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Chocolate Orange Muffins!
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These chocolate orange muffins feature a deep cocoa-and-brown-sugar butter sponge stuffed with chopped chocolate orange chunks, topped with a smooth melted chocolate disc and an iconic chocolate segment. Requiring 40 minutes of active prep and bake time to make a batch of 12 large muffins, they are the ultimate festive treat for winter mornings, coffee dates, or holiday gifting.
Notes from The Patisserie
Over years of blogging, it is far too easy to neglect the good old-fashioned muffin in favour of show stopping cupcakes. However, there is a distinct comfort to a perfect muffin. They offer all the decadent crumb of a cake but without the heavy mountain of buttercream frosting on top, making them the absolute ideal companion for a mug of hot tea or a rich hot chocolate.
With so many requests coming in for a holiday bake that captures the classic pairing of citrus and rich cocoa, it was finally time to deliver the ultimate chocolate orange muffin. While some bakers swear by using vegetable oil for moisture, this recipe opts for the classic creamed butter method. Creaming the butter builds a spectacularly rich flavour profile and a satisfyingly stable crumb that can support a massive amount of heavy chocolate chunks without letting them sink straight to the bottom of the case.
Chocolate sponge
These muffins are designed to be light and airy whilst giving the ultimate kick of rich chocolate with the punchy citrusy orange flavour shining through:
- Butter – For these muffins I use unsalted butter, you can use baking spread
- Sugar – I use a mix of light brown soft sugar/caster sugar as the compliment the chocolate flavour
- Eggs – I use medium eggs
- Flour – self raising flour gives the perfect lift to these muffins and provides that airy sponge
- Cocoa powder – a high quality cocoa powder is the difference here when looking for that deep chocolate flavour
- Salt – a small pinch of salt cuts through the sweetness and works perfectly, often overlooked but a must for me.
- Milk – whole milk has the higher fat content, essential for a lighter sponge
- Orange extract – you can use real orange zest but I find extract provides an even flavour without changing the texture
- Chocolate – I cut up Terry’s Chocolate Orange into chunks
Cupcakes vs muffins
So.. this recipe is different when it comes to a cupcake. Cupcakes usually have equal parts flour, butter, sugar and eggs whereas this sort of recipe the ratios are different, milk is added, and the resulting texture is just the best and most delicious thing.
If you want to make these with oil, follow the recipe for the biscoff muffins, but use chocolate orange chunks, add the orange flavouring, and swap out 25g of flour for cocoa powder! But if you aren’t fussed, I do adore the recipe below and think it’s utterly delicious!
Light brown sugar in chocolate bakes
I love using tulip muffin cases when it comes to muffins, as they look the best, and they are big enough! I use these beautiful kraft coloured ones in this recipe, but honestly any work! If you want to use cupcake cases however, you may may more than 12 muffins.
You want to make sure that the cases are only 2/3 full, as the muffins will rise, and you definitely don’t want them overflowing and wasting all the yummy muffin goodness!
FAQs
What is the best way to chop the Terry’s Chocolate Orange?
Because chocolate orange segments can be quite thick, it is best to chop them with a sharp chef’s knife on a stable cutting board when the chocolate is at room temperature. Aim for a mix of large, chunky pieces that will turn into gooey pockets of melted chocolate, alongside finer shards that will disperse uniformly throughout the cocoa sponge.
Can I make a surprise center inside these muffins?
Yes, stuffed muffins are an incredible adaptation! To do this effortlessly, spoon small dollops of your favourite chocolate hazelnut spread or a thick chocolate orange ganache onto a parchment-lined tray and freeze them until completely solid. When filling your muffin cases, drop a frozen dollop right into the centre of the raw batter before baking for a wonderfully molten, gooey surprise.
Can I make these muffins using vegetable oil instead of butter?
