Chocolate Muffins - the Nagi (RecipeTin Eats) Way

'Twas Bookclub night, so time to bake!  I actually made these in April, can you believe?  I had some Easter eggs lurking in the fridge, so thought I'd whip up something chocolatey.  And these are indeed chocolatey!  With Dutch cocoa, and heaps of chocolate chips.  

I found this fab recipe online, on the RecipeTin Eats website.  (Yes RecipeTin is one word.)  Nagi is a beloved Aussie cook, who also runs a food bank RecipeTin Meals, feeding 600 vulnerable people each day.  Her cookbooks and recipes are wonderful, as is Dozer, her beautiful Golden Retriever.  Okay, you get the picture - I am a Nagi fan:=)

so chocolatey!

Serves 12:

ingredients:

260g./9.2 oz plain flour

1.25 tsp bi-carb soda/baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

60g./2 big ounces Dutch cocoa (just any good cocoa, my friends)

1 Tbs instant coffee granules/powder

185 mL/6.3 oz milk - full fat and HOT

125 mL/4.3 oz neutral veg. oil (I used grapeseed oil)

200g./7 oz brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g./7 oz sour cream or Greek-style yoghurt

1 large egg

300g./10.5 oz dark chocolate chips

all-purpose flour for my American friends

baking/bi-carb soda

Method:

Whack on your oven to 210C/410F, and put the oven shelf in the top third 

Line your 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners/cases

Grab a large mixing bowl, and sift in the flour, bi-carb soda and salt

Then you have to bloom your cocoa (never heard of that before) by sifting the cocoa into another large bowl, and then adding the coffee and the hot milk ...  And you whisk away till smooth

Now add the oil, sugar, vanilla, sour cream and the egg to the cocoa mixture - and whisk away - yep you guessed it - till smooth

And pour your wet mixture (mm, sounds a bit dodgy hehehe) into the flour mixture - and whisk till smooth and glossy - Nagi says not to mix too vigorously, just till smooth

Stir in nearly all the chocolate chips - keep aside about 1/4 cup

Spoon the batter evenly (equally?) into the muffin holes, and throw on the rest of the choc chips

Now bake for 5 minutes at the 210C temp., then turn down to 190C/375F, and bake for another 20 minutes (but check at 15)

You want your cake skewer to come out clean (but as Nagi says, melted chocolate ain't raw batter)

Let 'em cool for 4-5 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack for 15 minutes

milk!

vanilla paste/extract

Notes:

Nah, nothing to say here :=)  Oh yes I do have.  Dutch cocoa is in fact Dutch-processed cocoa, not necessarily from The Netherlands.  (And did you know that the correct name is not Holland, but rather The Netherlands?!)  It refers to the process of treating the cocoa solids with an alkalising agent to reduce the acidity - which makes it darker and less bitter.  Funnily enough, I do often buy Van Houten's cocoa powder.  Van Houten's (invented by a Dutch chemist) was subsequently owned by Callebaut who sold it to Hershey's - but only in some areas!  Callebaut still owns the name; how very confusing it is.

ingredients gathered

flour mixture and cocoa mixture

luscious sour cream!

look at all those eggs :)

spoon into the paper cases

and baked - so let 'em cool, then eat

I made a couple more than 12! 

For some reason, I had more batter than for 12 muffins, so I ended up with 14!  Yay!

you guessed it - muffins

I am joining in with Jo's linky for BKD Cookbook Club.  This month's theme is Thanksgiving, which can refer to the actual Thanksgiving in the U.S., or for non-Americans it can refer to a dish that makes you thankful, or is a family fave, or reminds you of a loved one.  

Muffins, you ask?  Why them?  Mr P. and I have celebrated two Thanksgivings in the U.S. with our dear friend M'Annette.  To our Aussie surprise, sweets like pumpkin pie and blueberry muffins were served with the turkey!!  So while not fruity, these chocolate beauties are a reminder of good times and dear friends.

