Combination Chocolate-y Celebrations

Warning: Before this post begins, please take into account that this post is extremely long, has two recipes involved and has an overdose of chocolate and photos

*****************************************************************************

Wow, it feels like such a long age since I last posted! Don’t be mad at me 😛 – After my last post which was delicious but healthy, sugarless and with a lack of chocolate, I knew my next post had to have a chocolate explosion – and what better way to do that I ask you than by doing a chocolate filled combination post??? 😀

64Willy Wonka: [hands Charlie a ladle full of chocolate] “Try some of this. It’ll do ya good. You looked starved to death!”

So where does the ‘celebration’ part of all this come into play? Well for one, my mummy is returning home after going overseas 😀
Finally, no more cleaning and dusting and cooking – jokes jokes (especially if you are reading this mum ;))

While I can’t say I missed that *sarcasm* exquisite juice you make filled with beetroot, carrot, tomato, oranges, apple and of course, celery, I can say I missed talking with you and your hugs 🙂
And nothing says welcome back to my dear mummy like her favourite: Chocolate Chip Muffins. Plain, straight and with no fancy frostings or fillings but just a soft crumby handheld cake stuffed with milk chocolate chips (well, chunks in my case :D)

While I have made many-a fancy cupcake in my past, I am surprised I have not made this traditional classic – good thing is it in my archives now 🙂

151Now, I know what you are thinking. These muffins are a welcome back? They are definitely not pretty and cute and studded with adorable chocolate chunks – well I will let you know that yes, perhaps these muffins are not the prettiest and would not win the beautiful cupcake award and look more like marbled muffins rather than chocolate chunk but it really does not matter.

These muffins are soft, fresh and crumby with a delightfully domed top which has the muffin top taste (oh the muffin tops!) and when the melted chocolate truffle goodness which is Lindor Milk Chocolate Balls (that’s right, no half ways for my dear mum!) hits your tongue and dissolves, it is true ecstasy. Now how can you possible judge them without knowing them truly ;)?

I have actually been searching for a hearty chocolate chip muffin recipe for a while and when I finally saw this delicious number from classy blog, Inn Cuisine, I would like to believe it was fate. No, it was not the Williams-Sonoma brand name which got me 😛 but the recipe itself (after my usual tweaks)

  1. It used melted butter – I ALWAYS HAVE TO CHANGE IT FROM OIL so this recipe got a big thumbs up
  2. It was baked at 200 degrees C – I read somewhere (the family motto) that muffins and cupcakes should be baked at this temperature as it makes the outside nice, firm and delicious while the inside stays baked but much softer and crumbier

161And here were my tweaks of course:

  • I increase the add-ins to 1 cup and used chocolate chunks instead (obviously :P)
  • I used whole wheat flour (I think my mum rarely eats plain flour… health consciousness is something I should be in to ;))
  • I dusted the chocolate chunks before folding them through the batter – keeps the chunks nice and high and not sinking!
  • Added in a tsp of vanilla essence
  • Reserved chocolate chunks for top giving nicer presentation and it would have would have worked mind you had my muffin liners not been so full 😉
  • Used brown sugar instead of white
  • Let muffins cool in oven while door completely open to give a chewier but firmer muffin top (it works!)

And just some tips to look out for 😉

  • Mine were done in 13 minutes (be careful!)
  • If you are using truffles/Lindor then make sure to refrigerate them and cut carefully – harder to cut than Maltesers and melt very fast (I had to lick my fingers afterwards – for shame!)

This muffin recipe is infinitely adaptable and is definitely going to become my go-to recipe (just like I found my brownie!) – enjoy it all warmed up and melting your mouth for breakfast with your mums 😀 (Hey, don’t argue, everyone eats muffins for breakfast ;))

142*****************************************************************************

Ok so second order of celebrations – it’s party time!!! Wow, that sounds lame even to me 😉


But whatever, I can sound as lame as I desire since I am so excited about the party I have to go to tonight! Why?
Because

a)  The hosts are amongst my closest friends and I love them to bits!

b)  Said hosts throw amazing parties 😀

c)   Did I mention it is a party?

d)  I get to bake for it!!!!