Absolutely! If you prefer an oil-based muffin, you can adapt this recipe by using a liquid oil base (like a standard Biscoff muffin recipe) to gain an incredibly open, ultra-moist crumb. Simply swap the creamed butter for an equal amount of vegetable or sunflower oil, ensure you add the orange extract or fresh zest, and replace 25g of your self-raising flour with high-quality cocoa powder to keep the chocolate balance perfect.
Why did my muffins turn out dense and bread-like instead of soft and springy?
This is almost always down to over mixing the batter once the dry ingredients and milk are introduced. Once they have incorporated, fold the mixture over and be mindful not to over mix.
Chocolate Orange Muffins
Deliciously soft, heavenly and yummy chocolate orange muffins – full of chocolate orange chunks!
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Servings: 12 Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 115 g unsalted butter
- 250 g light brown soft sugar/caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 225 g self raising flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 125 ml whole milk
- 1 tsp orange extract (or zest of 1 large orange)
- 300 g chocolate orange chocolate (chopped)
Topping
- 100 g chocolate (melted)
- 12 chocolate orange segments
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 190ºc/170ºc fan and get your 12 muffin cases ready – I like to use tulip style muffin cases.
- Beat the unsalted butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add each egg, beating well each time.
- Add the self raising flour, cocoa powder and salt to the mixture, and beat again.
- Finally, pour in the milk and orange extract beat again. Try not to over beat the mixture!
- Fold through the chunks of chocolate, and split evenly between the cases.
- Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until they are baked through and springy to touch.
- Leave to cool fully.
Decoration
- Melt the chocolate, and spoon a little onto the top of each muffin
- Press a chocolate orange segment onto the top, and leave to set.
Notes
- These muffins are best served fresh and warm, but will last for three days!
- I bake into this muffin tray.
- I used these muffin cases for this bake.
Storage and freezing
These will remain beautifully soft and delicious for up to 3 days when stored inside an airtight container at room temperature. If you find your muffins hardening slightly on day two or three, a quick 10 to 15-second blast in the microwave will instantly revive the sponge and melt the rich chocolate orange chunks back into a gooey perfection.
For long-term storage, wrap the fully cooled, un-decorated muffins tightly in cling film and freeze them for up to 3 months.
Related recipes
I have neglected the good ol’ muffin far too much. There are a few delicious recipes on here such as my biscoff muffins that I uploaded this year, and then my older muffin recipes such as my raspberry and white chocolate muffins, which has been on my blog for over five years!
I don’t know why I neglect muffin recipes so much, because I utterly adore them. They’re so similar to cupcakes, but usually without the same toppings as cupcakes. They are perfect with a mug of tea, or a hot chocolate… or when you are out on a coffee date.
Could you give me a recommendation for conversions for baking in an air fryer? I’d really like to have a go at them for a Xmas bake! Thanks in advance ☺️
Can you freeze these
Yes you can!
These muffins taste fab. The only problem I have is that there was too much batter and i ended up overfilling the cases, instead of rising up they came out the top and spread like halos. Very crumbly and not holding shape, stuck to the paper cases too.
Hiya – this sounds like the muffin cases are too small – we use tulip ones which are bigger than others that shops sell.
These chocolate orange muffins were amazing
They had a lovely taste , the only thing was there a bit of oil on the muffin cases i don’t know if it was from the chocolate , but otherwise great.
Hi, will it change the taste of the muffins if I use dark orange chocolate in the recipe? Thanks in advance.
Hi Jane! Fab recipe as always! I just wondered, would I be able to use choc orange spread instead of the chocolate chunks?
Thank you!
Hiya! You could try freezing lumps of the spread and putting it in before baking! Hope this helps! x
I really enjoy them,they were really nice,but one thing I found it they crumble to quick,,what did I do wrong?
I’m not sure what I did wrong but they sunk really badly in the middle when cooling, to the point there was a gaping hole, tried putting them back in the oven but they’d already sunk so beyond repair
Hiya! Jane recommends never putting a bake back in the oven once cooled! However they probably sank because they were underbaked! Hope this helps x
These are great. However I did find a lot of the mixture stuck to the cases how can I prevent this happening?