Hot Chocolate

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures

I love it when fall strikes and days get colder.

The reason why I love this time of year so much might have something to do with the fact that I suddenly have all the good reasons to indulge myself with sweet mulled wine or hot chocolate.

The best hot beverages ever!

Oh, how I love them!

They are true soul soothers!

 

The following recipe is just delicious.

The taste vastly depends on the kind of chocolate you use. So get the one you really like.

Also, there are different types of chocolate when it comes to its fat content. So remember – the higher the fat content, the more creamy and rich your hot chocolate will be.

So let’s experiment!

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures, ingredients

These are the ingredients you will need.

Just this few.

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures, break chocolate into smaller chunks, place the chocolate chunks into a heatproof bowl

1. To prepare your own soothing drink, first break the chocolate into smaller chunks.

 

2. Place the chocolate chunks into a heatproof bowl.

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures, add the sugar

3. Add the sugar.

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures, add the milk

4. Add the milk.

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures, place the bowl over a pot of boiling and steaming water, stir until the chocolate melts, keep stirring until the mixture gets hot, nearly boiling

5. And place the bowl over a pot of boiling and steaming water.

 

6. Stir until the chocolate melts. Then keep stirring until the mixture gets hot, nearly boiling.

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures, pour the chocolate into two cups and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and some grated chocolate or a dusting of cocoa powder

7. Pour the chocolate into two cups and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and some grated chocolate or a dusting of cocoa powder, if desired.

homemade hot chocolate recipe with step by step pictures

And in case someone comes and steals your chocolate shamelessly be really thankful that this recipe yields two mugs.

Enjoy, dear friends!

(This lovely recipe was adapted from Joyofbaking.com.)

Mixed Berry Muffins with White Chocolate Chunks

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

These muffins are like treasure boxes.

Cute, little treasure boxes.

The moment you take a bite the muffin welcomes you with its moist and tender texture.

After a while you’ll notice that a couple of refreshing assorted berries have come to greet you too.

‘Yum’ – that’s exactly what comes to your mind!

And then, as if this wasn’t enough already, you’ll stumble upon these wonderfully rich and creamy white chocolate chunks that counterbalance the tartness of the berries in a way you’ve never even dared to dream about before.

And you think: ‘I thought “Yum” before… so what am I supposed to think now? Shall I scream? Or call somebody? Or shall I run really fast?’

These muffins, they are amazing.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

This is the cast of characters.

 

I’ve noticed that for some reason the number of ingredients in my recipes rarely exceeds ten.

If ever.

Who knows why?

‘Cause I don’t.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

1. To make your own ‘treasure box’ muffins you’ll need two bowls.

One bowl for the ‘wet’ ingredients and the other one for the ‘dry’ ones.

Then you just combine the two, bake it and that’s it.

Bye!

 

No, no, no, just kidding – don’t you expect me to leave that quickly.

You know me, don’t you?

I’m here to reveal the whole story in every specific detail.

Otherwise my brain would break.

 

So (and this really is the step number one), in a bowl pour all the wet ingredients – the lemon juice, oil, milk and egg.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

2. Whisk them to combine.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

3. Then grab the white chocolate.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

And chop it roughly into chunks.

Of course, you can also use store-bought chunks or even chips.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

4. Place the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and chocolate chunks) into the second bowl.

Set about half a cup of chunks aside for decorating.

 

5. Stir to combine.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

6. Now pour the wet mixture into the dry one.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

7. And stir -and this is important when it comes to muffins – just until it combines.

Small lumps are perfectly all right.

Overmixing a muffin batter might result in tough muffins.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

8. Finally, add the berries.

If you decide to use frozen berries, don’t let them thaw before baking. That way they won’t bleed into the batter and the batter will remain yellow(ish).

Which is exactly what I didn’t do.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

9. Gently, fold in the berries and admire the beauty you’ve created.

Yes, I see a lot of beauty in batters.

Yes, I am feeling all right.

Why do you ask?

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

10. Line the muffin tin with paper liners.

If you don’t want to use papers, then just oil the tins with some vegetable oil.

 

11. Using a spoon, fill each cup full of batter and sprinkle a few chocolate chunks over the top.

The extreme amount of batter per cup might surprise you, but that way you’ll achieve those nice domed tops more easily.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

12. Bake at 356 F (180 C) for about 20-25 minutes…

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

… or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
13. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Then let cool completely.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

Here it is – standing proud in all its irresistible deliciousness.

mixed berry muffins with white chocolate chunks recipe with step-by-step images

Oh my!

Enjoy, dear friends!

 

This recipe makes 11 large muffins.

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