Browned Butter Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Zutaten

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped coarse

16 tablespoons unsalted butter

1¼ cups (8¾ ounces) sugar, plus ¼ cup sugar for sprinkling

2 large eggs

2 cups sour cream

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Anweisungen

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut twelve 6-inch squares of parchment paper. Press each square around bottom of tapered drinking glass with 1¾- to 2-inch base, creasing paper to form cup shape. Place parchment liners in muffin cups, allowing excess parchment to protrude vertically from cups.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in chocolate and set aside. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly with heat-resistant rubber spatula, until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer browned butter to second bowl and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

3. Whisk 1¼ cups sugar and eggs in large bowl until thick and creamy, about 1 minute. Whisk in sour cream, vanilla, and browned butter. Fold in flour mixture with rubber spatula until just moistened; do not overmix. (Batter will be thick and lumpy with spots of dry flour.)

4. Using greased ⅓-cup dry measuring cup, portion heaping ⅓ cup batter into each parchment-lined muffin cup; evenly distribute any remaining batter among cups (cups will be full). Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup sugar evenly over batter (about 1 teaspoon per muffin).

5. Bake until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out with few crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notizen

Using homemade parchment paper liners gives the muffins their tall, neat shape and ensures that the muffins will release easily. If you don’t want to make your own, you can use tulip liners. Standard muffin liners will also work but won’t result in the same tall shape. If you don’t have a small drinking glass, a 6-ounce can of tomato paste works well to form the parchment liners in step 1.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS These muffins look and taste like they’re fresh from your favorite bakery, thanks to the complexity of browned butter and the use of homemade paper liners. In addition to creating a depth of nutty flavor, browning the butter reduced the water content of the batter, making these muffins rich and crumbly rather than dense and gummy. Chopped bar chocolate (which doesn’t have the stabilizers used in chocolate chips) melted beautifully in every bite—no waxiness here. The parchment paper liners helped these muffins rise to new heights, and a bit of sugar sprinkled on top gave them a professional-looking crackly crust.