I learned something new this week that totally blew my mind: how to create muffins with perfectly domed tops.
It’s been a mystery for me for a long time how bakeries and other super bakers manage to get their muffins to rise so tall, puffing perfectly over the edges of their cupcake liners.
This week’s recipe finally gave me the secret. I was reading the post on the recipe for sour cream double chocolate muffins I wanted to try this week, and the author started talking about how the secret is starting your muffins at a higher temperature and then lowering it during the baking process.
I decided to trust her wisdom and give it a try, and it was awesome. I managed to create huge, beautiful muffins. Oh, and they tasted really good, too. If you’re like me and want to finally conquer domed muffins, this is the recipe for you.
This recipe comes from the blog “JaJa Bakes.” You can find the original post at https://jajabakes.com/sour-cream-double-chocolate-muffins/. I doubled the vanilla in my version below.
Sour Cream Double Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips divided (I used semi-sweet)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a 12-well muffin tin by placing cupcake liners in it.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the oil, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla and sour cream until well combined.
- Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and beat until the mixture is smooth.
- Fold in about two-thirds of the chocolate chips and spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each all the way to the top of the well.
- Sprinkle the leftover chocolate chips on the tops of the muffins, and bake for five minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake about 15 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers of the muffins comes out clean.
- Let the muffins sit in the tin on the counter for about five minutes before removing them and placing them on a baking rack. Once the muffins are cool, serve them or store in an airtight container.
These were moist and chocolatey and perfect with a hot cup of coffee for breakfast. These would be a showstopper for a bake sale, too, and they were super easy to make.
We ended up sharing them with friends for dessert during Sunday afternoon football, and they went over really well.
Nobody else commented on how beautiful my muffins were, but I was still really excited to finally cross making gorgeous little cakes off my baking bucket list.
Hopefully I can use that same technique the next time I pull out my muffin tins, but in the meantime, I’ll just revel in my own awesomeness.
This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 27, 2022.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
