Friday, October 29, 2010

Buckwheat Chocolate Muffins with Raspberries and Chocolate Ganache


These muffins are another recipe from Good to the Grain. This is the third recipe I've made from the book and was a great way to keep on using the buckwheat flour I know have in my pantry. To tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed by the texture of these muffins. They are very, very, very dense! I changed the original recipe a little (I did not have any persimmons and used fresh raspberries instead) but I still felt that these weren't quite the right muffin texture. They were still delicious, with dark chunks of chocolate seeping throughout, and little specks of bright red raspberry. I added some chocolate ganache to finish them off, which added a nice touch of sweetness. These muffins are really best eaten warm, right after having been topped with the ganache. If you don't eat them right away, I would suggest freezing them and re-heating them in a warm oven when you want to eat them again. If freezing, freeze the muffins without the ganache as soon as they have cooled down and add the ganache right after the muffins comes out of the oven and are defrosted.

I will be playing around with proportions to make these a little less dense but they were sill quite the delectable warm treat - with a tall glass of milk of course!

Buckwheat Chocolate Muffins with Raspberries and Chocolate Ganache

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup of fresh raspberries
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.

Mix the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugars for few minutes, until light and creamy (about 3 minutes). Then add in the eggs and beat until combined. Then add the yogurt and beat until combined.
Add in the dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time, until combined. Fold in the raspberries and chocolate. Transfer the batter to the muffin tin and bake for 30-35 minutes. Twist each muffin out of the tin and set on its side to cool.

Best served warm on the same day baked. Extras can be frozen and reheated.

20 comments:

Lori said...

These look great. Good to the Grain is one of my fave cookbooks, but I need to get around to making more from it. I love the idea of buckwheat with chocolate. I've used it in brownies before and it works great. I would imagine these are amazing with all the flavors going on.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely freeze them and then heat them up :)

Carolyn said...

I have a whole bag of buckwheat flour in my pantry and this looks like a great recipe to help me use some of it up!

Mini Baker said...

any kind of muffin with chocolate ganache is my kind of muffin!
:)
-Mini B.

A Canadian Foodie said...

I find everything with buckwheat flour dense. I love the flavour as it reminds me of my childhood when we had buckwheat pancakes for breakfast in the summer at the lake. Now I use it for bilinis with caviar. I am crazy over them and the buckwheat flavour, but honestly, there are SO many other flours, and few are as dense.... though your cupcakes do look quite splendid and this flour may just be the je ne sais pas that makes them a real hit!

~Lisa~ said...

I love that you used buckwheat! Raspberries and ganache the perfect addition!

Jean said...

I only ever use my buckwheat flour for pancakes since that's what my husband likes--and yes, they're on the dense side, too. They're still good, though, and I bet these muffins are, as well. I love the combination of flavors here. :-)

Joudie's Mood Food said...

Its a shame they came out so dense because the sound of them is lovely. The idea of topping with ganache is good though. May add a little moisture too. Now im hungry....

Simones Kitchen said...

Too bad they came out too dense, as they sure do look delicious! I love the sound of the different ingredients too!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Sorry the texture didn't work out for you. I've never tried buckwheat and am very curious. I've otherwise heard great things about that book.

Kris Ngoei said...

Rich and delicious muffins!! Love the shot too :-)

Congrats for winning DMBLGIT Oct!

Sawadee from Bangkok,
Kris

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Darling muffins. I just discovered the wonderful flavors of buckwheat by making buckwheat pancakes. Where have I been? Buckwheat rocks.
Sam

Quay Po Cooks said...

I never had any experience with buckwheat flour. I must go look for this flour and try this. This looks yummy and the pictures are superb as always!

stephanie said...

These look too good! Thank you for sharing.

Lacey said...

Your photo is gorgeous! You should post your stuff at dishfolio.com.

Food lover said...

Oh wow! These muffins look so yummy! I'm inspired to do some baking this Sunday

Vegolicious said...

Terrific muffins. I love the use of buckwheat flour.

I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos, and a link to your post, to my new vegetarian photo gallery showcasing the best vegetarian dishes and recipes on the web.

Von said...

I've never heard of putting persimmons in muffins =) But rasberries sound delicious! Shame they weren't as good as you hoped- but they still look really yummy!

Nessie @ bakingequalslove said...

Mmmmm chocolate and raspberries...love the combo. Gutted the texture wasn't quite right. But they sound nice and healthy and they look cute as a button! :)

Habitually Hungry said...

I am such a massive good to the grain fan as well. my blog posts are almost embarrassingly peppered with the wonders of kim boyce!

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