In My Kitchen - November 2025

Here we go again, my friends :=)  Halloween just left the building, and already Christmas shenanigans are squeezing through the front door.  October has been very weird, weatherwise.  We had a huge storm with a super-cell (and massive 7cm hailstones), then the next day was 38C, then the day after that it dropped to 23C, and lots of rain.  EEEK!  What's next?  The Apocalypse?    

oh my word, friends - we had a storm!

Oh boy, did we have a storm!  See the green layer?  Yep, massive hail in some areas (not ours luckily).  And a house which was being renovated came off its stumps in the 96 kph winds.  I think 70,000 homes/people were without power.  Weirdly, our power went off, but only for about 30 seconds.  Other poor souls lost it for hours (and days).  For some reason (geographical?), our suburb rarely gets the bad stuff!

In My Kitchen:

a gorgeous tumbler/pour cup - Snow Gum - from Magnolia Mountain 

mmm, yep another cookbook

the green matcha bikkies are like Tim Tams! but green, and matcha :)

a dear friend sent me these!  Ah childhood memories ...

I bought the best dukkah ever - again!

I had to buy me some more Dubai chocolate

I tried dark chocolate, milk chocolate and ruby chocolate versions.  Nah to the ruby for sure, and nah to the dark - but yay for the milk choc version.  Which is odd for me, 'cos I don't normally go for milk chocolate!  But it just worked here!

who could resist these cute bees on a tea-towel from Donna Sharam?

yep, we went to Tropical Fruit World :=)

and I got these

don't laugh, my friends - yes more wooden spoons, and a cute jug

new to me! - turtle chips (and I got some more pistachio spread)

bought this one - love his Instagram videos

the curveball - crabby wire sculpture by Russell Solomon

Well, that's it for this month.  See you in December.  Hoping to see you all here for IMK.  Everybody welcome!

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

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Yoghurt Flatbread (with Turkey Mince Patties)

I've been collecting flatbread recipes for yonks, some made with plain flour, many with self-raising flour, and even the occasional one made with dry (dried) yeast.  I've made a yoghurt/flour one before, with not-so-great results.  Clearly, I needed to have another go at it.  Finally I got myself sorted, and came up with this mélange of a recipe gathered from here and there.  That one time I did make it, it was disappointingly bland and heavy, so I was out to improve my game.  

This time, I wanted to make it delectable.  I think I succeeded!  Mr P. was a big fan, but he is a confirmed bread and carb lover from way back.  I used the quantities given for the yoghurt and flour by Anna Polyviou (a well-known Aussie pastry chef/tv personality/sporter of a hot-pink mohawk).  She uses her simple dough (literally yoghurt and flour) as a pizza base; I used it as a starting point for my flatbreads.  I made up some turkey mince patties to go with, so I'll add that recipe too, though you can have these breads with whatever you fancy.

herby and ready for anything you fancy :=)

Makes 4 pieces: 

ingredients:

200g./7 oz self-raising flour

200g./7 oz plain Greek yoghurt (plus 1 extra Tbs if needed)

1-2 tsp dried herbs (chives, etc)

30g./1 hefty ounce parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1/4 tsp each of various seasonings - like dried garlic granules, black pepper, chilli flakes, etc

1/2 tsp garlic salt flakes  (see, I wanted more)

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

1/4 tsp smoked paprika and/or 1/4 tsp Tuscan seasoning

Turkey Mince Patties:

500g./18 oz turkey (or chicken or beef) mince

1 large egg

1/2-1 cup panko breadcrumbs  (I used about 3/4 cup)

sea salt flakes and ground black pepper, to taste

dried herbs  (you choose) - and maybe 1-2 tsp

1 tsp of umami powder, or chicken stock powder

dried chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp maybe

toasted sesame oil - a good dash

and a dash of Worcestershire sauce - 1/2-1 tsp

ground cummin - 1/2 tsp or so

sesame seeds, enough for the top of each patty 

flour!

could this be? ... oh yes it is - yoghurt :) 

parmesan cheese

Method:

Place the flatbread ingredients into a large bowl, and combine together  (add the extra Tablespoon of yoghurt if needed)

Pat/knead into a rough dough, cover with plastic wrap and - Quite Important! - let it sit in the fridge for at least half an hour to an hour

Take it out of the fridge, flatten it out, and cut into 4 pieces around 3mm thickness (i.e. very thin!)

