Chocolate 
Mint Muffins








1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 Tbs. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
28 crème de menthe thins, chopped 
OR ¾ cup of mint flavored baking chips 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Place paper liners in twelve muffin cups. In a medium size bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the milk and the melted butter. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and blend until the dry ingredients are just moistened; do not over mix.  Gently fold in the mint morsels.  Pour about a quarter cup of batter into each cup of lightly greased tins. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until tops of muffins are slightly firm (the “toothpick-inserted-in-the-center” test doesn’t always work, because of the melted chocolate in the center). Remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack..

Breadhead Backstory
I love everything about these muffins: their flavor and texture, the ease with which they are prepared, and the speed with which they disappear. When served warm from the oven, these minty muffins cry out for cold milk or good coffee. I had the pleasure of serving these to renowned herb gardener Jim Long at a gardeners’ conference and he enjoyed them so much he asked for seconds and gave them a shout-out on his blog. 

These muffins tend to fall apart coming out of the pan, so be sure to use paper liners. In addition, any recipe that uses cocoa powder requires sifting of the dry ingredients as it tends to clump. Originally I used chopped up creme de menth candies for this recipe and I still recommend them, but that was before mint-flavored baking chips were readily available. Try both and decide for yourself. 

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