright, zesty citrus flavor without being overwhelming. And paired with the melting chocolate chips inside, I was in heaven. No I lied. You could totally use oranges in this recipe (or any citrus flavor, really), but as I said, I just happened to have a few leftover around so I went for the little guys. You can also use either freshly squeezed orange juice or store-bought like I did. Here’s the one I originally used:

The recipe is extremely straight forward and opens to adaptation. No beating! But they baked up really beautifully. If you love those chocolate oranges around the holidays, you’ll love this recipe too! They are kind of healthy (with ‘suka-hati’ substitution of butter to canola oil, mind you) and involves fruit. Even though I forgot to lower my oven temperature after the preheating and resulted to a little bit over-baking on the surfaces, they were just fine inside.  Here goes nothing! :)

Dark Chocolate Chunk Clementine Muffins

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eat

yield: 12 large muffins

ingredients:

for the muffins:

1-3/4 all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Zest of 5 clementines (or about 3 oranges’)

4-6 oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips (I used chips)

8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (I used Canola oil and omitted salt)

2/3 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed or store-bought is fine)

1 tsp vanilla extract (I used orange flavor)

2 eggs

for the glaze (I skipped this):

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (200’C) and line 12 muffin tins with paper liners. (I recommend to you to lower the temperature to 180’C, depending on your oven watt)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and clementine zest. Stir in the chocolate chunks/chips.

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, orange juice, vanilla, and eggs. Whisk well to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold gently until just combined. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them each about 3/4 full.

Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the muffins are in the oven, prepare the glaze by combining the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and brush warm glaze over the muffins as they cool.

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