Grab your grill pan, brush over 1-2 Tbs oil (I used EV olive oil), let it heat it up, and cook each flatbread for 3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes

Serve with the turkey patties, some lettuce, avocado, tomato slices, relish, yoghurt etc

Turkey Smash patties:

Place ingredients (except the sesame seeds) into a mixing bowl, combine together (with your hands is best), form into patties (about 1.2cm/half an inch thick), then scatter over some sesame seeds, and either bake on a lined tray, for about 15 minutes at 185C/365F, or grill on the grill pan/BBQ or stovetop in a frying pan

chives

Notes:

The dough can easily be doubled, if you are feeling like a big carb hit

Grate the cheese yourself if you can, as it gives a delightful hint of cheesiness

ingredients gathered

into the bowl ...

pat your dough together - not much kneading needed :)

flattened out and ready for the grill pan

and get Mr P. to cook 'em for you

looking good I reckon

crispy, and charred and bloody good!

ingredients for turkey patties ready for mixing

I made 8! of the seedy little devils

and here they are - baked

serve with a bit of salad, relish and yoghurt (or sour cream)

Lemon and Poppy-Seed Crinkle Cookies

I can't seem to keep away from Emelia Jackson's book Some of my best friends are Cookies!  I decided to make these for Bookclub in September, as I wasn't going to be there in person.  My biscuits would have to be an excellent substitute :=)  Hehehe ...  

We have a wonderful children's bookshop (which also stocks books for adults) just up the road - The Quick Brown Fox, where we have our monthly bookclub.  We tend to read fiction, which is not big on my reading list (I go for non-fiction and crime usually), but everyone needs to expand their horizons sometimes, n'est-ce pas?   

crinkly, lemony, sugary deliciousness

Makes 35 small(er), or 25 large(er) ones:

ingredients:

125g./4.5 oz butter, softened (not melted)

210g./7.5 oz caster sugar

2 large eggs (about 66g./2.3 oz each)

1/2 tsp lemon extract, or vanilla extract   see Notes

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

350g./12 oz plain flour 

1.5 tsp baking powder

30g./1 oz poppy seeds

80g./2.75 oz white sugar

80g./2.75 oz icing sugar

one guess?  Yep lemons, my friends :=)

  aka all-purpose flour!

Method:

Use your stand mixer if you have one, or just good old electric beaters (as I did) to cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes, till "light and fluffy", as Emelia says

Then you chuck in the eggs, extract, lemon zest and juice, and mix again till combined beautifully - yes it may look ghastly at this stage - all split and curdled - but carry on, my friends - all will improve

Now in go the flour, baking powder and poppy seeds - and mix gently till you have a soft dough

And now chill this in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight - I think I chilled mine for about 3 or so hours  (don't skip this bit!)

Your oven then goes on to 200C/390F to heat up

Grab 2 baking trays, and line with baking paper

Now you need 2 bowls (large enough to roll your dough balls in), white sugar in one, and caster sugar in the other

Emelia says to divide the dough into 25g./1 oz balls with a small cookie scoop  (I went off to the shops to buy one!  And I'm so glad!)

So each scoop gets rolled in the white sugar, then the icing sugar, and then ends up sitting nicely on your trays

The biscuits can take from 13 to 16 minutes, depending on the size (mine took about 16 mins.)

They will spread a bit, and look deliciously crinkly, and a wee bit moist in the centre

Let 'em cool on the trays for 10 minutes, then onto a wire rack till cooled right off

I took half of these up to the Quick Brown Fox, where they went down a treat apparently.  And they wanted the recipe - can't do better than that!

you'll never guess - hehehe ...

Notes:

Don't rush out to buy lemon extract for just half a teaspoon.  That's crazy town :=)  Just use vanilla extract, like I did

ingredients gathered

get thee zesting and juicing

looks curdled and disgusting but fear not - all will be well!

just chuck in the other ingredients

See?  Told you it'd be okay in the end :=)

start scooping and rolling and sugaring up

and onto the trays

you caught me out - I took a bite

cooling off nicely

Bookclub said they were delicious!

kind words from the bookshop ladies!