I was intrigued by the Double Chocolate Rye/spelt muffins touted on Green Kitchen. Chocolate and rye!!!. Rye flour in the U.S. is associated with heavy, gummy, serious breads––certainly not pastries. Doubters (Sally) warned that they could be “brown rocks,” or worse “Scandinavian cow pies” given the weightiness of the ingredients. But it seems that chocolate and rye** are a familiar and much loved taste combo in Denmark, especially for breakfast during the cool months. And Green Kitchen said they were delish, so I decided to try them.
I tweaked the recipe by adding extra-strength vanilla extract, substituting my famoso Vanilla Salt (below: easy, but not essential), and throwing on some extra chopped chocolate. The muffins—served warm with plain Greek yogurt and a lemon squeeze—were light and fluffy, almost rivalling Aunt Essie’s devil’s food cake. Not too sweet, and certainly not the dreaded thumper duds I was warned about. I suspect the rich coconut milk was key to their success. Proof of the pudding: neighbors sniffing the baking chocolate swooped in and carted them all off.
Recipe: Double Chocolate Rye Muffins
Makes 12 large muffins
Dry ingredients
1 scant cup (240 ml / 150 g) whole grain rye flour
1 cup (240 ml / 125 g) fine spelt flour
6 tablespoons cacao powder
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt such as Malden, flour de sel or Vanilla Fleur de Sel*, divided in half
Wet ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup (240 ml) full-fat coconut milk
2/3 cup (160 ml) maple syrup
2/3 cup (160 ml) extra virgin olive oil
3 1/2 to 4 ounces (100 g) 75% cacao dark chocolate (best quality), coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, preferably double-strength
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Sift together all dry ingredients, including 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, in a large mixing bowl; save the remaining half teaspoon of the salt for topping.
Crack the eggs in a separate bowl and beat them for about a minute. Then add the coconut milk, maple syrup and olive oil while constantly stirring. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.
Add half of the chocolate to the batter. Use a spatula to carefully fold everything until combined. Divide the batter into the muffin tins and top with the remaining chopped chocolate.
Bake about 18 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining salt and serve. Best enjoyed still warm from the oven served with plain Greek yogurt and lemon.
Muffins just baked:
**Editor’s Note: When Susan first mentioned the combo of chocolate and rye, we did a preliminary test. We put thin slices of chocolate on rye crackers and crunched: SWELL.
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