This nutty chocolate muffin recipe is what I imagine my grandmother would have called “un petit luxe” — a little luxury. The recipe comes from a vintage French muffin book published in the 1970s, a slim volume in her collection that’s dedicated entirely to muffins. The cover is a little faded now, but inside, the dark chocolate and walnut combination practically leaps off the page. She left a single star at the top corner of the page, indicating that she had tried and loved the recipe.

These muffins are made with dark chocolate, so the flavor is rich, deep, and just slightly bittersweet. The walnuts add a lovely, toasty crunch that keeps every bite interesting and gives the muffins a grown-up, almost café-style feel.

What I love most is how effortlessly sophisticated they feel while still being simple and easy to make.

One bowl, a handful of classic ingredients, and suddenly your kitchen smells like an old French bakery!

Marjorie B.

Nutty Chocolate Muffin

Strong dark chocolate and walnuts make these decidedly adult muffin a refined delight. Pair them with black tea or espresso for a sophisticated breakfast or at tea time.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 12 muffins

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American, French

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2½ cup All Purpose Flour sifted
• ¾ cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoon Baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon Salt
• 3 tablespoon 100% Cocoa powder
• ⅔ cup Walnuts chopped
• ¾ cup Dark chocolate finely chopped
• ¼ cup Non-salted butter melted
• ¼ cup Vegetable oil
• 2 Eggs, large room temperature
• 1 cup Whole milk room temperature
• ¼ cup Sour cream room temperature
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. While oven is pre-heating, grease a muffin pan with some butter and lightly coat with flour.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, add the melted butter, vegetable oil, milk, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract and sugar. Whisk together until combined.
4. Add walnuts, the chocolate and the wet ingredient mixture to the dry ingredient and combine with a wooden spoon or spatula. Do not to over-mix.
5. Fill each muffin mold up to 3/4 with a spoon. Cook in the 400F oven for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.
6. Allow 10 minutes of cool down before demolding.

Notes

TIP: Adding a small ramekin of water increases the humidity in the oven to keep the muffins nice and moist during the bake but this is optional.