Back to reality today after a lovely 3-day weekend. And what better way to start the morning than with chocolate for breakfast? Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles selected chocolate-chocolate chunk muffins for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie. The muffins in Dorie’s book have been some of my favorite recipes, and these were no exception. Tender and fluffy with lots of chocolate flavor, but not overly sweet, they were a delicious breakfast treat. If you’re not the kind of person who enjoys chocolate for breakfast, no worries, the muffins would be equally as good for dessert.
I try to avoid chopping chocolate whenever I can (definitely among my least favorite kitchen tasks) so I used Ghirardelli bittersweet baking chips in my muffins. It meant my muffins didn’t have the chunks of chocolate sticking out of their tops, but a worthwhile trade off in my opinion. Also, the baking time for my muffins was about 14-15 minutes, rather than the 20 suggested in the recipe. Many thanks to Bridget for hosting this week! She shared the recipe on her blog today, or you can find it on page 18 of Baking: From My Home to Yours
Before we left Shane’s parents’ house to make our way home yesterday, we headed down to the center of town for a 5-mile road race. It was a last minute decision, but since we were in town, we figured why not? Shane never passes up the opportunity to run a race!
I just love their cute little coastal town. The race start was right down by the harbor, and though it was overcast when we arrived at 8 am, the sun quickly broke through.
Before the runners took off at 9, the national anthem was performed. If you watched the NBC show The Voice, you might recognize this guy as Devon Barley, a final four member of Adam Levine’s team – he’s a resident of Shane’s hometown. Pretty cool!
Unlike many of Shane’s races, which are hours long, I only had to wait about 30 minutes before I saw him heading toward the finish line. There wasn’t even time to walk over to the harbor and grab a few pics, this is about as close as I got.
It was easily one of our favorite races Shane has run, and if we’re in town in future years I think it’s safe to say we’ll be back 🙂
Lemon Bars
Glazed Grapefruit Cake
Orange Sherbet
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
The muffins look sooo good. They were so nice and moist and perfect for a pick-me-up treat, or Breakfast…
Run, Shane, Run!!!!
What a lovely little town.
My favorite way to chop chocolate is with Pampered Chef’s Crinkle Cutter. I usually chop Ghiradelli baking bars. They are thin and the crinkle cutter makes these perfect little funky squares. They look fun and taste yummy!
How fun racing in a town like that! Im glad you all had a good day and saw that Voice dude!!
The muffins look great..Our AC has been broke so I hope to bake them today after it’s repaired and the cool air kicks back on!
Thanks for coming to cheer me on and take such great pictures!
Love ghiradelli bittersweet chips! My go to for easy bittersweet. The muffins look great, and what a pretty little town! Nice job, Shane and Tracey!
Delish recipe, love these race pics. I hope to start some soon.
I’m not a fan of chopping chocolate, either. I’m glad I’m not the only one! Sounds like you had a great weekend! I love that since this is a muffin, even though it is chocolate I can eat it for breakfast. Score.
What a cute town! I chopped my chocolate and still didn’t have chunks coming out the top like Dorie did. These were excellent: not too sweet and brought to perfection when paired with fruit jam.
Great post! And congrats to Shane on another race – looks like a wonderful trip for you guys! 🙂
Those muffins look fabulous… I’m a big fan of chocolate muffins. And, I’m so with you on not chopping chocolate.
PS – Congrats to Shane on another great race. Looks like some beautiful scenery for running.
I agree that Dorie has some great muffin recipes, and I’m with you on not liking to chop chocolate!
Nice pictures! I have some of those cupcake papers, but I don’t think I’ve used them yet. I seldom use wrappers for muffins; not really sure why.
Chocolate for breakfast is my kind of breakfast. I love chocolate muffins but have never made them. Will be flagging this one.
Love that your hubby decided to quick run a race before you left town. Luckily you didn’t have wait too long. 😉
Have you been watching the Voice? Hubby and I totally got sucked into it. Looking forward to next season (wishing they would replace Christina though). LOL.
@Gloria – I have been watching The Voice! I was skeptical since I’m not a fan of American Idol at all, but I tuned in a few times and got hooked. Definitely looking forward to next season! I didn’t mind Christina, but I hope they work on her wardrobe next season 🙂
I felt the same way (not an American Idol fan at all). Sadly I got hooked on yet another show. I have a bit of TV addiction. Agree on Christina’s wardrobe for certain!
Yum, yum and yum. This would be a great way to start the day.
These muffins look awesome! Great recipe!
We used the exact same adjectives to describe our muffins! But really, what else could be said? The race and the town both look wonderful and I can tell you have a fun weekend.
I peeked at this one before and didn’t have time to comment, so it was fun to flip through the photos again as they are so pretty! It’s like I went to the race and never left the midwest. Very nice. (Much better than looking at, let’s say for instance, CHOCOLATE muffins…tee hee.)
The muffins look perfect! Always nice when TWD gives us an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast!
That looks like a great race and a beautiful town! The race we did on the fourth was not quite as scenic, but still fun.