When is a cupcake not a cupcake? When you call it a muffin. And if you want to push things a bit more, you call it a breakfast muffin. Excellent. But whatever you call it, this is one fine muffin. Moist, chocolatey and filled with chocolate chips, these are hard to resist. And since we have been known to enjoy hot chocolate and chocolate croissants for breakfast at times (and perhaps even a slice of chocolate cake..;-), we don’t see any reason why we can’t have a chocolate cupcake muffin for breakfast every once in a while.

And just to tempt you a little more, these are very easy to make. Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, then combine them with some melted butter (of course). You don’t even need to beat the batter, just make sure it combines and then pour the batter into muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Serve with fruit and, perhaps, more butter. A very happy breakfast, in less than 45 minutes.

And if you want to feel a little better about the recipe you can substitute white whole-wheat flour and fruit like dried cherries for the chocolate chips. We tried it, and it works just fine. So you can eat a chocolate muffin with some ostensible health benefits (or at least some guilt remediation). But since chocolate makes you feel like you’re in love, we think that is benefit enough.

Chocolate Breakfast Muffins:

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Notes Before You Start:

• Dont be afraid of the vinegar in the recipe, it simply helps balance the acidity of the batter for a good texture. You won’t taste it.
• Light brown sugar adds richness and depth to the recipe, it is worth using.
• If using a muffin pan, be sure to grease the top. The muffins may overflow while baking and greasing the top will keep them from sticking.

What You Get: A tasty muffin that becomes a cupcake after noon.

What You Need: No special equipment required. Nice.

How Long? About 45 minutes with less than 10 minutes of active time. And since these muffins double as cupcakes, this is an anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Makes 12 muffins)

• 2/3 cup (2 oz.) cocoa, Dutch-process or natural
• 1 and 3/4 cups (7.25 oz.) of all-purpose flour or white whole-wheat flour
• 1 and 1/4 cups (10 oz.) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (8 oz.) whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 oz.) sweet butter or margarine, melted

Assemble:

1. Place rack in the middle of oven and preheat the oven to 425.
2. Using a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients and the melted butter to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
4. Scoop the batter into 12 muffin cups (or greased muffin pan). Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean.
5. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins from the pan and cool them on a wire rack. Serve while warm.