When things feel particularly uncertain or unknowable, it’s usually my first instinct to bake. Baking sweet things is one of the ways that I remind myself of the sweetness of life, especially when I’m getting lots of reminders to the contrary. And there’s comfort in the ritual, too: baking, measuring, following a recipe. Baking is more science than art, and the precision is part of what I find soothing.

This was one of those happy baking projects in which I was pretty sure that the end product would turn out well. They’re basically a non-gluten-free version of these gluten-free double chocolate chip muffins, now a few years old but still a favorite of mine.

There was something so comforting about adding only a single adjustment to a recipe I already knew I loved (well, technically two adjustments: I also decreased raising agent, which I used to rely on more heavily than I needed to in baking recipes).

These days, I take a lot of pleasure in approaching baking as an opportunity to experiment, to learn, and to challenge myself. I’ve been making trickier and trickier foods, most recently (and successfully!) pastry. Yet sometimes it’s the familiar recipes that make me feel most grounded. I had a sense of what to expect from these muffins before the came out of the oven: the moist crumb, the intense chocolate flavor, the fact that they’re more dessert than breakfast fare, in a good way. And it was nice having something reliable to anticipate, and then to enjoy.

I hope you’ll enjoy them, too. And for those of you who do bake gluten-free, the original recipe is the one to try!

These muffins are great with a glass of non-dairy milk, they freeze well (up to 6 weeks) and are pretty delightful to eat. What’s old is new again, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

I wish you all a week of feeling grounded, taking care of yourselves, and looking out for each other. It’s a good time to be that way. And I’ll see you before too long, for the weekend roundup.

xo

The post Vegan Double Chocolate Muffins appeared first on The Full Helping.