Back on Valentine’s Day, I made a simple, yet sweet and savory treat for my sweetheart – chocolate-dipped bacon, which I wrote about at My Home Farm.
I tend to think most things are improved by either chocolate or bacon, sometimes both. So not surprisingly, as I perused the May 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine and saw a recipe for chocolate-chocolate chip muffins (page 100), I thought to myself, “those would be so much better with bacon!” And, when bacon comes from your own barnyard, like it does here, it elevates a plain-old muffin to something very special. Give these a try (I altered CL‘s recipe slightly):
Chocolate-Bacon Muffins
6 slices bacon
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 T packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips, divided
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cook the bacon, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and cool. Once cool, chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside.
3. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the water, oil, vinegar, vanilla, and egg; stir together. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and half of the bacon. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moist.
5. Place 12 muffin cup liners in a muffin tin and spray with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among the 12 cups. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and bacon evenly over batter.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!