Baking for Beginners: Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Ginger Muffins

I'm much more partial to a savoury muffin myself so when I do occasionally make a sweet version I kinda throw everything at it! I also like to convince myself that because this recipe contains the word "muffin" they are perfectly acceptable breakfast fodder.

Apart from getting to eat chocolate cake for breakfast the other brilliant thing about this recipe is the fact that it involves salted caramel sauce which is one of the best things not only in my fridge but in life in general. There is no mood that can not be improved by a big spoonful of salted caramel sauce straight from the jar, in fact you should also probably drizzle some more all over these, I did and it was ridiculously good.

You'll need:

• 250g unsalted butter
• 150g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 250g plain flour
• 4 heaped tablespoons cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 100ml milk
• half a 350g jar of stem ginger and syrup
• 3 tablespoons salted caramel sauce

Make it!

1. Preheat your oven to 200C.
2. Cream together your butter and sugar until fluffy then gradually whisk in the eggs and mix really well.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and stir into your butter mix. Fold it in quite gently so that your muffin doesn't go all hard and chewy when baked.
4. Chop your stem ginger then stir in with your milk and ginger syrup.
5. Put paper cases into your muffin trays then half fill each one with muffin mix. Put a dollop of salted caramel sauce in each one then top with the remaining muffin mixture.
6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes and eat whilst warm.

If I had any I would have thrown a handful of chocolate chips on the tops just before they went into the oven, luckily salted caramel sauce poured over the top when they came out proved to be a much better idea!