a dearth of chocolate

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.