Chocolate Orange Muffins are the perfect recipe to bake at Christmas for Terry’s Chocolate Orange lovers!
You can prepare our homemade Orange Almond Muffins recipe at home in less than 40 minutes.
We love to make moist and crunchy muffins in the morning as a breakfast or brunch pastry. These easy muffins are inspired by the popular festive treat Terry’s Chocolate Orange so we like to bake them during the Christmas holiday season.
Enjoy hot, steaming muffins right out of the oven, slathered with ricotta, cream cheese, mascarpone or soft butter.
You can also serve Chocolate Orange Muffins as a decadent dessert accompanied by scoops of ice cream or gelato, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and chopped almonds.
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What Are Chocolate Orange Muffins?
This decadent muffin recipe is inspired by the flavours of Terry’s Chocolate Orange, a popular confection sold at Christmas flavoured with dark chocolate and orange.
A sweet aroma wafts through the kitchen after you remove these perfectly crunchy and moist muffins from the oven. Your family will be jumping out of their beds to devour these muffins when they smell them in the morning wafting out of your kitchen.
The muffin batter is prepared by using a mixture of all purpose flour and ground almond flour. This combination of flours produces a desirable crunchy exterior and moist, tender interior.
We love the festive flavour combination of orange, chocolate and almond. The muffins get an additional nutty flavour thanks to the addition of almond extract. Orange is infused into the batter by using the fresh juice and zest of one orange. Chocolate chips are dotted throughout each muffin making them truly sweet and decadent!
Enjoy Chocolate Orange Muffins simply with a cup of tea or coffee or as a grab and go breakfast. We also like to serve them at Afternoon Tea as a petite pastry served alongside scones and crustless sandwiches.
If you’re looking to prepare a quick dessert place a muffin in a bowl and top with a scoop of chocolate ice cream or orange gelato. Top with whipped cream, chopped chocolate covered almonds and fudge drizzle. A citrus-lovers sundae!
History of Muffins
A muffin is an individual-sized, baked product most commonly associated with morning mealtime. It’s one of the most popular on-the-go breakfasts that can easily be made ahead and stored in the freezer to enjoy later.
Muffins can refer to two distinct baked goods, a part-raised unsweetened flatbread that is baked and then cooked on a griddle, and a cupcake-like sweet or savoury quick bread that is leavened with baking powder and baked in a mold.
While the most common quick bread muffins are sweetened (such as lemon blueberry muffins, mincemeat muffins and morning glory muffins), there are also savoury varieties such as jalapeno cheddar cornbread muffins and cheddar apple muffins.
The flatbread “English Muffin” variety is of British origin, and dates from at least the early 18th century, while the quick bread originated in Canada and America during the 19th century.
One 19th century source suggests that muffins may be related to the Greek bread maphula, a cake baked on a hearth or griddle. Culinary historians also look to the Old French mou-pain, meaning soft bread, which may have been corrupted into “mouffin.”
The word is first found in print in 1703, spelled moofin; it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake. The expression muffin-man, meaning a street seller of muffins, is attested in a 1754 poem, which includes the line: “Hark! the shrill Muffin-Man his Carol plies…”
One of Canada’s top selling cookbooks of the 1980s was Muffin Mania, which helped popularize muffin making from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Homemade muffins were originally prepared as a healthy breakfast option, high-fibre mid-afternoon snack or low calorie dessert.
My Family Loves Homemade Orange Almond Muffins
One of my fondest memories growing up as a kid was waking up in the morning at our family cottage in Muskoka and smelling freshly baked muffins.
My family’s two favourite recipes were Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Lemon Blueberry Muffins. In the summer we’d forage for wild blueberries and incorporate them into out favourite baked goods. My sister was the family blueberry fan while I was mostly obsessed with the marriage of banana and chocolate.
Once you learn to master a standard muffin batter recipe it’s easy to substitute seasonal ingredients to enjoy these crowd-pleasing baked treats all year long.
We often use fresh citrus in muffin recipes as the acidity helps the baking soda and baking powder leaven the muffins so they bloom in the oven. The orange juice and buttermilk in this recipe ensure your Chocolate Orange Muffins rise to any occasion!
My family likes to bake these muffins during the holiday baking season as they combine some of our favourite festive flavours like nutty almonds, juicy oranges and decadent chocolate.
Love baking muffins for your family? Check out our healthy muffins for kids list and favourite vegan & vegetarian muffin recipes!
Orange Almond Muffins Recipe Health Benefits
Our easy Orange Almond Muffins are packed full of healthy ingredients!
Containing more protein, fibre, vitamin E and calcium that other nuts, almonds may reduce the risk of heart disease, keep your bones healthy, and help your body absorb essential nutrients.
Whole wheat flour is rich in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate. It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than white flour.
Oranges are known as an excellent source of Vitamin C, vital for the proper function of a healthy immune system.
Consuming dairy provides health benefits — especially improved bone health. Dairy provides nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.
Eggs contain two vital nutrients that are not present in many foods: iodine and vitamin D. Eggs are also rich in tissue-building protein and vitamin B12, which helps your body manufacture blood cells.
Buying VS Making Homemade Muffins
Today, muffins are often sold at grocery stores, McDonald’s cafes and coffee shops like Starbucks and Tim Horton’s. Unfortunately most commercially prepared muffins are simply cupcakes without the icing.
Read the ingredients list and you’ll find store bought muffins are full of sugar, fat and “flavourings” rather than real fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. The excessive sugar, salt, fat and additives in commercial muffin recipes allow the grocery stores and coffee shops to extend the shelf life so they don’t go stale as quickly as a homemade muffin would.
