Chocolate and Vanilla Half and Half Muffins

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Debarshi Chatterji

I baked these delicious muffins for Debarshi’s office party and let me tell you, these muffins are not only fun to bake but great to eat too. These soft and fluffy buttery sugary Chocolate Vanilla muffins are sure to be a hit in a party as kids love the chocolate over load and adults adore the cute combination. Decorated with both white and dark chocolate chips these muffins will bring a smile on your face before you even eat them. I made a few changes in the original recipe and they turned out amazing! Also, just for this recipe, I decided not to follow the ¾ cup rule which asks to fill the muffin cups only to the ¾th cup level, I filled them up to the top so once they started rising, the tops rose to form big beautiful round domes just like the ones sold in bakeries. So don’t wait, bake these scrumptious half and half muffins today!

This recipe will yield 12 big muffins

Ingredients:

Dry Products-

• All Purpose Flour - 2 and ½ cups 
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 3 tablespoons
• Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Powder - 1 tablespoon
• Salt – ½ teaspoon
• Dark Chocolate Chips - about 2-3 tablespoons (I used Ghirardelli Chocolate Premium Baking Chips, 60% Cacao, Bittersweet Chocolate)
• White Baking Chips - about 2-3 tablespoons (I used Ghirardelli Chocolate Premium Baking Chips, Classic White Chips)

Wet Products-

• Unsalted Butter - ½ cup (or 1 stick) at room temperature
• White Sugar - 1 cup 
• Plain Yogurt - ½ cup 
• Milk - ½ cup (I used 2%)
• Eggs - 2 large, at room temperature
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon 

Others:

• Muffin Tray
• Muffin Cups - 12
• Spray Oil – for greasing
• Stand mixer recommended

Directions:

• Prepare the muffin baking tray – grease the tray, arrange the muffin cups on them and grease/ spray them with Oil, this double greasing will prevent the batter from sticking on the tray thus yielding smooth bakery standard muffins.
• Put a sifter on a large bowl and sift all the dry ingredients (All Purpose Flour, 
• Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt). Set aside. Please do not skip this step. 
• In the stand mixer bowl, combine the Unsalted Butter and White Sugar. Attach the flat beater and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until fluffy. 
• Add the Eggs (one at a time), Plain Yogurt and Milk and beat until well mixed. 
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Add the flour mixture a little at a time, beating on low speed until just blended, being careful not to over mix (Tip: I keep the stand mixer running on low speed and I add continuously a tablespoon of the flour mixture into the egg mixture. This ensures that the flour mixes properly. I keep adding the flour until I have used the entire mixture)
• Divide the batter between two bowls. Stir Vanilla Extract into one bowl of the batter. Stir Unsweetened Cocoa Powder into the other bowl of the batter.
• Spoon vanilla batter into one side of each of the prepared muffin cups. Spoon chocolate batter into the other side of each muffin cup, filling the cups full. Sprinkle dark chocolate pieces over the vanilla batter and white baking pieces over the chocolate batter. 
• Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and let them sit inside the pan for 2 minutes.
• In the meantime, arrange cooling racks on the kitchen counter and carefully remove the Muffins from the tray and transfer them on the cooling rack. Do not turn the tray upside down as the Muffins will be soft and may break. Do not skip this step as it will make the bottoms soggy (Tip: I use two spoons to scoop out the hot muffins from the tray and transfer).
• Let them cool for about 5- 10 minutes then serve.
• Enjoy these scrumptious Muffins whenever you want. They are made of Chocolate remember.

Tips: 

• Measure all the ingredients before starting the mixing and baking. Sometimes it may seem that you have enough flour or vanilla extract but when you actually measure them, they are less than you expected. So, instead of running to the store at that last minute, measure them beforehand.
• Keep the eggs and butter at room temperature so that they mix easily and evenly.
• Make sure you are not dropping any egg shells in the mixing bowl. If you are having trouble, use a small bowl. Crack each egg into the bowl, check for shell fragments, then pour it into the mixing bowl. This is also a great way to make sure that we are not using any rotten eggs.
• Chocolate tastes even better the next day but do not keep these muffins outside for long. Transfer to a container in a single layer, cover and refrigerate. Before serving, heat them up for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.

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