Chocolate and peppermint is a great combination for the holidays! I was wanting to make a Christmasy kind of muffin, so I thought I’d experiment a little with chocolate and peppermint and I came up with this Chocolate Peppermint Muffin recipe. It’s very rich and chocolatey, with some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips added in for good measure! 😉

These muffins also have a nice, mild peppermint flavor. Topped off with a peppermint glaze and crushed candy canes, this is more of a dessert muffin than a breakfast muffin…but if you want one for breakfast, go ahead…it’s Christmastime, after all! 🙂

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT MUFFINS by NancyC

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (6-ounce ) container plain or vanilla yogurt (or about 2/3 cup)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s®)
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Peppermint Glaze (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners; set aside.

In medium bowl, blend flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the yogurt, then add the vanilla and peppermint extracts, mixing well. Add the cocoa powder and blend everything well.

Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, half the amount at a time, until well blended. Fold in the mini chocolate chips and stir just until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed in batter.

Spoon mixture into the 12 muffin liners (the muffin batter is thick, so you won’t be able to pour it!). Bake at 350˚F for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (your toothpick may not come out totally clean because of the mini chips being in there–you may want to poke your muffin in a couple of places). Let muffins cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When these are completely cooled, you can add the peppermint glaze…

PEPPERMINT GLAZE

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons half and half (or milk)
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• 3 regular-size candy canes, crushed (about 1/4 cup)

In medium bowl, blend the powdered sugar with the milk or half and half, stirring until smooth. Add the peppermint extract and blend well. This will be a thicker, creamy glaze. Top each muffin with a spoonful of glaze, then add the crushed candy canes on top…as much or as little as you want.

There…don’t these look like Christmasy kind of muffins? It’s one of my new favorite flavors now…you just can’t go wrong with chocolate and peppermint!

Do you have a favorite holiday muffin recipe?

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