Sweet and salty, these Wensleydale cheese chocolate muffins have a lovely light texture and a delicious flavour. They’re made with Wensleydale and cranberry cheese, though you can use straight Wensleydale if you prefer. Perfect for brunch or a nutritious snack.
Apple and Wensleydale Cheese Cake
Earlier in the year, The More Than Occasional Baker made an apple cake using Wensleydale cheese with added cranberries. Well, I was intrigued by this and her description had me bookmarking the recipe immediately. As with most of the recipes I bookmark, it took me a while to try it out, but try it out I eventually did.
The Wensleydale I used was one studded with cherries. With my recent discovery that chocolate and cheese go very well together I also added some chocolate, but this could of course be left out if it’s deemed to be overkill.
The cake looked so tempting with its shiny toffee apple top that I couldn’t wait for it to cool, so I cut a slice whilst still warm. The smell of cheese on toast as I raised it to my lips was slightly disconcerting, but luckily this didn’t put me off.
It had a fantastic texture and good flavour, sweet with little bursts of saltiness courtesy of the cheese. As the cake was quite sweet, this worked really well; together with the tart apple and bitter chocolate almost all taste sensations were covered.
Wensleydale Cheese Chocolate Muffins
The upshot of this story is that when I needed a bake for the boys next door, I remembered how good that apple Wensleydale chocolate chip cake was.
I always try and make them something for Christmas as a thank you for uncomplainingly taking in our parcels throughout the year. When I saw some cranberry Wensleydale cheese for sale recently, I thought I’d perhaps try and make something similar in muffin form.
The muffins have a lovely light texture and a nutty taste from the oil. I used my favourite baking flour, wholemeal spelt, which usually works a treat. As they’re made with drinking chocolate rather than cocoa powder, the chocolate flavour is quite light too. It’s not the sort of bake where you want it to dominate.
The apple gives additional moistness and the cheese makes for a richer more satisfying mouth feel. Easy, quick, delicious and nutritious they’d make an excellent brunch dish for all those Christmas visitors.
To make a cheat’s version of sour milk, add a teaspoon of lemon juice or cider vinegar to the milk, give it a stir and leave for five minutes. When it’s curdled, it’s ready to use.
Other Chocolate and Cheese Recipes You Might Like
- Black velvet cheesecake swirl brownies
- Chocolate goat’s cheese tarts
- Chocolate lime cheesecake surprise
- Double chocolate cheesecake pudding
- Goat’s cheese chocolate truffles
- Pistachio kachori
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these Wensleydale cheese chocolate muffins, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Please share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Wensleydale Cheese Chocolate Muffins. PIN IT.
Wensleydale Cheese Chocolate Muffins – The Recipe
Wensleydale Cheese Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 225 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 50 g drinking chocolate
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 pinch rock salt
- 110 g golden caster sugar
- 125 g Wensleydale cheese with cranberries (or just plain Wensleydale)
- 1 small apple
- 2 medium eggs
- 90 ml cold pressed rapeseed oil
- 200 ml sour milk
Instructions
- Sift the flour, drinking chocolate, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl. You may want to discard any particularly large bits of bran left in the sieve.
- Stir in the sugar.
- Crumble in the cheese.
- Peel, core and finely chop the apple and stir it into the mix.
- Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs.
- Add the rapeseed oil and sour milk (see note below on how to make a cheat’s version).
- Stir until just combined.
- Spoon into 12 muffin holes lined with cases and bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 22 minutes or until they’re risen and firm to the touch.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
Not very elegant perhaps, but these Wensleydale cheese chocolate muffins would make great snack food for keeping the cold at bay whilst seeing in the New Year at some favourite spot out in the wilds, as we have been known to do. A flask of hot mulled cider to accompany them would not go amiss either. As such I am submitting these to Emily’s Recipe of the Week over at A Mummy Too, which is all about New Year’s Eve Nibbles.
AMummyToo says
I love the sound of these. Really, really want to try one! Thanks very much for joining in with #recipeoftheweek. I’ve Pinned and tweeted this post and there’s a fresh linky live now. Please do join in! 😀
Alida says
Very nice these muffins.This is perfect for the Christmas festivities with the cranberrys.
I wish you all the best for the new year! XX
Katie says
I’d never have though of this combo but I can image it working really well, especially with the cranberries
prwilson says
Wow, Wensleydale AND Cranberry AND Chocolate – super muffin!
Baking Addict says
I’ve made a wensleydale & cranberry cheese and apple cake previously which was a real hit but have not though about pairing it with chocolate. What a great idea!
Susan Lindquist says
These DO look delicious … Wensleydale with cranberries is all the rage in our area right now … a year or two back, one couldn’t find it anywhere but in the city shops. How interesting to pair it with chocolate!
Charlene F says
What an interesting twist on a classic cheese pairing. Happy new year and I look forward to all your posts in 2014 xx
belleau kitchen says
what a lovely thank you and such pretty and colourful muffins… loving the cheese and chocolate hit too… happy new year x