Happy Birthday Dad!

Today's my dad's birthday - incredible man (superhero comes to mind), loving, supportive, always-there dad, and, of course, super cool pop pop! To celebrate, here's a recipe featuring one of your favorite ingredients - CHOCOLATE! Definitely one of my staples in life too!  We love you!

Chocolate Muffins with Butter-Sugar Crumble

Cooking spray

Butter-Sugar Crumble:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon butter, chilled

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Chocolate Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup lowfat buttermilk

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

To make the crumble, in a mixing bowl or food processor, combine 1/4 cup of the flour, chilled butter and granulated sugar. Process or mix until mixture becomes crumbly. Set aside.

To make the muffins, sift together 1 1/2 cups of the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until blended. Gradually beat in flour mixture and mix on low speed until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over top. Bake 15-20 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool muffins, in pan, on a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins