Lately, I can’t seem to get enough of that raspberry/chocolate combo and the fun continues with these Giant-Topped Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins. If you’re looking for a happy little way to wake up your loved one(s) on Valentine’s morning, I think your search is over!

Remember that Seinfeld episode where Elaine tells her boss that she only likes “the tops” of the muffins and they go out trying to hawk the “stumps” and no one will take them, not even the homeless? It occurred to me while eating these that true love would be to bake up a batch of these “top-heavy” muffins and selflessly donate your ginormous top to your bestie while uncomplainingly finishing off their stump! Sounds good? (Geez, I really need to get out more😘)

Anyhoo, however you eat them, I think you’re going to love these fluffy and flavorful muffins.

They come together easily and you can even make the batter the night before and keep it chilled so that you can bake up the muffins in the morning and serve them fresh from the oven.

When you pull them out of the oven and see the baked tops hanging over the muffin cups, your heart might sink, but never fear. As they cool, you simply separate them with a knife and pop them out of the pan.

The tart raspberries balance out the sweetness of the chocolate and the contrast between the tenderness of the crumb and the slight crunch of the muffin tops is out of this world—particularly if you get to eat 2 tops!!

Have a safe, delicious and very loving muffin-top sort of weekend, my friends—hopefully I’ll be consuming far too much chocolate, hint, hint. See you next week as we forge through February together!!xoxo❤️❤️💕💕

Giant-Topped Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 1 dozen over-sized muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Bake Time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 ⅓ cups sugar

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature

• 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries (no need to thaw)

• ¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chips

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Demerara sugar for sprinkling on top of muffins before baking

The Recipe

1. Center an oven rack and preheat to 350ºF. Lightly spray or butter muffin wells and top of a standard 12-cup muffin tin—you could line with paper liners if you like and skip buttering the wells, but don’t skip the top of the muffin pan since these will cook over the tops and and you don’t want them to stick to the pan. Set aside pan.

2. Into a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and soda and salt well together to combine and aerate the ingredients.

3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together well the sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs, and yolk. Pour into the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together gently just until most of the dry ingredients can no longer be seen. The batter should still be somewhat lumpy—overmixing will make the crumb tough.

4. Add the raspberries, chips and vanilla and fold them in gently, just until combined. The batter should still be somewhat lumpy.

5. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups—the muffins cups will definitely be filled higher than the rims of the cups. Sprinkle the tops generously with the demerara sugar.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, turning pan around at the halfway mark to ensure even browning, until muffins are golden brown and spring back when you gently press the tops down. The muffin tops will definitely overflow and connect to each other. Cool the muffins in the tin on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then use a small sharp knife to cut the tops apart and let muffins cool to room temperature before removing from the tin.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine via Joanne Chang. I increased the raspberries and chocolate chips, added demerara sugar to tops of muffins, skipped the sifting and baked these longer than original recipe indicated.