Decadent Chocolate Muffins
Christmas traditions have, for centuries, included food: roast goose, fruitcake, gingerbread men, cranberries…In my own family, we make my grandmother’s fudge, my mother’s own concoction of fruit salad, and traditional American, sprinkle-decorated sugar cookies. We also often take the time to add the finishing touch to the Christmas table by pulling out the cloth napkins. (Check out Gourmandia’s napkin folding instructions on video for great ideas in that arena.)
My in-laws introduced new food traditions to me, including Russian borcht on Christmas Eve and chocolate muffins on Christmas morning. Originally, the chocolate muffins came from a well-known membership bulk food store. Recently, however, I’ve learned to make them at home. It’s a quick, easy, and delicious way to add a sweet to any holiday meal. Give them a try!
Ingredients:
1 box Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake mix
1 box Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup water
1 cup sour cream
12 oz. chocolate chips (either dark or milk chocolate)
Directions:
Let me begin by saying that if you have a super-moist, Devil’s food cake recipe you love, please feel free to use it in place of the commercial cake mix. However, the cake mix really does the job well, so don’t feel bad if you don’t have the time to substitute from-scratch ingredients.
Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray (or place paper baking cups in the muffin pan holes). I prefer to use a standard muffin pan, but the original, store-bought muffins were jumbo sized.
In a large bowl, combine the cake mix with the pudding mix. Add eggs, oil, water, vanilla, and sour cream and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add the batter to the muffin pan, filling the holes ¾ of the way full.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of the muffins comes out clean. (Naturally, baking time will be longer for jumbo muffins.) Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for five minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
