Chocolate Lava Muffins

Let me start off by saying that these just might be my new favorite indulgence. I have made something similar before, but the last recipe was not nearly as good as this.

I was lying in bed last night after devouring one, I mean, two of these, and I thought... You know, if people that didn't get along just sat down and ate one of these, all of their problems would be solved. Some examples:

Batman and the Joker
The rivaling news crews on Anchorman
Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent
Gandalf and Saruman
Harry Potter and Voldemort
The North and the South
Zoolander and Hansel
Neo and Agent Smith
Tom and Jerry

The list goes on and one. There is no problem in the world that these chocolate lava muffins can't solve. On the other hand, if everyone shared these muffins with their nemesis, we wouldn't have awesome movies or history books. I could just see the history books, "Since the world began, time has been peaceful. All nations, races, and people of all economic status sit around and happily eat chocolate lava muffins. The End." I think I would have passed a few more history tests if that were the case.

Back to these muffins... They are exquisite, marvelous, glorious, phenomenal, decadent, and sinfully delicious. My writing skills aren't good enough to describe them in all their gloriousness. You'll just have to try them out for yourself to witness the bonds of love that are created between you and anyone that you give this to.

Chocolate Lava Muffins
Source: Good Eats: The Early Years by Alton Brown also here

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
4 ounces butter (1 stick)
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 c sugar
3 T flour
2 T cocoa
1/4 t salt
4 eggs

Get a large pot and fill it with 1 inch of water. Turn heat to medium and bring the water to a simmer.

Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl of your stand mixer. *I didn't have enough semi-sweet chocolate, so I had to use one ounce of milk chocolate. It turned out fine.

Place it over the pot of boiling water. Mine has a handle on the side, so it was easy to take off. Stir occasionally with a rubber spatula.

While it is melting, place the flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a fine mesh strainer. Tap on the side or shake it until it has all gone onto a plate.

You will have a very fine mixture of powdery stuff on the plate.

By now, the chocolate and butter should have made a nice, creamy chocolaty mixture.

Take the bowl off the pot and place it on your mixer. If you just melted the chocolate in a microwave or something, scrape it into the bowl of your mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time. Make sure it is fully incorporated before you add the next egg.

Slowly, add the sifted flour mixture into the chocolate.

Turn you mixer onto medium-high and let it run for 5 minutes . Notice how the mixture here is a dark brown. Let's observe the next picture.

Ooooh! Now, it's light brown and fluffy. Voila! Now... stick it all in the fridge for 30 minutes. Don't skip this part, or you won't have the lava center. You'll just have a chocolate muffin, which would still be delicious but would not invoke world peace.

When the 30 minutes is almost up, preheat your oven to 375. Prepare the muffin pan as well. Put a plastic bag on you hand, and put a little bit of butter on it. Coat the muffin spots with butter.

Sprinkle some cocoa in each of the holes.

Tap the sides of the pan to spread the cocoa around. Tip the pan upside down to knock out any excess cocoa.

Use a quick-release cookie scooper or an ice cream scooper to fill the muffin cups.

Bake for 10-11 minutes.

One important note- These will not be done in the center. Leave your toothpicks in the drawer. You don't want the center to be done. The outside of these will be very spongy and soft. The inside will be giggly- kind of like my thighs will be after eating these every night for the rest of my life.

Removing them can be a little tricky. I carefully ran a butter knife around the edge of each muffin. Then, I used a spoon to pry it up a little. I used another spoon to slide under and pull it out. You might have some casualties. I would have taken a picture of this process, but I don't have three hands.

Put one or two in a bowl with a scoop or two of ice cream. Currently, I am not watching my weight, so I did double of each. Serve with a smile and watch all worries, stress, and disappointment melt away.