You will LOVE these easy and absolutely delicious dark chocolate almond chia muffins, loaded with dark chocolate, almonds, chia seeds, and sea salt!
It’s always fun when a friend gives me a recipe to try, one they really enjoy. What a great way to find NEW recipes, and get an “insider tip” from someone saying “you’ve got to try this!”. Such is the case with this AMAZING recipe for Dark Chocolate Almond Chia Muffins! I was at a Bible Study last week, and our teaching leader (my friend Fran) gave me a sticky note with the name of this recipe written on it, plus the name of the source.
The dark chocolate almond chia muffins sounded good, so less than 24 hours later, I was making these delicious muffins in my little ol’ kitchen. Let me tell you, folks… they are FABULOUS! How can you go wrong with dark chocolate, almonds, chia seeds, etc.? I’d never used chia seeds (an ancient grain) in a recipe prior to this, but did a bit of research and found out how nutritious/filling they are when added to food.
I am thrilled my friend Fran was kind enough to share this recipe with me, and I’m impressed by how ridiculously tasty these muffins are! From start to finish, it only took about 30 minutes to make a dozen. Here’s what you do:
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How To Make Dark Chocolate Almond Chia Muffins
First, preheat your oven to 400° F. While the oven is preheating, put paper liners into a standard sized 12 cup muffin tin. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
Add chia seeds to the dry ingredients (see those little bitty black seeds? So many nutritional benefits to adding these to foods). Also add 1/2 cup of the chopped almonds (reserving the rest for later), and dark chocolate chips to the flour mixture. Stir to combine.
Make The “Wet Ingredients”
In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, melted butter (important – make sure melted butter has cooled to room temp. before adding, or you will get scrambled eggs!), egg, and almond extract. Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl. Mix them together, only until just combined. Do not over-mix the batter.
Evenly distribute the chocolate almond chia muffins batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top each of the muffins with 1½ – 2 teaspoons of the reserved chopped almonds.
Sprinkle With Sea Salt And Then Bake
Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a pinch of coarse sea salt (trust me, this is GOOD). Bake the dark chocolate almond chia muffins at 400° F. for 18 minutes, or until the muffins spring back slightly when lightly pressed in the center.
Let the baked chocolate almond chia muffins cool down (still in the pan), after removing them from oven.
Time To Enjoy A Muffin!
The dark chocolate almond chia muffins taste wonderful, served warm or at room temperature. Be sure to store them in an airtight container. They can also be frozen, if wrapped well and stored in a plastic freezer bag.
Here’s an inside peek at one of the chocolate almond chia muffins. You can see the dark chocolate chips and hints of chopped almonds inside. When warmed slightly, the chocolate chips get nice and “gooey”, which is a code word for “oh my goodness!”.
So, just as my friend passed this recipe to me, I now pass it on to you, friends. May you receive as much enjoyment out of these muffins as we did. Then… pass it on! Have a great day.
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Recipe Source: Heather Meldrom at http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/dark-chocolate-almond-chia-muffins
You will LOVE these easy and absolutely delicious dark chocolate almond chia muffins, loaded with dark chocolate, almonds, chia seeds, and sea salt!
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (table salt)
- 5 teaspoons chia seeds (found with grains (ie. rice, quinoa) in most grocery stores)
- 2/3 cup chopped almonds (divided)
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup (one and a half cubes) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp.
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Coarse sea salt , for sprinkling onto muffins before baking
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Insert paper liners into a 12 cup standard sized muffin tin.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and table salt together in a large bowl. Add chia seeds, 1/2 cup of almonds (reserve the rest for garnish), and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, melted butter (at room temp!!!), egg, and almond extract. Once combined, add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir only until ingredients are fully combined (do not over-mix).
- Distribute batter equally between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle each muffin with 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the reserved chopped almonds. Sprinkle each muffin with a pinch of coarse sea salt.
- Bake muffins at 400 degrees for 18 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly pressed in the center. Remove pan from oven, but let muffins cool in the pan. Store in an airtight container.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
