But when I heard the ad for that "Caramel Chocolate Muffin", it lodged itself in my brain and refused to let go! I never saw what the muffins were like in person, or really heard a description beyond the marketing campaign, but I began to dream up a clone of the confection that would be a hundred times better than the original (to toot my own horn, ahem). I had images of a rich cocoa batter, ribboned through with gooey caramel and full of dark, slightly bitter sugar flavour. While I didn't actually make the dulce de leche for this batch (I know it's super-simple to do, but school's timing sucks up a lot of potential prep time!), I'm sure it would be just as awesome as the jarred version I bought - thick, rich and undeniably caramel.
I couldn't have been happier with the way these came out - super moist, extremely rich and even though they were stuffed with the dulce de leche they apparently weren't super-sweet, which I'm attributing to the unsweetened cocoa powder. Only a few days ago did I actually see a photo of the "official" muffins and found out there was no cocoa powder or chocolate (other than chips) in sight! You know what, though? Sometimes off-label is better... and muffins are never a bad thing!
Dulce de Leche Dark Chocolate Muffins
Makes 12
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup oat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp egg replacer powder
3 tbsp cold water
7 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 warm milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups dulce de leche or caramel ice cream topping, divided
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, line muffin cups with paper liners and grease the top of the muffin tin.
- Whisk tgether flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the egg replacer powder and cold water, then add brown sugar, milk, oil, vanilla and 1/3 cup of the dulce de leche.
- Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Drop spoonfuls of the remaining dulce de leche into the batter and swirl through without mixing it in.
- Fill muffin tins almost full with the batter.
- Bake 20 minutes. Best eaten when still slightly warm, but freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave.
Calories: 263.2
Total Fat: 7.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 5.1 mg
Total Carbs: 47.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
Protein: 3.4 g
They look awesome (even thought I don't like chocolate).
ReplyDeleteMy dulce de leche must either be eaten 1) straight from the container, 2) on toast, or 3) over iced cream.
I really enjoy your blog. It's beautifully done and informative too. I'll be back to visit. Drop in and say Hi at mine. I always love a visit!!
ReplyDeleteThis dessert looks delicious. Thanks for sharing. Very nice Blog you have here!!!
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