You may have gathered by now, but my company is pretty fucking rad. One of our many delightful perks is organic fruit delivery that comes to the office every Tuesday. And while usually, the assortment of bananas, apples and citrus are gone within 24-hours, sometimes there are a few stragglers still in the bin when I go to leave and shut off the lights (last out, almost always) on Friday evening.

Recently there were a few oranges laying around and I decided to save them from the trash on Monday morning and bring them home with me for a baking endeavor. Back when the Mocha Valencia was a thing at Starbucks, it was often my drink of choice. I loved the bittersweet chocolate and orange combo, and decided it would make for stellar cupcakes.

Another weird thing about me (I assue you, there are plenty) is that I don't really "dig" frosting. These were luscious without any topping, but a little confectionary sugar sprinkled on top didn't hurt, either. Because of the density and lack of frosting, I decided they were a bit more muffin than cupcake, and my coworkers ate them for breakfast accordingly.




5 mins prep, 20 mins cook
Makes ~16 normal-sized muffins

What they're Made of:

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 oranges (1/2 cup juice, zest of one)
• 1 t orange extract
• 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate (chopped/hit with a hammer in a ziplock bag as I did)
• 1 T baking powder

How they're Made:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Prep a muffin tin by greasing or lining with paper liners
• Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Beat eggs with milk and OJ in another bowl
• Add orange extract and melted butter to egg mixture
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and beat until just combined, fold in chocolate
• Pour into muffin tins and bake for 15-20 mins, until a toothpick comes out clean
• Top with powdered sugar (or don't, either way, either way is fine)
• Eat. I won't judge if it's for breakfast.