Spiced Sourdough Muffins with Chocolate Frosting

This is a tasty and versatile chocolate cinnamon muffin which quickly transforms itself into a cupcake with the additional of chocolate butter cream icing. We have used this recipe (with icing) as a birthday cupcake, but the muffin itself is a great, everyday treat. For a true gingerbread flavor, enjoy this recipe with the ginger, but it has a great cinnamon flavor without this ingredient as well. This is also a great recipe for experimentation. I find it to be very forgiving to substitutions.

Spiced Sourdough Muffins Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups sourdough starter

• ½ cup melted coconut oil or softened butter (either work well, so does a combination)
• ½ cup sucanat or brown sugar. Sucanat is available in health food stores and has a higher nutrient content. The sugar can be reduced in this recipe by as much as one half.
• ½ cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups fresh ground spelt flour (all sorts of baking flours would work)
• 1 tsp ginger (optional: a cupcake for a child would be better without)
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbs hot water

Spiced Sourdough Muffins Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Cream sugar and oil/butter until well blended.
3. Add molasses and egg, beating continuously.
4. Mix together separately flour, spices, and salt. Add to mixer. Mix well.
5. Mix 2 tbs hot water with soda until soda is dissolved. Add to mixer and mix well.
6. As a final step, gently mix in sourdough starter.
7. Bake in greased muffin pans for about ten minutes. The muffins are done when you poke them with a fork and the fork comes out clean.

Chocolate Butter Cream Icing Ingredients

This is a bit extravagant and makes use of a refined sugar, but it is a great way to top these cupcakes on special occasions.

• ¾ lb butter softened

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ cup cocoa
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup hot water (approximately)
• ½-1 pound of confectioner’s sugar

Chocolate Butter Cream Icing Steps

1. Cream butter, eggs, and vanilla until soft and fluffy.

2. Add about ¼ cup of hot water which adds liquid and cooks yolks (raw foodists could adapt here).
3. Add salt, cocoa, and cinnamon and mix well.
4. Finally, add confectioner’s sugar.

It will take ½ pound or less of the sugar to sweeten the frosting but your frosting will be very likely to melt with low sugar content. If the cupcakes are not going to be refrigerated for a while, you probably want to add about one pound of sugar to your frosting.

For more great food posts, check out Fat Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Frugal Tuesday Tip, Tasty Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday

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