baking with tea

such a lovely idea, combining baking with tea! and i finally got a chance to, this rare friday morning that i had free. *the tea i used was a seasonal one from DAVIDsTEA that isn't in stock anymore, but any other chocolate orange (or just chocolate, or just orange!) tea would work just as nicely. 

tea infused chocolate orange muffins

adapted from Little Blue Hen
makes 12 muffins

ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup milk
a bit more than 1/2  tablespoon Oh Christmas Treat tea from DAVIDsTEA*
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

splash of vanilla
half of the juice from one large orange
zest of one large orange
coarse sugar for sprinkling on top

directions:
preheat oven to 400F. lightly grease or line one 12 cup muffin tin
1) in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt
2) in a small sauce pan, combine milk, tea, and half of orange zest. steep on low heat for 10 minutes then strain

3) in a large mixing bowl, combine tea infused milk, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla, orange juice and the rest of the orange zest, and whisk together well. add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined. add in the chocolate chips for the last few stirs. don’t over mix!

4) fill each muffin cup 2/3 full of batter. sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar

5) bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. remove from oven and let cool in pan. enjoy warm out of the oven or up to 3 days in an air tight container. would also freeze well!