Chocolate Caramel Espresso Muffins

As I stood over the counter impatiently ripping off the liner and biting into these still-warm Chocolate Caramel Espresso Muffins, I made a mental note to myself: Make more muffins.

These Chocolate Caramel Muffins with a hint of espresso are the perfect holiday breakfast treat.

For some reason, the humble muffin always seems to slip off my radar, only to be replaced by pancake stacks and french toast casseroles. But the muffin has a lot going for it. It’s portable, portion-controlled, and pretty cute, too. Not to mention, muffins are downright easy to make. It must have been only 20 minutes from the time I started whisking together flour and cocoa powder to the time I was sliding a tray of impossibly dark, espresso spiked muffins into the oven.

The Mr. happened to leave the house to run a quick errand whileย I was making these, and when he returned just 40 minutes later, he was shocked to discover the house smelled like the inside of a caramel mocha latte, the muffins were cooling on the counter, and the dishes were already drip drying on the rack.

These rich and fudgy Chocolate Caramel Muffins are an easy breakfast treat!

We’ve never been good at waiting for baked goods to cool before eating them. We both stood anxiously over the muffins, picking at the edges, trying to get just a taste of that chocolatey goodness. We lasted about 10 minutes before we finally popped them from the tray and took a bite.

What waited for us inside that flimsy paper wrapper was far better than I could have imagined. These muffins are rich, dark, and intensely chocolatey. The espresso powder is subtle, but it helps accentuate the deep chocolate flavor. But that’s not even the best part. Studded throughout these tempting muffins is–wait for it–caramel filled chocolate chips.

That’s right, move over plain old chocolate chips, becauseย Nestlรฉยฎ Toll Houseยฎ is now filling your favorite chocolate morsels with flavors like caramel, mint, and peanut butter. Their new caramel DelightFullsโ„ข Filled Baking Morselsย take this muffin from good to abandon-all-dignity-and-eat-the-muffin-whilst-standing-over-the-sink-like-Gollum great.

These Chocolate Caramel Espresso Muffins are the perfect holiday treat!

After I took my first bite of these, I decided I wasn’t even going to try to masquerade them as heathy breakfast fare. Instead, I went all out and finished them with a drizzle of my homemade salted caramel sauce and an extra sprinkle of salt. While these may not be considered year-round breakfast fare, itย is the holidays, so I say anything goes.ย In fact, I can’t imagine a better way to start your Christmas morning than with a cup of coffee in one hand and a warm chocolate muffin in the other.

These muffins are great served at room temperature, but they’re wonderful served when still warm or after a quick turn in the microwave. There’s nothing better than biting into the muffin and being greeted by a melty chocolate caramel chip. If you’re looking to add a little extra sumpin’ sumpin to your holiday baking this year, be sure to grab a bag ofย DelightFulls Filled Baking Morsels. And if you’re in need of more holiday inspiration, check out their recipe page!

Dark fudgy chocolate muffins are loaded with caramel filled chips and a salty caramel sauce!

Chocolate Caramel Muffins from Neighborfoodblog.com

Chocolate Caramel Espresso Muffins

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 16 minutes
Total Time: 31 minutes

These rich Chocolate Espresso Muffins are topped with a drippy salted caramel drizzle. Breakfast???

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar (you can sub light brown if needed)
  • 2 teaspoons espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Nestle Toll House DelightFulls Caramel Filled Baking Morsels
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoon vinegar
  • 8 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • Caramel sauce- homemade
  • Flaked sea salt (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease the cups well.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, brown sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, soda, and salt until no lumps remain. Stir in baking morsels.
  3. In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. Whisk together until smooth.
  4. Add the egg mixture and melted butter the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until no white remains.
  5. Scoop the mixture into 12 muffin cups. It will fill each cup almost to the top. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. If desired, before serving drizzle each muffin with caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt.
  6. These muffins can be served warm or at room temperature. They'll keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 314Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 556mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 2gSugar: 36gProtein: 5g

Please note nutritional information for my recipes is calculated by a third party service and provided as a courtesy to my readers. For the most accurate calculation, I always recommend running the numbers yourself with the specific products you use.

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Recipe by NeighborFood

The same NESTLร‰ยฎ TOLL HOUSEยฎ chocolate you know and love now filled with rich caramel, peanut butter, mint, and cherry flavored filling. Add these new filled baking morsels to your favorite recipes for a special twist on the classic, or try experimenting with them in a recipe youโ€™ve never tried before!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of NESTLร‰ยฎ TOLL HOUSEยฎ. The opinions and text are all mine.

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