As soon as I got the nod, my mind went of all assignments, homework and various other tasks – should I make brownies? Nope, done that. Perhaps a slice? Not in the mood. What about a cake? I don’t think that is the best idea considering the assignments, homework and various other tasks 😉

17And then it hit me. Cookies. Simple. Easy. Delicious to the boot. And so easy to manipulate. Traditionally, one of the best sweets ever. For sure 😀

Now I love to experiment but I would never go over the top and full blown crazy unless I KNOW it would work – you know that gut feeling right?

Willy Wonka: “Can you imagine Augustus-flavored, chocolate-coated Gloop? Ew…”

But I did want these cookies to make a splash. Provide an element of surprise. So I did just that. I got the most wonderfully decadent recipe for chocolate cookies filled with caramel but did not stop there. Oh most have caramel. But one has Nutella. And I think some have white chocolate. Or was it honeycomb? I guess I forgot which has which 😀 (that is an evil grin by the way)

So if you are lucky, you will pick up a cookie after your first caramel one and you get a different surprise 😉 – now, while I can’t show you photos of the newly made, warm and melting innards of each different cookie (since I will be breaking every single one and therefore eating it and that can’t happen till the party starts!), I can show you the different things I found to place inside the cookies.

112

 

And now you see post baking how warm, delicious and fudgy the cookies are with their delicious insides just waiting to surprise you!

Ok, for all your benefits, I think perhaps it is best that I sacrifice myself and break one open at random to show you what lies within.
You can start ‘oohing’ and ‘aaahing’ now while I go dispose of this broken cookie which obviously no one would want and pack the rest so I don’t have to dispose of them too 😉

44You know how I mentioned these cookies were amazingly decadent (this is said ignoring the filling) – well, that is because it has 1 cup of butter, 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar (I used dark) an 1 cup cocoa powder (which I didn’t have enough of so subbed in some chocolate malted milk powder as well). Because it truly was perfect for me, I only had to change this recipe by adding 1/2 tsp of coffee essence extra. And um, yes that is it 😀

And these are best eaten warmed up for a molten caramel middle – If you permanently want silky caramel inside, don’t use a soft caramel, use a flowing caramel like in Rolos or Caramellos 🙂

*****************************************************************************

The final order of celebration has unfortunately no recipe attached (I don’t think I am superwoman in the kitchen yet that in one morning I can make three recipes!) but is sentimentally important to me. The wonderful Kathleen Richardson, of the fabulous blog Step by Step in the Kitchen has awarded me a blogging award!

She is also one of the first blogger friends I found and has sweetly nick named me CCU 😀
Always has the most wonderful words, most wonderful recipes and a personality of gold, this lady is amazing! Thank you very very much my friend!

The award she has graciously recognised me with is the Reader Appreciation Award.

Blog award 4
The rules of this award are as follows:

  1. Award your top (up to 6) bloggers who have commented the most.
  2. Be thankful.
  3. You cannot award someone who has already been awarded and you cannot give the award back to me.
  4. Don’t forget to tell the bloggers you’ve awarded
  5. If you don’t want to pass on this award, just admire it.

It just so happens that I do want to pass it on so here the bloggers I would like to congratulate:

  1. Tina of Flour Trader – This lady is talented beyond belief and always has encouraging and praising comments. She makes everyone feel very special and very hungry too – definitely a very close friend 🙂
  2. Nava Krishnan at Nava-K – This blog has everything – from fashion and cars to food, food, food, health tips and more yummy food – A fabulous blog and blogger who is constantly there with tips, tricks and wonderful comments!
  3. Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake – She most certainly can! One of the most popular blogs I visit, Liz gives the best of both savoury and sweet (emphasis on sweet ;)) and is one of the most genuinely friendly people I have been happy to meet!
  4. Paula at Vanilla Bean Baker – She is skilled. She is so skilled. There is nothing she can’t do if you hand her a baking tray. She is amazing. Her creations are so beautiful I promise you! And on top of that, she is too modest and such a nice person 🙂
  5. Amrita at Beetle’s Kitchen Escapades – A relatively new blogger I have met, Amrita is one wonderful chef who has creativity bubbling out of her like boiling water! She is a great friend who I am glad to have met!

