This recipe for Cappuccino Muffins is one of my favorite from my curated recipe collection. I used to make muffins quite a bit, dubbing myself the Muffin Queen, and serving muffins for breakfast, snack and as a bready side for soup. These are great for breakfast or tea since they absolutely must be served with this amazing Espresso Cream Cheese spread.
The muffin
I like the texture of this muffin, the delicate coffee flavor and tiny chips which give you a bit of chocolate flavor without creating a well of melted chocolate. The outside of the muffin is nicely crispy. Very balanced and very light.
The spread
As I said before, don’t neglect the Espresso Cream Cheese Spread! It pairs much better with these fancy muffins than mere butter. In a sense, the spread brings these ethereal muffins down to earth. It adds smoothness and richness to the light coffee flavor. You’ll find that although both the muffin and the cream cheese contain instant coffee crystals as well as miniature chocolate chips, the two ingredients are really necessary to both.
I haven’t found another recipe like this. You can taste the coffee, but my children were never put off by the coffee flavor. Instead they were always excited to see these muffins appear!
The recipe
The original recipe for Cappuccino Muffins can be found in the online archives of Taste of Home magazine. I subscribed to their magazine for years and have adapted many of their recipes including the Oatmeal Crumb Brownies I posted last week.
The main muffin muddle
One of the most important things to keep in mind when baking muffins is that you don’t want to overmix your ingredients. An overmixed muffin will turn tough and chewy instead of moist and crumbly.
Check out this picture of the muffins getting ready to visit the oven. See how lumpy they are? That’s because they aren’t overmixed. You probably want to mix your dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Then you can combine the two and quickly stir to incorporate them without beating. You do not want to blend until smooth! I am all for cheating, and though I often do when making muffins, I never skip mixing my wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls for this one. I like to use a wooden spoon that has a large bowl that I sweep around the sides of the mixing bowl and through the center, lifting and folding over the batter on each pass around and through. Once you’ve eliminated the dry pockets of dry ingredients, you should stop stirring.
Cappuccino Muffins
Coffee flavored muffins studded with miniature chocolate chips and topped with espresso cream cheese spread.
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup miniature chocolate chips
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp. instant coffee granules
- ½ cup butter
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Espresso Cream Spread
- 4 oz. softened cream cheese, cubed
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. instant coffee granules
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- ¼ cup miniature chocolate chips
Notes
For Muffins: Preheat oven to 375⁰F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, dissolve instant coffee in milk. Stir in beaten egg. Melt butter by microwaving in a medium-sized glass bowl. Add milk and egg mixture along with vanilla to the melted butter and blend well. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups ¾ full. Bake for 17-20 minutes.
Cool on wire racks. Serve with espresso cream.
For Espresso Cream Spread: Stir all ingredients together until well blended.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 256Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 246mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 4g
So whether you’re serving high tea to the Duchess of Canterbury or slapping down an after school snack, these delicious muffins will be perfect for both. The muffins may appear fancy, but are simple to make as long as you are sure to mix them correctly. Happy munching!
