Muffin and Market Monday!

I love chocolate, who doesn't right?! And this weekend it seemed like those delicious cocoa beans were around every corner.

On Saturday morning we started out our day with a mug of warm cocoa at the Guerrilla Gourmand's (who will be guest blogging again this Thursday, yay) flat. Later that evening we celebrated Big Chuck's birthday in Australian (not Austrian) style at a local pub where the highlight of my meal was "Grandma's Chocolate Cake" yummmm...

Sunday, we walked around the Spittelberg Christmas market in the 7th district. It is my new favourite! The market is set up along skinny cobbelstone streets that weave around the neighbourhood with stalls selling crafts, warm punch, glühwein and of course... schokolade! Here are just a few of the many sweets that inticed me!




Along our route we also stumbled upon this chocolate shop, Schokov - "Extraordinary chocolates for extraordinary people". Clearly, since I'm an extraordinary person, I'm going to have to go back to investigate a little further.

(photos by Bess)

And now for the muffins...

This week's recipe is for Banana Walnut Chocolate Muffins from the food blog, The Wednesday Chef. The original recipe is for Banana Walnut Chocolate Cake, but since we all like muffins here so much, I spooned the batter into muffin cups, and voila! I must admit they are very tasty, I don't know if we'll eat them for breakfast this week though, they may be more of a dessert muffin.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Muffins
slightly modified from The Wednesday Chef

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
2/3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

2. Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3. Beat together softened butter (1 stick) and the sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in eggs 1 at a time until blended. Beat in bananas, yogurt, and vanilla (mixture will look curdled).

4. With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped nuts and the chocolate. Spoon into muffin cups.

5. Bake until muffins are golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.

Enjoy!