Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

Not exactly a guilt free dessert but delicious just the same! The cheesecake topping rounds out this dessert. This recipe is adapted from Australian Good Taste magazine. Serve these muffins with a chocolate sauce for more decadence.

Makes 12 muffins
200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
100g butter, melted
225g (1 1/2 cups) self raising flour
30g (1/4 cup) cocoa powder
80ml (1/3 cup) milk
4 eggs
270g (1 1/4cups) caster sugar
270g (1/2 cup) sour cream
2 x 250g cream cheese, softened at room temperature

Chocolate Sauce
200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
300ml thickened cream

Preheat oven to 160c. Brush twelve 200ml muffin pan with melted butter to grease. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a saucepan half filled with simmering water and stir with a spoon until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Add flour, cocoa, milk, 2 eggs and 155g (3/4 cup) sugar to the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

Use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, sour cream and remaining sugar in a bowl until somooth. Add the remaining eggs and beat until combined. Spoon the chocolate mixture evenly among the prepared pans. Top with the cream cheese mixture. Bake 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside in pans to cool before transferring to serving plates. To make chocolate sauce, place the chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over low heat and stir 5 minutes or until melted and smooth. Drizzle the warm chocolate sauce over the muffins to serve.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Spoon the chocolate mixture half way in muffin pan otherwise the cream cheese mixture will split (like mine did).