Texas Chocolate Muffins

Texas Chocolate Muffins
Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 287.

We had a retirement brunch for a co-worker this week and I made these muffins and Maida's Bran Muffins. As she says in her introduction, these are not really muffins but more like brownie cupcakes. Keep an eye on your baking time. She says 33-35 minutes but they were done for me in 20 minutes. This recipe makes 12 large muffins.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
7 oz. (2 cups) toasted pecans, broken into large pieces

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and line a standard 12-muffin pan.

Sift together the flour, salt and cocoa and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolates together in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until melted and smooth.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar.

Stir in the eggs, one at a time.

Add the vanilla and almond extracts.

Add the dry ingredients, stirring until smooth

Add the nuts

The mixture will be thick and gooey. Add it to the muffin liners, filling to the tops.

Bake for 20 - 35 minutes (depending on your oven), until tester comes out clean or barely clean. Do not overbake. Cool on a rack. When cool, the muffins will develop a hard and crunchy crust.