Gift Baking: Double Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I've been meaning to bake something for our "new" neighbors forever. The moved in at the beginning of October, but with the pregnancy, the holidays and then our new baby, I never got around to it! So yesterday, I found myself with a few minutes of free time and a plethora of new baking books to test out. I had some basics on hand and decided on a decadant-looking but easy recipe for these muffins from A Passion for Baking and decided that they would make an nice little gift.

The recipe calls for both cream cheese and sour cream, which makes them a lot richer than your average muffin. The author also calls for using an ice cream scoop to portion out the batter into the cups. I wondered how that would work, since batters are usually kind of runny. As soon as I finished mixing the batter, though, I saw what she meant: this was a thick, sticky batter that was almost a dough! Scooping it out left mounds of dough peaking up over the top, which is what created the lovely domes on these muffins.

The use of bittersweet chocolate cut up into chunks rather than chocolate chips left the inside soft with pools of rich chocolate, while the sour cream adds a light tang to the muffin. The cream cheese adds a richness to the texture that is really pretty unique. My favorite part, though, is the tall, crackled tops with bits of chocolate sticking out. These are just begging to be eaten!

Overall, the recipe was a great success. Next time, I'd add a pinch more salt and bake for about 2 minutes less for an even better result. If anyone wants the recipe for this or any other recipe I talk about here, just let me know!