I can't help to think that it is my good luck that I found this ideal chocolate muffin recipe...
I was like YES!!! with a clenched fist after I took my first bite of these muffins! These cake-like chocolate muffins are very fluffy with very moist and tender crumbs. Best of all, these muffins are very easy to bake as all you need is a wooden spoon to mix!
Well, all thanks to an usual baking ingredient... Mayonnaise!!!
Easy Mix-and-Bake Double Chocolate Mayonnaise Muffin Cakes
Why did I say that I'm lucky that I found this ideal chocolate muffin recipe? The story of my "lucky" chocolate muffins began when I had about 1/2 cup of this jar mayonnaise to finish...
Let me see what I can cook with this amount of mayonnaise... When I saw this highly rated and reviewed Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake recipe at Epicurious, I heard a *Ding* Oh! It must be a correct answer bell ding ding in my head! LOL! I know that this recipe is going to be awesome because I have seen many positive opinions on using mayonnaise to bake moist chocolate cakes.
However, this recipe says that I need 1 1/3 cups of mayonnaise to bake a tall and large 3-layers 20 cm cake and I was like Nah!!! I don't want to bake a massive cake!!! Besides, I have 1/2 cup of mayonnaise left in my fridge... What am I going to do? Buy more mayonnaise? I can't be that silly!
And so I modified the recipe pretty dramatically, hoping that I can bake something that is convenient, easy and well-portioned for our everyday consumption... You know what? *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* It works! Am I lucky or what???
To ensure that these chocolate muffins are moist and yummy, it is best to use mayonnaise that contains about 80% fat which is the same percentage of fat found in butter. NO low fat mayo, please!
Baking these fluffy chocolate muffins is really super easy... After seeing how I baked them, I'm sure that you will be amazed!
First, I did this to mix the chocolate and cocoa powder in boiling water.
Due to the fact that mayonnaise is so much softer than butter, it doesn't have to be soften at room temperature and mixing it with sugar and egg is also so much easier and all I need is just a wooden spoon!
It is important not to over-mix the batter at this stage.
Divide the batter among the muffin cups.
And top with a good amount of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips or chocolate callets.
After baking...
I was happy to see that the muffins are all so well-risen!
See! They are so fluffy light and moist!!!
Very moist but not oily!!!
This recipe is so good that I can use it to bake bite-sized muffins...
And I can guarantee you that these little muffins are very moist too.
Well, you might ask... Why do I call these chocolate mayonnaise muffin cakes? Are they muffins or cakes? To be honest with you, I don't have a clear-cut answer and so this is why I called them muffin cakes. LOL! These muffins are so fluffy like cakes and these cakes are so easy to bake like our everyday muffins. So there you go... They are muffin cakes! LOL!
Just in case if you want to modify this recipe further, I like to mention that these chocolate muffin cakes are not too sweet, not oily, just nice for its chocolaty taste and have a hint of creamy mayonnaise aftertaste. They can stay moist up to 3 days after storing in an airtight container at room temperature and strongly suggest that you shouldn't reduce the amount of added sugar and mayonnaise further.
However, if you really want to modify this recipe further, you can try to increase the amount of mayonnaise to 160 ml (2/3 cup) which is the amount used in the original Epicurious recipe and I'm pretty sure that this will give you a moister and richer cake texture.
If you just want to bake like mine, here's the recipe that is largely modified from Epicurious
Make 9 standard 1/3 cup-size muffins or 27 mini cupcakes
90g dark chocolate with 70% cocoa, divided to 30g and 60g*1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder, natural or Dutch-process (I used Valrhona)
200 ml boiling water200g all purpose / plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder120ml (1/2 cup) mayonnaise (do not use reduced-fat or fat-free)
100g (1/2 cup) dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten*A few options to suggest 1) roughly chopped from a large cooking chocolate block and divide them into 30g and 60g 2) 30g roughly chopped cooking dark chocolate and 60g dark chocolate chips 3) like what I did, use Callebaut dark chocolate callets with 70% cocoa, divided to 30g and 60g
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line standard muffin pan with baking paper cups.
Combine 30g chocolate and cocoa powder in medium heat proof bowl. Add boiling water and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder.
Using a wooden spoon, mix mayonnaise, sugar and vanilla until combined, making sure that the chunks of sugar are well broken up and less lumpy, about 2-3 mins. While beating, add egg gradually and beat until the egg is well incorporated after each addition.
Briefly divide flour mixture into 2 portions. Sift in each portion of flour and add in half of the chocolate mixture. Mix with a spatula and then do the same with the remaining flour and chocolate mixture. Fold until mixture is just combined. Do not over mix.
Divide batter among muffin cups and top the batter with distributed amount of 60g chocolate.Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 15 mins for the large muffins and about 8 mins for the mini muffins.
Serve when it is warm or completely cooled.
Store up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
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