Chocolate muffins with white chocolate and dried cherries

These chocolate-y muffins will help you say 'TGIF.'

Because these very chocolate-y chocolate muffins are a little decadent, they are perfect for a winter weekend breakfast and leftovers will be lovely for late-afternoon tea.

The batter is thick, which means you can fill the cups to the brim and they’ll bake into nice big muffins. You can start from scratch in the morning, but I prefer to measure out the ingredients the night before, which means my batter’s ready to hit the oven by the time it’s preheated.

So enjoy. Here in the Northeast the temperature continues to drop by the minute, so heat up that oven and stay warm!

Chocolate Muffins with White Chocolate and Dried Cherries
Makes 1 dozen large muffins

If short on time melt the butter and mix it with the egg and yogurt, stirring this wet mixture into the dry ingredients.

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
1 cup each: white chocolate chips and coarsely chopped dried cherries, divided

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer over medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Alternating between ingredients beat in 1/3 each of the yogurt and flour mixture until both are fully incorporated and batter is smooth. Stir in 3/4 cup each of the chips and cherries.

Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray or line with muffin cups. Use a large ice cream scoop to divide batter evenly among the cups (they will be full). Top with remaining 1/4 cup cherries and white chocolate.

Bake until muffins are browned and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Let sit a couple of minutes in muffin tin and then turn onto a wire rack to cool slightly.

Serve.

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