Orange Chocolate Muffins or Cake, in my case!

My second venture in the kitchen was okay. The recipe for  Orange Chocolate  muffins sounded wonderful in theory, but the cupcakes were once again, a complete miss and ended up in the garbage bin. 

The good part, is that I didn't use all of the batter to make cupcakes and decided to use the vast quantity I saved to make a vegan orange cake with vegan chocolate frosting. In order to save myself and my waistline from enjoying all of this glorious cake, I enlisted the help of my BFF and her husband. They came over yesterday and took the cake from my fridge! Yeah... no more temptation... I anxiously awaited for their verdict and I got a text message from her saying: "Joe ate a piece. I finished the rest. Do you need more info. Darn!!! Boston creme pie like!!!" 

So I assume they really liked it. So here is the recipe for 

Vegan Orange Chocolate Muffins 

2 1/4 cups flour (I use unbleached, all purpose flour)

3/4 cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt 

1 2/3 cups milk  (I use vanilla flavored Rice milk)

1/3 cup oil  (I use canola oil)

zest of one large orange

juice of one large orange

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips  (I use vegan chocolate chips)- You can find them at Whole Food's or  at your local natural food store.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 regular or 6 jumbo muffin cups, or line with paper liners. 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, combine milk, oil, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two batches until just mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each cup until almost full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes for regular muffins or 25 to 30 minutes for jumbo, until muffins are lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven and let cool completely before removing from the tin. Store leftover muffins covered at room temperature. 

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Yields: 12 Regular of 6 Jumbo Muffins 

VEGAN CHOCOLATE FROSTING 

2 ounces bitter or semi-sweet chocolate 

1/2 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance Vegan Butter Sticks instead)

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons milk (I used Rice milk)

In a glass bowl over a pot filled with water, or very carefully and slowly in the microwave, melt the chocolate. (I used the traditional double boiler method, since i don't own a microwave).

Let sit to cool slightly.  In a large bowl, with an electric hand mixer (I used a whisk) on low speed, cream together chocolate and margarine. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar until mixture is a little crumble. Add just enough milk to make frosting smooth to desired consistency. 

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Prep Time: 15 minutes 

HAPPY BAKING!!!!