Delicious Salted Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12

This is my first recipe for Effortless Kitchen so bear with me if its a little rough around the edges! Here are my Salted Chocolate Muffins. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of choc chips or chopped chocolate
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 tsp flaked salt + extra for decoration

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 10 tablespoons softened butter (14g= 1 tablespoon)
• 1/3 cup thickened cream
• 250g softened cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Large pinch of salt
• 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200ºc and grease a muffin tray, or alternatively use muffin pans.
2. In a big bowl combine your flour, sugar, chocolate, cocoa powder and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl combine the egg, sour cream, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil, then make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix only until just combined, it doesn’t matter if there are a few lumps of flour not mixed in.
4. Fill your muffin cups 3/4 of the way and then bake for approximately 20 minutes for a fan forced oven or 25-30 minutes for a conventional oven, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.
5. Let cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. In a pan over a medium heat, melt the brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of the butter until dissolved and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream. Transfer the caramel to a heat proof bowl to cool down to room temperature, mixing occasionally.
2. Place remaining butter into a bowl of a stand mixer along with the cream cheese and beat on a medium high speed. Add the vanilla and salt.
3. With the mixer running, slowly pour the caramel mixture in until smooth.
4. Add the powdered sugar gradually, mixing well in between. Chill for an hour or so for a firmer texture and so it’s easier to pipe onto your muffins. For one final touch, sprinkle the finished product with some flaked salt.

Note: If you over mix your muffin batter they’ll become chewy.