Indulge in Pure Bliss: Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Muffins
Easier than they look, these decadent double chocolate salted caramel muffins are a symphony of flavors that will have you questioning: are they a muffin or a cupcake? Regardless of their classification, the irresistible combination of rich chocolate and luscious salted caramel (or dulce de leche) creates a treat that every muffin enthusiast needs in their life. Get ready to elevate your baking game with this truly extraordinary recipe!
Life can be wonderfully unpredictable, sometimes throwing us into a whirlwind of activity where productivity feels like a distant dream. This past week has been a prime example, a bustling blur where I’ve somehow managed to be incredibly busy yet remarkably inefficient. It’s a challenging paradox, to say the least.
For those of you keenly following my culinary adventures, you might have noticed that this week’s sole recipe offering was the unbelievably creamy and dreamy coconut milk steel cut oatmeal I shared on Monday. While delicious enough to carry the week on its own, the perfectionist and slightly crazed baker within me couldn’t rest without delivering at least one more show-stopping recipe. So, I pushed through the beckoning piles of laundry and a relentless to-do list, ignoring the urgent calls of other tasks, to bring you these truly amazing double chocolate salted caramel muffins. And trust me, they are worth every ounce of effort.
The Great Muffin vs. Cupcake Debate: A Delicious Conundrum
As you gaze upon these gloriously chocolatey, divinely inspired creations, a question undoubtedly crosses your mind – a question pondered by countless others before you: “Come on, are these really muffins, or are they just unfrosted cupcakes cleverly disguised?”
It’s an excellent question, my friends, and one I’ll address with a touch of diplomatic evasion. Let me simply state that I sleep soundly at night, perfectly content in classifying these double chocolate caramel beauties as muffins. For me, the presence of frosting is the defining difference between a cupcake and a muffin. While I’m certainly not advocating for these rich, indulgent treats to make an appearance at your next ultra-healthy breakfast event (unless that’s your kind of healthy!), I’m also not saying you can’t enjoy them before 9 a.m. (otherwise, I’d be the biggest hypocrite on the planet!).
If your heart desires to add a swirl of frosting and declare them cupcakes, please, go right ahead! Or if you insist they are merely naked cupcakes, that’s perfectly fine by me, too. As long as I have a couple of these delightful morsels to keep me company, I’ll happily let you all debate the semantics. The pure joy of biting into a warm, chocolatey muffin with a gooey caramel center transcends any categorical labels.
The Anatomy of a Perfect Salted Caramel Muffin
These double chocolate salted caramel muffins truly are special. They boast a picture-perfect appearance with their beautifully domed, slightly crackly tops, hinting at the delightful textures within. But the real magic lies hidden at their core: a luscious caramel surprise in the center that is, without exaggeration, the best surprise ever. The anticipation of that gooey, golden treasure makes each bite an experience to savor.
Choosing Your Caramel Filling
The success of these muffins hinges significantly on the quality and consistency of your caramel filling. For the batch featured in this post, I used my go-to divine homemade caramel sauce. I found that using it chilled, directly from the refrigerator, worked exceptionally well. The thicker consistency allowed it to hold its shape beautifully when scooped onto the half-baked muffins, preventing it from completely melting into the batter prematurely.
Alternatively, dulce de leche, whether homemade or store-bought, also makes for an absolutely delicious caramelly filling. I’ve personally tried this variation, and it yields equally amazing results, offering a slightly different, deeply caramelized flavor profile. Again, if using refrigerated dulce de leche, there’s no need to warm it first – the thicker consistency is key.
I also suspect (though I haven’t personally tested it yet, so please report back if you do!) that an unwrapped soft caramel candy, dropped into the center, would work wonders. The slow melt of the candy during baking would create a perfectly gooey core. What I would advise against is using thin caramel ice cream topping; its runny consistency won’t hold up as well during the baking process and may simply absorb into the batter rather than creating a distinct caramel pocket.
Optional but Highly Recommended Touches
While the star of the show is undoubtedly the chocolate and caramel, there are a couple of elements you can adjust to suit your taste. I almost hesitate to suggest it, but if you want to skip the caramel altogether, you’d still be left with a truly stellar double chocolate muffin. And honestly, I wouldn’t be mad at you for that. Sometimes, a pure, unadulterated chocolate experience is exactly what the soul craves. For more fantastic chocolate muffin ideas, check out these favorites: Double Chocolate Chunk Muffins and Classic Chocolate Muffins.
The flaky sea salt sprinkled on top is another “extra” you could omit, but I highly recommend keeping it. That delicate crunch and subtle saline burst provide a delicious contrast to the sweet intensity of the chocolate and caramel. It elevates the flavor profile, balancing the sweetness and adding a layer of sophisticated taste that makes these muffins truly exceptional.
If you’re on the hunt for a truly wow-worthy muffin – one that promises to impress and delight – these double chocolate salted caramel muffins are calling your name (and mine!). Suddenly, my endless laundry piles and ever-growing to-do list don’t seem quite as exciting as whipping up another batch of these heavenly treats. #priorities, right?
A Look Back: Beloved Recipes Through the Years
One Year Ago: Simple Weeknight Greek Chicken Burritos {or Wraps!}
Two Years Ago: Doubletree Hotel Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three Years Ago: Quinoa Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Granola Cookies
Four Years Ago: Lemon Drop Sugar Cookie Bars
Five Years Ago: Outrageous Eskimo Bars
Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour (see note for whole wheat)
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (43 g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (85 g) milk, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 cup milk, I use 2%
- ½ cup neutral-flavored oil, like vegetable, canola, avocado oil
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup thick caramel sauce or dulce de leche (see note)
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips.
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In a separate medium bowl or in a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, oil, and eggs until smooth.
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined (don’t overmix or the muffins might be tough and dense).
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Fill the muffin liners about 2/3 of the way full (you may have extra batter; you can bake a second batch or use a second muffin tin, if needed). Don’t overfill as you’ll be adding caramel to the muffins in the next step.
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Bake for about 7-8 minutes, just until the edges are set but the centers are still wet. Working quickly, remove the muffin tin from the oven and drop a heaping teaspoon of caramel sauce or dulce de leche into the center of each muffin (no need to press down into the batter).
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Return to the oven and bake until the batter rises over the caramel and the tops spring back lightly to the touch, 10-12 minutes.
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Lightly sprinkle the muffins with sea salt, if desired. Let the muffins rest in the pan for 1-2 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Cocoa: the muffins pictured in the post are made with natural unsweetened cocoa (like Hershey’s brand); using Dutch-process will yield a muffin that has a richer, deeper chocolate flavor (and color).
Caramel: for these muffins, I used some of this caramel sauce I had in the fridge (didn’t warm first; I scooped it onto each muffin cold). Using dulce de leche would work great, too (again, if it’s refrigerated, I wouldn’t warm first), and I even think unwrapping a soft caramel and dropping that onto each muffin would be incredible (haven’t tried that one myself yet, though). I wouldn’t recommend the thin-ish caramel ice cream topping.
Muffin Tin: I was able to bake all the batter in 12 muffins (one tin), but I used my favorite USA brand muffin tin {aff. link}; the muffin cups are a bit deeper than other standard muffin tins so I can get away with filling them more. If you are using another brand of muffin tin, you might need to separate the muffin batter into 16 muffins so they don’t spill over as they bake.
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Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Food Network Magazine Jan/Feb 2018