Chocolate Love Muffins

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!


Whether you're making these for your loved one, friends or just for yourself, they are sure to make anyone's Valentine's Day sweet.

I have actually made these muffins a few times without any Hallmark excuse, but adding the dusted heart on top gave it the cute factor for this holiday.

While I was in London over the Christmas holidays, I made it over to Ladurée in Piccadilly for some of those macaroons I've been craving all year. I also picked up a beautiful box of their cocoa powder and I finally got to use it for the first time in this recipe. Good quality cocoa powder really does make a world of difference.



Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Muffins (makes 12)
(Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson)

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I used melted butter)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

My lovely Ladurée cocoa!

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Measure out all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

In another bowl measure out all the liquid ingredients.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix together.

Mix in the chocolate chips.

Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cups.

Spoon the muffin batter evenly into each paper cup.

Bake in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes.

Allow the muffins to cool on a rack.

To create the hearts on top of the muffins, place a heart shaped stencil on top of a muffin and lightly dust with powdered sugar. Remove the stencil carefully and repeat with each muffin.