Mocha Swirl Muffins

This is one awesome muffin recipe. Coffee flavored muffins, with a creamy vanilla swirl, and studded with chocolate chips. These muffins rock with a cup of coffee, and they aren't bad for dessert either. I found myself reaching for these after dinner, as well as with my morning cup of joe. I passed a couple of these to the hubby's aunt and uncle (as well as the hubby), and everyone has put their stamp of approval on them. Honestly, it's hard to screw up any muffin with chocolate chips in them.

I had to make up this recipe on my own. My original idea was for a Coffee and Cream Muffin. The name didn't sound exactly right, and sure enough, I had a hard time finding prototypes for my muffins on Google. Not a lot of swirled muffins out there on the net. This did not deter me however, as I already had a batter I had in mind for the "cream" portion. 

Ok, I'm interrupting this post.

I did not save the recipe I used to adapt my coffee batter from, and it just took me 30 minutes to find it on Google! I couldn't even remember what picture I clicked on to get to the recipe, and that's usually my saving grace. I always remember the picture that caught my eye. LOL. Not this time! Luckily, I found it. Whew. 

So the coffee batter! There's a cup of very strong coffee in the batter, as well as cocoa powder and chocolate chips. What an amazing combination. I made a large, normal amount of the coffee batter and a tiny portion of the cream flavored batter. Most of the muffin is the coffee flavored, but I took a spoonful of the cream batter, dropped it into the coffee batter, and swirled liked crazy with a toothpick. I love the marbled look this gave the muffins.

I've found with coffee flavored muffins that they dry out significantly when they are over baked. It makes them tough, and chewy. Therefore, it's important to keep an eye on these muffins and pull them as soon as you can. Mine baked in my convection oven for 22 minutes, I pulled them as soon as the toothpick came out clean. The result was perfectly moist and delicious muffins.

Even with making 2 batters, these muffins really didn't take long to make. You could even just make the coffee flavored muffins on their own, minus the vanilla swirl. I found this recipe made 14 muffins with the extra cream batter, but I think this would make an even dozen muffins if you eliminate the cream. But why would you want to do that? I recommend going the extra mile and swirling in the cream. It's worth the extra effort. 

Happy Wednesday! Another week is flying by. How does this happen? I'm left shaking my head. I got my last 2 container plants for my garden yesterday, 2 roma tomato starters. All in all, when it comes to tomatoes, I've got 2 beefsteak, 1 red cherry, 1 yellow cherry, and 2 romas. I'm going to have lots of tomatoes! I can't wait. I'll be transplanting them later today, and setting them out with the rest of my containers. I wish I could say my little garden looks pretty and is organized, but right now it's a hodgepodge of planters sitting on my porch. I think the hubby is going to make some stands so I can artfully arrange my pots, but all in due time.

Well, it's time for this girl to get her butt in gear. I wasted way too much time on Google this morning. Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (makes 14 muffins):

Vanilla Batter:

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Coffee Batter:

1 egg

1 cup strongly brewed coffee, cooled

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line muffin pans with liners. Set aside.

2. Prepare the vanilla batter: In a small mixing bowl, combine milk through butter. Whisk to mix. Add flour through salt. Using a spatula, fold ingredients together until they are just combined. Set aside. 

3. Prepare the coffee batter: In a larger mixing bowl, add egg, coffee, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add flour through salt. Using a spatula, fold all ingredients together until they are just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Be careful not to over-mix the batter, or the muffins will be tough.

4. Using a spoon, place a spoonful of coffee batter into muffin cup. Follow with a dollop of cream batter. Follow with more coffee batter, and finish with another dollop of cream batter. Using a toothpick, swirl the muffin. Repeat until both batters are gone. Make sure the spoonfuls of coffee batter are larger than your spoonfuls of cream batter.

5. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Printable Recipes

Coffee batter recipe adapted from Kitchen Daily. 

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Treasure Box Tuesdays

If you enjoyed this recipe, you also might enjoy these recipes:

Chocolate Chip Coffee Muffins

Raspberry-Filled Vanilla Muffins