I wish I could give to a lot of you my friends. I tried to put a mix between new and old and give to those I haven’t recognised in past awards but I appreciate all of you 🙂

35Once more thank you Kathleen 😀

*****************************************************************************

Wow, I told you it was going to be one long post! Enjoy the chocolate-y goodness I have baked up today and hopefully we shall talk soon – A demain mes amis!

Keep up the blogging 😀

Blog Signature

104 Comments

  1. Pingback: Think Of The Positives

  2. Pingback: Birthday, Brownie, Crownie « Go Bake Yourself

  3. Paula says:

    Everything you baked here looks so decadent and delicious and I wish I had your baking energy!

    Not to sound unappreciative (furthest thing from it) but I don’t participate in blogging awards so I won’t be passing this award you so graciously gave to me on.

    Thank you so much for your very kind words and for visiting my blog. It is much appreciated and it is always my pleasure to come here and visit you. Always 🙂

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you so much 😀
      And I like that ‘baking energy’ phrase!

      And I totally understand why some bloggers do not participate in foodie awards, not a problem (you could never sound unappreciative) – But you did deserve this award nontheless 🙂

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  4. Anita Menon says:

    This is way plenty chocolate goodness for one post. I feel am drowning in a chocolate -y decadency. Congrats on the award, though it is way too late. Thanks for dropping by my space because it gave me the opportunity to come by yours and see what wonderful stuff you have on it.

    Cheers.

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you very much my friend- drowning in chocolate is a true pleasure of life 😀
      Thanks for the congrats (no such thing as too late :D)
      And I look forward to more from your blog!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thanks my friend 😀
      And you definitely deserve a baking and chocolate splurge out – with senior years, working is not optional so I know how you must feel to chuck your pen aside and devour 😉
      Enjoy!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  17. Liz says:

    Oh, you are SO sweet! Thanks so much for the blogger awards!!! I’m so touched 🙂

    And both recipes look phenomenal! You know we have a weakness for chocolate around here! YUM!

    Like

    « Reply
  18. Lovely Pantry says:

    Your blog may very well be my weakness. I’m a closet chocoholic and I spotted something that I haven’t seen in YEARS!!! (I’ve been staring at the screen for a minute or eight).

    Is that FLAKE I see in that bag of chocolates????? *anxiety sets in*

    Not sure if I’ll be able to sleep now. LOL

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Haha, you are so funny 😀
      I know what you mean though – ever since I started this blog, my chocolate consumption has escalated
      And yes that flake used to be there before… well you know 😉
      I think you need a nice big flake-y fudge sundae right now 😀
      Thanks for dropping by!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  20. The Better Baker says:

    OHMYSOUL! These cookies look perfectly beautiful…even before you break them open!!! How creative! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your nice comment. Please come again soon…and I’ll be back to check you out too. Have a great week!

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Haha, thank you so much – it was my pleasure to stop by your wonderful blog and I look forward to seeing many more of your posts through foodbuzz 😀
      Happy you enjoyed my blog 🙂

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  21. Kathleen Richardson says:

    CCU ~ As soon as I get back from vacation, I’m going to make both recipes. The cookies are like a box of chocolate candies… you know, the kinds with various fillings! Pick one, bite into it and be surprised by whatever amazing filling you get.

    Thanks for all the sweet words and links to my blog. I’ll continue to read your blog every time, no matter how long.

    Meantime, this blog entry needs to go on my Pinterest page.

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you very much again – you do too much for me 🙂
      And it was my pleasure!

      Hope you have a wonderful vacation and I look forward to all your posts on arrival back 😀
      Have fun!!!!!!!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      I say do what I do and try both together 😉
      Thanks so much! And believe me, honeycomb in a cookie is heaven on Earth – excuse me I am going to go get a cookie now 😀

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      P.S Thanks for subscribing as well! I will be subscribing to yours as soon as possible under another email 🙂

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      It was my pleasure – thank you so much for so many kind words and subscribing (I can’t wait to see more posts and will be subscribing to yours under a different email soon :))

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  29. Bam's Kitchen says:

    Seriously I have to stop reading your blog at night as now I have a huge craving for chocolate. Wow chocolate kicked up one more notch. Thanks for the great tip about keeping the door oven open to make the muffin tops crunchy.

