Double chocolate muffins

I was snowed in and working from home on Monday, and as it got to 5.30 it was getting dark and cold, and I had a massive craving for something chocolatey. I had a recipe book close at hand that I'd received for Christmas and started flicking through, looking for something I could make a half batch of so I would have a little bit of cake - but not too much, as I am supposed to be on a diet. I also decided it had to be something chocolately but something without frosting so I wouldn't add too many extra calories - so these double chocolate muffins looked perfect. They even use some fat free plain yogurt which helps reduce the calorie content further (compared to what it might have been otherwise).

The recipe is taken from the Good Housekeeping Baking Book.

Makes 12
125g butter
100g plain chocolate
225g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
40g cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
200g white chocolate, chopped
pinch of salt
1 egg
200ml milk
150g low fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla flavouring

Preheat the oven to about 180C. Melt the butter and chocolate either in a bain marie or the microwave.

In a large bowl mix the flour, bicarb of soda, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and white chocolate - I broke the chocolate into small pieces so there would still be lumps in the mixture.

Mix the egg, yogurt, milk and vanilla in a jug and pour over the dry mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon. Also pour in the melted chocolate and butter and stir well.

Spoon into paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Here they are just having come out of the oven.

The muffins were wonderfully light with a slight crunch on the top, and you can still see the chunks of white chocolate inside.

These were a quick impromptu bake and I realised aferwards that I can use them for this month's Alphabakes challenge, which I am hosting - the letter this month is D. You've got a few more days to get in your entries and we've got a great prize on offer - check out the details here.

Funnily enough once I'd made these and licked the spoon that seemed to be enough to satisfy my chocolate craving.. so now I have half a dozen muffins going spare! I might have to take them into work or see if I can turn them into a dessert with chocolate sauce the next time my boyfriend is over - hmm, there's an idea!