After a brief hiatus, Muffin Madness is back! This recipe features a delicious and slightly sophisticated flavor profile, combining white chocolate with apricot and ginger. These muffins are also a bit more decadent and stumble into cupcake territory, so they might make better desserts than breakfast.
Though it may seem intimidating at first, it is quite easy to prepare a muffin with filling, you just might want to warn people before they take a bite! As usual, I felt the recipe was lacking a bit of punch, so I increased the crystallized ginger and added ground ginger (ginger is an excellent taste compliment to both white chocolate and apricot). White chocolate baking bars are normally sold in 4 oz varieties and the recipe only called for 2 oz, so I used the additional amount to top the muffins.
White Chocolate & Apricot Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz white baking chocolate, divided
3/4 cup skim or 1% milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup apricot preserves
Preheat oven to 400F and coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, crystallized ginger, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt. Finely chopped 2 oz of the white chocolate and whisk into the flour mixture. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk, butter, and egg, then pour into the well in the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir just until all the dry ingredients are moist.
Spoon about a tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Then spoon 2 teaspoons of apricot preserves into the center of each cup (do not spread over the batter). Top the muffin cups with the remaining batter. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F.
Meanwhile, coarsely chop the remaining 2 oz of white baking chocolate. In a small microwave safe dish, heat on high for 10 second intervals melted and smooth, stirring well in between each interval.
After removing from oven, place muffin tin on a wire rack and allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes before removing. Use a knife to “pop” each muffin out of the tin and place muffins on a sheet of aluminum foil. Scoop a small about (about 1 teaspoon) of white chocolate on top of each muffin and use the back of the spoon to “frost” the muffin. Allow chocolate to cool set before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 12 muffins.