The best way to enjoy healthy muffins is by preparing them at home, allowing you to control the proportion of ingredients. We suggest eating muffins fresh the day they are prepared. If you have any leftovers muffins pack 3-4 in a ziplock bag in your fridge and simply warm them up the next day in the oven. You can use a microwave to reheat muffins but they won’t produce the desired crunchy texture.
Any remaining Chocolate Orange Muffins should be stored in the freezer and can keep for 2-3 months. We like to double our muffin recipes when we prepare them so we have a storage of yummy muffins in the freezer that we can easily enjoy several weeks later.
Best Chocolate Orange Muffins Recipe
There’s no better early morning comfort on a cold day than steaming Orange Almond Muffins enjoyed straight out of the oven.
So what qualities make the best muffins? The perfect Chocolate Chip Orange Muffins must be crunchy on the outside, well leavened so the muffin cap holds its shape and doesn’t shrink when cooled and feature a moist and light interior.
Looking to prepare an easy Orange Almond Muffins recipe? Baking is a science so you can’t just lower a muffin recipes fat and sugar content or you will bite into a chewy, hard and unappetizing product.
Chocolate Orange Muffins Baking Tips
If you’re looking to prepare muffins on a whim and are missing a few ingredients at home don’t worry! Here are some of our favourite baking tips and tricks.
I like to flavour these muffins with vanilla and almond extract. You can add additional almond flavour to the recipe by adding chopped roasted almonds to the batter. You can also sprinkle the batter of each muffin cup with chopped almonds before baking in the oven. It creates a lovely crunchy topping that makes the muffins really eye-catching on a Christmas brunch table.
I’ve used buttermilk in this recipe but you could substitute for plain yogurt if you prefer.
We suggest using the juice and zest from one navel orange, but you can substitute for mandarin oranges or clementines if you prefer as they are in season in December.
We’ve used semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe but you could use dark chocolate chips or chopped high quality chocolate bars like Lindt as a substitute. If you’re feeling truly decadent why not chop a Terry’s Chocolate Orange into the batter as a substitue for chocolate chips to maximize the citrus flavour?
The one tip I give all muffin making beginners is to avoid over-mixing the batter. Light and fluffy muffins are made by reducing the amount of gluten in the batter. If you whip muffin batter with a beater the final product will be as hard as a hockey puck.
For best results, form a well in the dry ingredients and pour your wet ingredients inside. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The finished batter should be fully incorporated, so be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so you don’t find unmixed flour. The most important rule to muffin making: when mixing, less is more!
Best Muffin Tools & Equipment
Before making a batch of homemade Chocolate Orange Muffins make sure your kitchen is outfitted with essential bakers tools.
- Mixing Bowl Set: It’s important to have a set of durable mixing bowls. We love stainless steel mixing bowls with a good grip. When making muffins you’ll typically need a large mixing bowl to sift your dry ingredients into, and a medium or small mixing bowl to beat your wet ingredients.
- Measuring Cups: Ensure you have a set of measuring cups with a flat top rather than a spout, so you can easily use a knife to level off your dry ingredients like flour and sugar.
- Measuring Spoons: We love these durable stainless steel measuring spoons that will help you accurately measure spices, baking soda and baking powder.
- Whisk: This stainless steel whisk has a great grip and is helpful when beating eggs into other wet ingredients.
- Sieve: It’s essential to have this tool in your kitchen so you can ensure all your dry ingredients are separated and don’t clump in the wet batter.
- Bakers Scale: Use this digital scale to weigh flour and other ingredients that require a weight measurement.
- Spatula: We love this rubber spatula as it also acts as a spoon so you can easily drop batter into each greased muffin cup.
- Muffin Tins: We only use silicone muffin tins as they allow you to easily remove baked muffins from the tin with minimal baking spray required.
- Baking Spray: Ensure your cupboards are stocked with baking spray so your muffins don’t get stubborn and refuse to slide out of the pan.
- Cooling Rack: A sturdy cooling rack is a must to ensure your muffins cool without falling apart or getting soggy. They need breathing space to let out the steam before storing.
- Storage Containers: We love doubling our muffin recipes so we have leftovers to store in the fridge or freezer to enjoy later.
You May Also Enjoy These Muffin Recipes…
- Christmas Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins
- Savoury Cheddar Welsh Rarebit Muffins
- Blueberry Lemon Muffin Tops
- Buckwheat Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Vegan & Vegetarian Muffins
- Healthy Muffins For Kids Recipes
- Ginger Spiced Banana Pear Muffins
- Banana Pumpkin Muffins
- Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
- Sweet Potato Muffin
- Banana Rhubarb Muffins
- Savoury Cheese and Onion Muffins
- Banana Prune Muffins
- Healthy Kiwi Muffins
- Moist Buttermilk Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips
Orange Almond Muffins Recipe Video
How To Make Christmas Chocolate Orange Muffins
Almond Chocolate Orange Muffins
Equipment
- muffin tin
- Mixing bowls
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Spatula or Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Almond Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 cup White Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Almond Extract
- 1 Orange zest and juice
- 1/2 cup Canola Oil
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare muffin cups by greasing with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl sift together the all purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
- In a separate bowl add the vanilla, almond extract, orange zest, orange juice, canola oil, buttermilk, and eggs. Whisk until the mixture is well combined.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Add the chocolate chips. With a wooden spoon gently fold the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then rest on cooling racks.
Nutrition
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