Recipe: Double Chocolate Honey Bran Muffins

Today is not only a Saturday Sacrament but also one of our rare recipes here on The Chocolate Cult.  The pan I used will be featured in a later feature review after I've had a chance to use it a few more times with different types of baked goods.  Today we are going to focus on how well the Lindt 85% Dark Chocolate Bar worked with baked goods.  This bar was one of those sent to use by Amy Sue Lambert as a consult who sells Lindt chocolate via house parties and the web through their R.S.V.P program.  I had a mix for honey bran muffins (Martha White brand that was on sale at my local Kroger) and decided to give this double chocolate idea a try.  Let's see how it worked.

Double Chocolate Honey Bran Muffins
By TammyJo Eckhart, PhD

Ingredients:

2 Honey Bran muffin mixes (Martha White brand in this case)
1 2/3 cups skim milk
1.5 cups chopped walnuts (Fisher brand in this case)
1 3.5oz bar Lindt 85% dark chocolate, broken into 8+ pieces
5 T unsweetened cocoa

Directions:
Pre-heat over to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In the microwave melt the broken up Lindt bar then smooth with a spoon.  The bar will melt but slowly so have patience and just keep checking as you do this step.

Then stir in the milk and reheat in microwave for 1 minute stirring until you get a chocolate milk like consistency.

Note: you add in extra milk because you will be adding in cocoa that will make the muffins more dry unless you counter this with more wet ingredients.  Resist the temptation to use oils or butter because they are not necessary and add calories and fats you honestly do not need.

By hand slowly stir in both mixes until the dry mix is completely moist.  Stir in the walnuts until they are completely covered.  Finally, one tablespoon at a time, stir in the cocoa until you can no longer see any dry cocoa.  By this time you should be able to smell the cocoa and chocolate.



Spoon into mini-loaf pan; I used an oval mini-loaf pan.  Bake for 15 minutes then remove and allow pan to cool for five minutes before dumping out the muffins.

Note: The time you need will depend on the make of the pan and the size of each serving.  Adjust the time by using a toothpick to check that it comes out clean from the center of one of the central muffins in your pan.  You could also use this to make a full bread loaf but be very careful about the outside burning if you do this.

Using this pan I made 22 oval mini-loaves each with around 159 calories, 9 grams fat (2.4 grams saturated fat), only 3.1 gram cholesterol, 124 mg sodium, 18.6 carbs, 2.75 grams fiber, only 1.7 grams sugars (yes the muffins are more on the bitter edge of chocolate), and 9.7 grams protein.

If these are too bitter for you you could use a lower cacao percentage chocolate bar or less cocoa but frankly the cocoa adds a lot of fiber versus calories.

Thank you, Amy Sue Lambert, once again for letting us reveal more of the Lindt chocolate to the world.

So what have you used a 85% Lindt Dark Chocolate Bar for, Sisters and Brothers?