Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

I miss blogging, believe it or not :) despite its time-consuming process but I just can’t find the time or energy to do it lately. Between homeschooling and work (not to mention the still depressed and anxious “puppy” who’s continuing to keep us up at night), blogging has been put on the back burner for now. I still cook (haven’t baked too much with the warm summer weather but that’s about to change…yippee!) but I just haven’t been writing it up. So please bear with me and keep checking back for new posts once in a while. I appreciate your understanding and patience.

On Saturday, I worked an 8-hour shift (standing almost the whole time) and when I came home, I felt this overwhelming desire to bake (although my feet and lower back were screaming with pain). So what did I do? Put my feet up and veg out? That would be too smart and easy, wouldn’t it? Of course, I had to do the opposite. :D Was it worth it? Definitely! Yummy muffins for breakfast and snacks…they were well-worth the effort. The recipe is actually pretty simple, and not too time-consuming (trust me…I don’t have a lot of time to spare either). Give it a try – you will be deliciously rewarded. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from the Basic Muffins recipe from an old edition of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Please note that I made a dairy-free version this time around simply because I’m lactose intolerant and I try to cut out dairy whenever possible. The one time I would avoid doing this is when I feel that the change affects the end result/flavor too negatively but I don’t find that to be the case here. Of course, if you have no reason to exclude dairy in your diet, by all means feel free to use butter and milk in the recipe (I know I would…you can’t even begin to imagine how much I miss butter).

1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 cup soy milk (or regular milk)
¼ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease muffin pan or line with baking cups. In a large bowl, whisk or stir together 1½ cups flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center and add egg, soy milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir only enough to combine all the ingredients. In a separate bowl, sprinkle the reserved ¼ cup flour over the raspberries, and fold them into the batter. Spoon into the muffin pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. When done, transfer muffins out of the pan to a cooling rack and cool completely. Makes 12 muffins.