Now that it’s February of 2022, I am doubling down on my efforts to cook more recipes out of the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. January was a slow baking month for me. I only made one recipe from the book, and it didn’t really turn out as I had hoped. The other recipe I made was my son’s birthday cake, which was underwhelming as well.

So, I am vowing now to bake at least three recipes from the MBC this month. My real goal is to try to get to halfway through the book by the end of year. In order to do that, I need to bake 32 more recipes this year!

(Note to family: we may have cake for no reason once or twice….)

Anyway, on Tuesday night I was driving home from work with the desire to bake something. At first I thought cookies, but then I remembered I wanted to start some of the lesser-used chapters of the book. So, a muffin it would be!

The came the next task: which muffin to choose? Eventually, I settled on Cappuccino Chip Muffins and boy, was it worth it!

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Making It

These muffins were very simple and didn’t really require any special ingredients. If you have a well-stocked baker’s pantry these can be whipped up in a jiffy! The only thing that is unusual is the instant coffee powder. But since I put that stuff in many of my chocolate recipes, it’s always in my pantry.

One stick of butter, one whole egg, and an additional egg yolk make up the fat in this recipe. I used my own vanilla extract in this recipe, which was bourbon vanilla. It’s scent is strong, but the flavor isn’t too overpowering. The smell doesn’t get into the finished baked item either.

One of the things that I thought was a bit unusual was the amount of chocolate chips in the recipe. There’s only a cup – or about 6 ounces by weight. It really isn’t a lot. But I’ve learned to trust the recipe, especially the ones in this book.

I scooped the finished batter into my muffin tins. We only have 12 wells total divided among two 6-well trays. So, the remaining batter was reserved until the first batch baked. Some of the muffins got a little over-filled, so I ended up only getting 14 muffins instead of 15. This didn’t bother me. 14 was more than enough.

Baking It

With a an oven set to 325, these muffins bake at a lower temperature. Mine took about 25 minutes to bake fully. Probably because some were over-filled. The entire tablespoon of baking powder really does it’s job of helping these muffins rise. But, many didn’t not develop the nice “muffin tops” everyone is so accustomed to seeing. I tend to think that this is by design. The muffins in the cookbook photos don’t have overhanging tops, either. Because of this, they almost look like unfrosted cupcakes.

After allowing them to cool in the pans for a few minutes, I relined three wells and scooped the remaining batter. Here, I realized that I would only get two more muffins and not three like the recipe indicated. These two also baked in about 25 minutes. Sadly, these two muffins had less chocolate chips than the other ones.

Tasting It

The next morning, I had a muffin with my breakfast. I didn’t eat one immediately because by the time they were cool enough to eat, the kitchen was cleaned and put back to its non-baking state, it was too late to have a snack with caffeine in it.

Even after the overnight, they were still incredibly moist! The cinnamon flavor was there, as was the coffee flavor. But, surprisingly, the coffee flavor wasn’t very strong. Less than 1/4 of teaspoon of the instant coffee is present in each muffin.

The chocolate chips do add a nice, something extra. But, I do think the batter could have used a bit more chocolate. Perhaps I felt that way because I’m a chocolate-lover.

I brought in a few to my colleagues at work. Those who tried them also really enjoyed them and were impressed with the flavor combination. In the headnotes for this recipe, Bobbie writes that these muffins are a staple and a huge hit at the bakery. Well, after trying one, I can see why.

The Verdict

A quick and flavorful muffin is the perfect addition to anyone’s repertoire. If you are concerned about a strong coffee flavor, don’t be. It’s nothing more than a hint. This recipe produces a tasty and moist muffin that is perfect with your morning coffee.