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Haha, I can say the same about your overly delicious blog too 😀 (though you send me to some beautiful dreams)
      I am so happy you liked this – too much chocolate is always a good thing – Enjoy 😀

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you for both your compliments 😀
      The cookies were definitely a treasure – so filled with delicious ingredients!
      Glad you enjoyed them and thanks for stopping by 🙂

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  33. beccysfoodies says:

    do you make these recipes up? Because they are amazing!!! you are so talented! Those goodies look to good to be true, white dream chocolate really is a ‘dream’! 🙂

    Like

    « Reply
  36. Christine says:

    Hi!!! Your muffins look so beautiful. I always have major issues in making good muffins (thus, I never actually posted any muffin recipes in my blog because what I did were flops). But yours are just perfect! Will learn from your recipes and tips in order to do this. 🙂

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you so much – I hope my tips help out and I am sure there will be a huge smile on your face when you see those muffins come out of your oven 😀
      Have fun and thanks for stopping by!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  37. Amrita says:

    And by dispose off the caramel cookie you cut open to show us, I hope you meant dispose it in your stomach because any other way would’ve been a crime! 😉 Your mum is so blessed to have you as a daughter and vice versa, such a wonderful relationship! I’m sure she’d make many more trips out just so she’d be welcomed with many more delicious treats like these!

    Thank you so much for the award, girlie! It’s my very first award and I’m so flattered by the kind words that come along with it! You seriously are a rockstar and I’m happy to know I’ve made a wonderful blog friend, makes blogging so worth it (trust me, this comes at a time when I so needed the encouragement)! 😀 You’ve made my weekend! xoxo

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      I agree completely – do not fear at all! My stomach would have cried! 😉
      Thank you for such kind words – my mother and I do share a very special bond I am so lucky to have! But truly, she doesn’t have to leave just yet (unless she wants to bring back more chocolate like she did this time :D)

      And it is my pleasure to give you the award because you are very deserving of it! Keep up your amazing blogging and you got a friend in me 🙂
      Have a great week!

      xo (wow I feel like gossip girl!)
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Haha, I definitely play a bass while baking 😉
      Thanks for the sweet words and I would definitely recommend these for some treasure pirate themed party (or just for mon/tues/wed etc night too :D)

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you for sailing aboard with me today then 😉
      And I promise you when it comes to chocolate, there is no such thing as too much in one place 😀
      And of course caramel only hypes it up – my kitchen smelt awesome!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  47. Tina@flourtrader says:

    Congrats on getting the award, you do deserve it. Thanks so much for passing it to me , you are as sweet as these goodies that you posted here!
    Also, I have a bag of truffles I bought for something and then changed my mind, so they are staring at me every time I open the fridge. Great to find your recipe here that makes delicious use of them. Also, the coolest thing about filled cookies is the unknown and tasty surprise when you bite into them. And yes it is a surprise that brings a happy face. Great post

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thanks so much – and I only too happy to pass it onto someone as talented and wonderful as you are 😀
      And as for the truffles, I can’t believe you have the self control not to eat them! I buy many things for baking which disappear mysteriously when I need them – who knows 😉
      I am also glad you enjoyed all parts of this post – a surprise and comments like these both bring a happy face for sure!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  49. Nava Krishnan says:

    I like both of it, surely you are superb when it comes to baking and simple recipes with big outcome. Thanks for the award but sorry to say I don’t do blog awards. I find that there’s too many going on and at times I can manage, so I might as well don’t get to that. Hope you understand and thanks once more for forwarding it to me.

    Like

    « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thank you very much my friend 🙂
      And I understand completely – time is often a huge element of blogging so I get where you are coming from – you deserve the award though so it was my pleasure!

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
    • Choc Chip Uru says:

      Thanks my friend! I often look at blogs before sleeping as well (though it is beyond me why we do this – at least it gives sweet dreams!)
      I am so glad you enjoyed this post and its recipes (with a hint of Nutella ;))

      Cheers
      Choc Chip Uru

      Like

      « Reply
  52. Just Baked says:

    Oh, those chocolate cookies with caramel look amazing! A perfect combination of flavors I must say! 😀 Oh, and I love your Willy Wonka quotes! It’s one of my favorite movies of all times!

    Like

    « Reply

Sweet Comments Welcome!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.