Chocolate Orange Muffins
Chocolate orange muffins are a decadent rich chocolate muffin infused with orange flavor! The orange cream cheese filling adds a cool and creamy bite!
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
For the Orange Cream Cheese
7 ounces softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons bottled carrot juice (for color, you can sub with a few drops of red + orange food coloring if you prefer)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Make the orange cream cheese filling by combining the cream cheese, carrot juice (or food coloring), powdered sugar, salt, and orange zest. Stir to combine then add the chocolate morsels and stir until blended throughout the filling. Set aside as you prepare the muffins.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare the muffin pan with liners or well greased. In a larger bowl combine the flour, cocoa, white sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine the oil, sour cream, half & half, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and orange zest.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and stir to combine. The batter should be thick, but if it’s too thick add a few tablespoons of the half & half to loosen it up.
5. Begin to layer the muffins in the pan by filling each holder half way with the chocolate batter, add about 2 generous tablespoons of the filling, then top with more chocolate batter….filling the holder all the way to the top.
6. Bake for 27 minutes, allow to cool slightly then savor every bite.
Notes
After coming to room temperature, these should be stored in the fridge. You can allow the muffin to come back to room temperature before eating, or eat them right out the the fridge. I love them warm the day I bake them, but the also really love that cool orange cream cheese once these are chilled!