Chocolate Cornbread Muffins Diverse For Every Meal

It always irks me when I see big box retailers selling little chocolate cakes as "muffins." Loaded with sugar and fat, these chocolate "muffins" are just unfrosted cupcakes with a healthy sounding name.

It's not that I have anything against cupcakes. They're delicious treats that are fun to eat on special occasions. Here's what bugs me about stores (or even food bloggers) calling these things chocolate muffins: If you call it a cupcake, people will think twice about feeding them to their kids for breakfast; but call them muffins and suddenly they're fair game.

It would be disingenuous to imply that my chocolate cornbread muffins are healthy, but with less sugar than most blueberry muffins and loads of fiber, these are a perfectly acceptable breakfast food. I added a ton of cocoa powder (we're talking brownie levels here), which gives them a vibrant chocolate hue and loads of flavor, so despite the minimal addition of sugar, they're delicious on their own.

You can, of course, slather them with your favorite fruit preserve or chocolate nut spread if you feel so inclined. If you want them a bit sweeter, I like adding a few chunks of dark chocolate into the middle of each muffin.

Perhaps the best thing about cutting back on the sugar in these cornbread muffins is that they also make fantastic dinner rolls. I love serving these with a rich savory chili and they're equally good paired with buttermilk fried chicken.