Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Muffins

I thought I begin the year with something simple and fresh, much in line with my resolutions for the year to start afresh on many counts whilst keeping it simple all the same! These muffins seemed perfect for the sentiment in mind. The recipe is adapted from the wonderful Popina Book of Baking. If one loves to bake with fresh, seasonal ingredients, then this is your book. The muffins feature enticingly on the back cover complete with the juices from the strawberries overflowing from the muffin cases and you just know you have to make them!!

I find muffins one of the simplest things to bake. All you need is 2 bowls..measure out the ingredients in both the bowls and then mix the two..spoon them into the muffin cases and 25 minutes later..a smile on your face!! It is really that simple!

If anything, do keep in mind, you don't want to over mix the batter or else you will land up with dense, tough muffins.

You'll really enjoy these muffins, after all, nothing with dark chocolate can ever taste bad but the strawberries, slightly tart, cut through the sweetness. In India, January is strawberry season and they've hit the market with a vengeance. It's a refreshing, seasonal twist to the plain chocolate chip muffins.

And if i forgot to mention it earlier, the recipe has vegetable oil and demerara sugar instead of butter and white sugar...well..u know.. doing my bit towards everyone's most popular New Year resolution of "eating healthy"!!

Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Muffins

Recipe adapted from the "Popina Book of Baking"

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 40 mins
makes 6 large muffins

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 80 gms demerara caster sugar
• 50 ml vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 150 gms plain flour
• 1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 80 gms dark chocolate roughly chopped
• 100 gms strawberries

Cooking Directions

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C.
• Hull and quarter the strawberries.
• In a large mixing bowl, measure out the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla extract and mix with a hand whisk until smooth.
• In another bowl, measure out the flour and baking powder and mix together.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and combine the two until evenly mixed.
• Do not overmix the mixture as it will yield tough and dense muffins. Don't worry if the mixture seems a tad dry.
• Add the dark chocolate and most of the strawberries barring about 3 tbsps.
• Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, about 2/3 full of the muffin cases.
• Take the remaining strawberries and mix with 2 tsps of demerara sugar and scatter this mixture on top of all the muffins.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes and do not open the oven door while baking. When done they should have risen and be springy to touch.