Dubai Style Chocolate Pistachio Muffins

Perhaps by now you’ve heard about the viral , Dubai chocolate? Well I grabbed a bar at the Nut factory in New York City and I have to say it was actually worth the hype! The crunchy texture of the phyllo strands combined with the creamy, luscious pistachio cream and the rich chocolate , like HELLO HI, so good. After my Olympic chocolate muffin recipe went viral I thought it would be fun to combine these two trending treats into one incredible baked good. The result was truly unique! Your teeth sink into the fluffy, soft, chocolate muffin that has perfectly melty chocolate chips throughout, and then BAM, you hit this crispy yet creamy core that I can only describe as FUN, its just so darn fun. Think shredded wheat cereal but the dryness is offset by the creamy, nutty pistachio butter. It looks like it would be super hard to make but it really isn’t difficult, just follow my steps closely and it will be worth the efforts, trust me.

Ingredients-

1 Stick (8 Tablespoons) of Unsalted Butter, softened

½ cup Canola or Vegetable Oil

1 1/3 Cups Sugar

1 Tablespoon Pure vanilla extract

3 Large Eggs)

1 teaspoon if instant espresso powder

1½ Cups Cake Flour (NOT Self-Rising)

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Dark Cocoa Powder (Such as Dutch Processed) (sifted)

1/2 Teaspoon Baking soda

2 Teaspoon Baking powder

3/4 tsp Fine table salt

1 cup Sour Cream

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1½ Cups mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips or regular chips

About 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chunks for the center core

Pistachio Phyllo crunch -

170 grams of Kataifi Pastry (comes frozen) (thaw at room temperature)

3 tablespoons of butter, melted

Pinch of salt

6.3 oz of Pistachio Butter (I used Campo D’oro brand I got on amazon )

Steps-

Preheat your oven to 325F.
Line Jumbo, 6 oz muffin cups with paper muffin liners. (Should make about 9 muffins)
Prepare the Pistachio Phyllo Crunch filling first. Toss the Kataifi Pastry strands with the melted butter and a pinch of salt and lay it out in a single layer on a parchment lined sheet pan. Place the pan in the oven and cook the Kataifi for 20-30 minutes or until golden and crispy. Be sure to toss it with a spatula half way through. Once cooked, crush the phyllo a little with your hands and place it in a bowl. Pour the Pistachio butter over the phyllo and toss to coat. You want the phyllo to be small shreds. Cover a sheet pan with parchment and place 1.5 tablespoon mounds of the the phyllo mixture onto the pan. Freeze for 15-30 minutes or until hardened and set. In the mean time make the batter.
Preheat the oven to 400F. In the large bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and oil until light and creamy and the sugar begins to break down, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the espresso powder and then the eggs one at a time and beat just until combined.
In a separate bowl whisk together the Cake flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt to ensure there are no lumps.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture in two installments, alternating with the sour cream. Beat just until combined and no flour streaks are visible. Next, beat in the buttermilk just until combined. Cover the batter and let it chill for at least 90 minutes or even overnight. The chilling/resting process helps the muffins rise better and the flavor to develop further.
Scoop the batter into the lined muffin cups 2/3 of the way up. Place 4-5 chocolate chunks in the center of the batter. Remove the phyllo clusters from the freezer when set. Place one phyllo mound into the center of each muffin on top of the chunks just pushing down slightly. Spoon a little more batter on top of each mound to cover.
Place the muffins in the oven on the center rack on 400F for 5 minutes, then leave the muffins in the oven (don’t open it) and lower the temperature to 325F for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Option to add any extra phyllo pistachio crunch on top of each muffin for aesthetics. Enjoy the muffins warm or room temperature (I prefer them room temp)! Store in a sealed container or wrapped in parchment and then aluminum foil for about 3 days.

Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, SnacksDanielle SepsyAugust 26, 2024Dubai, dubai chocolate, chocolate muffins, muffins, phyllo, pistachioComment

Dubai Style Chocolate Pistachio Muffins

Preheat your oven to 325F.

Line Jumbo, 6 oz muffin cups with paper muffin liners. (Should make about 9 muffins)

Preheat the oven to 400F. In the large bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and oil until light and creamy and the sugar begins to break down, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

Add the espresso powder and then the eggs one at a time and beat just until combined.

In a separate bowl whisk together the Cake flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt to ensure there are no lumps.

Place the muffins in the oven on the center rack on 400F for 5 minutes, then leave the muffins in the oven (don’t open it) and lower the temperature to 325F for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

Option to add any extra phyllo pistachio crunch on top of each muffin for aesthetics. Enjoy the muffins warm or room temperature (I prefer them room temp)! Store in a sealed container or wrapped in parchment and then aluminum foil for about 3 days.