Cocoa-Chocolate-Chip Cuppins

I am very particular when it comes to chocolate. I only like dark chocolate (I will tolerate good milk chocolate if it is accompanied by something else delicious, like caramel or berries) and I do not consider white chocolate worthy of the name. And usually, I only enjoy chocolate when it is actual chocolate – in a bar, as a truffle, or chopped into chips. I throw dark chocolate chips into yogurt, ice cream, and oatmeal, and sometimes I snack on a few straight from the bag! But I generally don’t delight in anything that is “flavored” with chocolate, like chocolate cake or cookies. When it comes to that stuff, I’m a classic vanilla girl.

These Cocoa-Chocolate-Chip Cuppins are an exception to that rule, the result of accidentally tossing in some unsweetened cocoa powder instead of brown sugar when I was making vanilla chip “cuppins” one day. If a muffin and a cupcake had a baby, the result would be a cute little cuppin – similar to my Marvelous Muffins because I use gluten-free whole rolled oats, but blended with white sorghum flour for a more cupcake-like texture. They’re delicious, with the cuppin tasting definitively of cocoa and the bittersweet chocolate chips adding a deep dark chocolate flavor. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do – they’re the perfect chocolate kick for a breakfast or snack!

 

Dark chocolate chips and sorghum flour

Ingredients:

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp gluten-free sorghum flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF sorghum flour)

4 oz vanilla Greek yogurt

1/3 cup milk of choice

2 large eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar or preferred sweetener

1 tbsp melted butter

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp applesauce

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2-3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 large chocolate chips or chunks (I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chips)

Olive oil or cooking spray

 

 

Cuppins before baking

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Add egg, yogurt, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix well, ensuring a uniform color and consistency (the batter will remain thick – they’re cuppins, not just cupcakes!)

4. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. Grease each wrapper VERY well with oil or cooking spray, otherwise your cuppins will stick to the wrappers.

5. Pour batter evenly into each wrapper. Place a dark chocolate chip on top of each one.

6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

7. Let cool.

8. Enjoy!

 

 

Cocoa-Chocolate-Chip Cuppins

 

 

 

© 2015 Renaissance Runner Girl. All rights reserved.

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Cocoa Chocolate Chip Muffins

Today’s recipe for Cocoa Chocolate Chip Muffins is all about cocoa and cacao, the things that make chocolate by any other name and which I’m very particular about.

 

 

 

 

I only really enjoy dark chocolate, which I absolutely as a bar, as a truffle, or chopped into chips. I throw dark chocolate chips into yogurt, ice cream, and oatmeal, and sometimes I snack on them straight from the bag, along with handfuls of dark chocolate covered berries 🙂

 

 

 

 

Since I love dark chocolate but am not a fan of the lighter stuff, I generally don’t delight in anything that is “flavored” with chocolate, like chocolate cake or ice cream. When it comes to that, I’m a classic vanilla girl. Or berry, or caramel… And yet, I have lots of family and friends who DO love chocolate cakes and cookies and cupcakes. Some want to eat chocolate for breakfast. But not chocolate in their oatmeal. And thus, these Cocoa Chocolate Chip Muffins were born. Of course, muffins by any other name are essentially cake for breakfast. If you really wanted, you could just have my Dark Chocolate Cupcakes or Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Bars. But if you want a rich, dark cocoa muffin gooey with dark chocolate chips, look no further than these.

 

 

 

 

 

Cocoa Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

Recipe Type: Breakfast, Snack, Dessert

Cuisine: Gluten Free

Author: Alyssa

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 12 muffins

Delicious double dark chocolate chip muffins, gooey with melting chips to make you feel like you get cake for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 1 cup gluten free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp gluten-free sorghum flour
• 4 oz vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup milk of choice
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp miniature dark chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar or preferred sweetener
• 2 Tbsp applesauce
• 1 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Additional butter, olive oil or cooking spray (for pan)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Add egg, yogurt, applesauce, butter, and vanilla extract and mix well, ensuring a uniform color and consistency.
4. Add in chocolate chips and ensure they are mixed evenly throughout.
5. Grease a 12-muffin tin well with butter or oil.
6. Pour batter evenly into each wrapper.
7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let cool and enjoy!

Serving size: 1 muffin

3.4.3177

 

 

 

What’s your favorite kind of chocolate?

 

 

 

 

 

© 2015 Renaissance Runner Girl. All rights reserved.

Christmas in Connecticut

Most of the time, I write about life in Manhattan, the busiest borough in one of the liveliest cities in the world. But the idea of “home” for me has a split personality…or, as I prefer to think of it, a multifaceted meaning appropriate to a renaissance runner girl! I am a native of both New York and Connecticut, and in truth consider myself both a city mouse and a country mouse. I love the lights and bustle of the city, the unparalleled arts scene and the holiday season merrymaking. But I am equally enthralled by this time of year in ‘the country’ at my home in Connecticut.

 

Ridgefield, Conn. is probably not ‘the country’ to anyone who hails from a rural area. But it’s far enough from the main line of Metro North, away from Long Island Sound and into the hills, to feel like a peaceful place even while resting at the outer fringe of the city’s orbit. It’s closer to Litchfield (and Stars Hollow, if my dreams came true and it really existed) than to the metropolis. And while it’s a town with a substantial population and its fair share of commerce, our Main Street is the very picture of an ideal place for a holiday stroll in Americana.

 

 

Town Hall with Nutcrackers standing sentry

 

My favorite bookstore in the area

 

 

The streetlamps are wrapped in holly and tied up with red bows. Trees are strung with white lights, and Christmas ornaments and Hanukah dreidels sparkle in shop windows.

 

 

 

 

 

Santa’s sleigh

 

 

 

Santa’s sleigh is filled with gifts, and nearby are shops where you can both buy presents for loved ones and donate to philanthropic causes in the holiday spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is simply no more magical place to take a holiday stroll. At the end, a steaming mug of cocoa with a candy cane to swirl in awaits!

 

The best sweetshop in Connecticut…cocoa, and candy cane ice cream for the brave!

 

 

© 2014 Renaissance Runner Girl. All rights reserved.