These are the muffins we sell at the Kolkata70 bakery, and honestly the recipe is embarrassingly simple. Soft, fluffy vanilla base, pockets of melted chocolate chip throughout, and a cocoa crumble on top that bakes into something crackly and almost cookie-like. One bowl for the batter, one bowl for the crumble, done in under 45 minutes.
The crumble is the bit people always ask about. It is just butter, sugar, almond flour and cocoa worked together until crumbly. Cold butter is the secret there, do not let it soften or you will end up with a paste instead of a crumble. Scatter it generously on top before baking and it does its thing in the oven.
One rule for the batter: mix wet and dry until just combined. The moment you cannot see dry flour, stop. Overmixing is how you get dense, tough muffins and nobody wants that.
For the muffins
2 large eggs, room temperature
⅔ cup milk
1½ tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups all purpose flour
⅔ cup castor sugar
2½ tsp baking powder
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup callebaut chocolate chips
For the crumble
½ cup butter, cold
¼ cup castor sugar
1 cup almond flour
½ cup cocoa powder
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a muffin tray with liners.
Whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar and baking powder, then add the dry mix into the wet and stir until just combined. Pour in the melted butter and fold through. Add the chocolate chips last.
For the crumble, beat the cold butter and sugar together, then add flour and cocoa and work it until you get a crumbly, coarse texture.
Scoop the batter into the lined tray, filling each cup to the top. Pile the crumble generously over each one and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 180°C until a skewer comes out clean