Dark Cocoa
Deep, complex, and not especially sweet. This is grown-up chocolate.
The basic rule here is, there are no rules.
But here are a few anyway.
Dry additions into dry mix
Wet additions into wet mix
Add wet into dry and mix
Rub zests into sugar
Inclusions last, up to one cup
Lumps in mix are acceptable
Be inspired. Nothing here is fussy.
Dark Cocoa Riffs
Start with the Dark Cocoa base.
The riffs below are flavor ideas built from that one mix: seasonal, flexible, and meant to be played with. Pick the one that sounds good, use the notes, and make it yours.
Welcome to summer. Even in summer, there's room for chocolate. You just want it bright: tart raspberries against deep cocoa, so it reads like July, not December.
Raspberry + Dark Chocolate
Fresh raspberries, gently, they bleed. Press a square of dark chocolate into the center of each before baking.
Espresso + Sea Salt
Espresso deepens the cocoa without tasting like coffee.
A tablespoon of espresso powder into the dry mix. Flaky salt on top after they cool five minutes.
Orange Zest + Olive Oil
Bright and grown-up, the olive oil keeps it tender.
Zest into the sugar, swap a third of the oil for good olive oil. Add the orange juice and cut the milk by two tablespoons.
Chocolate Chunk + Smoked Salt
Chop a bar, never chips, the puddles matter.
Fold in up to a cup of chopped dark chocolate. Smoked salt on top, light hand.
Mint + Dark Chocolate
Cool and deep, not toothpaste, the real thing.
A quarter teaspoon of peppermint extract in the wet mix, chopped chocolate folded last. No other changes.
Peanut Butter Swirl
The lunchbox classic, all grown up.
Warm two tablespoons of peanut butter until loose, spoon onto each, and swirl. No other changes.
Cherry + Almond
Dried sour cherries, not sweet, with a whisper of almond.
A half cup of chopped dried cherries in the dry mix, a quarter teaspoon of almond extract in the wet. No other changes.
Tahini Swirl
Nutty, savory, a little unexpected.
Drop a teaspoon of tahini on each muffin and swirl with a toothpick. Don't fold it in, the contrast is the point.
Hazelnut + Brown Butter
Toasted hazelnuts and browned butter, basically dessert.
Brown the butter and use it for the oil one for one. Half the chopped hazelnuts in, half on top.
Banana + Cocoa Nib
Chocolate and banana, with crunch.
Mash one banana into the wet and cut the milk by three tablespoons. Cocoa nibs folded in for bitter little sparks.
Coffee + Walnut
A coffee-cake muffin that means it.
A tablespoon of espresso powder in the dry mix, toasted walnuts folded in and on top. No other changes.