A Southern Grace: a dearth of chocolate

July 12, 2008

a dearth of chocolate

Yum

As I was perusing my past epicurean endeavors, I came to the realization that I was seriously lacking in creations containing chocolate. Considering my love for this amazing ingredient/snack/meal, this was unacceptable. So, I baked.


I had some sour cream in the fridge that I wanted to use up, so my criteria for a recipe included the presence of sour cream and chocolate, minimal effort (sloth-mode once again rears its ugly head), and suitability for the work crowd. I found a lovely muffin recipe on Joy's awesome site that was perfect.


Joy calls these her "two-bite" chocolate muffins. I'm here to tell you that even though I have a pretty small mouth (I'll never be mistaken for Julia Roberts or Steven Tyler)(for a number of reasons, the least of which is mouth size...), one bite was all it took for me. They're itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, darn tasty little goodies, and it seems to be very easy to eat 4 or 5 before you even realize what you're doing. What can I say--I'm a sucker for the blessed union of chocolate and peanut butter.


Petite Peanut Butter and Chocolate Muffins
(based on this recipe)
makes about 36 almost-bites

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light sour cream
scant 1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
0 teaspoons cinnamon (GASP.)
1 cup peanut butter morsels

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Measure all of the dry ingredients (including the peanut butter morsels--this way, they get coated with the flour and don't sink to the bottom of the muffins) into a medium sized bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients and whisk together, trying to get as many lumps as possible out of the sour cream. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once and stir to incorporate.

Grease or line a mini muffin pan. Spoon the muffin batter into the tin (batter will be thick), using about one tablespoon of batter per muffin cup (I told you they were wee). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tins for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

25 comments:

Lore said...

I know what you mean by not having enough posts with your favourite ingredient and good for you because you started taking drastic measures to change that :). I love both chocolate and sour cream...in fact I most often have sour cream in my fridge and not whipping cream. I bet I can make these disappear pretty in a blink of an eye :D

Anonymous said...

LOL at making amends by baking. These sound amazing, I love peanut butter and chocolate together (healthy combination hehe). And the two bite morsels surely means that they're better for you? ;)

Anonymous said...

Wait, no cinnamon?! The end times must be near. :-)

Awesome-looking little cupcakes!

Anonymous said...

Oh my these are cute, little tasty things.. Love them and I have some sour cream too in the fridge...hmmm

Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer said...

Love little one or two bite wonders especially while using so many items that are staples in my house - YUM

Cheers
Cathy
www.wheresmydamnanswer.com

Anonymous said...

One tablespoon? That is a tiny bit of batter! I would be in the one bite club too. Looks good.

Lisa said...

They look so yummy! Petite and still that union of peanut butter and chocolate would make them real man-pleasers around my house. Reeses's peanut butter cup miniatures are the one candy I can always count on to be appreciated around here. Thanks for adding to my collection of great chocolate recipes!

Marilyn said...

Without my glasses, I swear I first thought this said "a death of chocolate," and I thought "noooooooo!!"

I was relieved to see it was delicious two-bite muffins instead. Whew!

Melanie said...

Ooooh, chocolate and peanut butter. You don't need to say anything else and I am already in love. These look awesome - no surprise from Joy's site! And like you, I'm sure I could get it all in in one bite!

Sarah said...

Aww, these little guys are adorable! I love one-bite muffins, too--hardly feels like you're devouring calories :) Thanks for posting a chocolate recipe!

The Blonde Duck said...

Thanks for the advice on Missing Wings. It helped!

I think my husband would eat chocolate for every meal if he could. Chocolate and cheese! I'd make these for him, but he's trying to watch his weight... (for today, at least...)

Just saw you're in New York...how do you deal with being a Southerner up there with all the Yankees?!? I used to work with a lady from Phili and she thought we Texans were all nuts--I can't imagine what you hear!

Chef Jeena said...

I do not think I have ever seen a close up fo such a moist cake Mmmmmmmmmmm! Looks great Grace!

test it comm said...

Those two bite chocolate muffins look really good!

Cheryl said...

Oh, yum! You know, I have never made chocolate muffins of any kind before, but I've always wanted to. And how can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter? Nice work!

giz said...

I can't tell you how many times I've stopped on the page for this recipe and said "I should make those". Now that I see them made, I just heard myself say "I should make those"

Paula said...

Chocolate and peanut butter ... the ultimate combo! Yum!

Cakespy said...

Yeah, OK, give me 1 or 12 of these!!!!

Sophie said...

so cute :). They look super moist. I have a pretty big mouth (even though the rest of my body is small) so I think I could take these two at a time ;)!

Anonymous said...

my favorite combination! I like the idea of the small size bites, but do you get enough muffin top? That's my favorite part...

Nic said...

These look scrumptious Grace, and I love that they have no cinnamon.

Deborah said...

Combine chocolate and peanut butter, and I'll be first in line!

Anonymous said...

Oooh yummy. These look great! I'd surely eat them in 1 bite as well.

Elle said...

I'll take about 20, please. :)

LyB said...

Awww, they are cute! And they look delicious, an added bonus. :)

eatme_delicious said...

Those look good! I love peanut butter chips. I was baking a loaf last night and accidentally added twice as much cinnamon as was called for and it was delicious.