Apple Cocoa Muffins

I saw an interesting pairing of apples and chocolate in a cake, but I didn't need a whole bundt cake hanging around my house, so I made muffins with the apple cocoa pairing instead. Have you ever had a chocolate covered caramel apple?  This muffin tastes like that, minus the caramel,  The muffin is chocked full of cocoa flavor, dark chocolate chips, and grated apples for moistness, along with the Greek yogurt and a touch of cinnamon, Then I topped the muffins with chopped walnuts for crunch.. Because I still have to watch my carbs, I didn't add as much sweetness, as I could have, so they are not overly sweet, and I did use whole wheat flour as well.  If carbs aren't an issue for you, go ahead and add more sugar, or a cinnamon glaze on the top, perfect for Fall.

Speaking of Fall, last week our high for the day was 50, and low in the 30's.  Today is supposed to be 80 and it's already 66 at 6:15AM CDT.  Go figure! We froze at the garage sale, and today we'll putting on shorts again. Anyway, it will be a pretty drive to go see my Dad at the nursing home. I'll take the muffins, and stop to get him Mc Donald's coffee.  He loves Mc donald's coffee, simple pleasures at 91.  He had a friend, who always brought him Mc Donald's coffee, but he passed away.  Now I bring the coffee. Wish him well. Enjoy the muffins with someone you love.

Apple Cocoa Muffins
 Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: 12 muffins

1/3 cup  cocoa
1 3/4 cups  King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Whole Wheat flour
2/3 -1 cup  light brown sugar( I used 1/3 c. Splenda)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt I didn’t use
½  cup dark chocolate chips
2 eggs
6 oz plain Greek Yogurt, fat free
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup ( 1 stick) butter, melted I used Earth Balance
1 cup  grated apple  I used Gala

½ c chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper or, and grease the cups.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar or Splenda, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and dark chocolate chips. Set aside.

3. In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter or Earth Balance, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; fold in grated apples.  There's no need to beat these muffins, just make sure everything is well-combined. The batter will be thick.

4. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin; using a 2” ice cream scoop.

5. Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, sprinkle walnuts over the tops of the muffins. And after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, allowing them to cool on rack.