Haven’t heard of Muffingate yet? The Depp vs. Heard trial has captured the world’s attention with its deep lessons for our culture and spicy, sometimes straight up nutty, events. This recipe for the alleged ‘Johnny Depp Trial Muffins’ wraps up all the court proceedings into the perfect muffins to enjoy while reflecting upon this trial. Keep reading and I’ll explain everything. (Plus I’m sure Dr. Curry along with the entire Depp team would find these alleged “muffingate” muffins delicious.)

Chocolate spice Johnny Depp Trial Muffins shown on a wooden table. One muffin has been partially eaten.

Since the actual flavor of muffins for Muffingate has not been revealed, I thought it would be fun to create a muffin recipe that would adequately reflect the proceedings of this crazy trial. I have to say, after watching ‘Captain Jack’ testify on the stand I had to go back and rewatch all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. What a great character Johnny Depp created in Captain Jack Sparrow!

What do muffins have to do with the Johnny Depp trial?

Early on in the trial, Depp’s team called Psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry to the stand to testify about her experience in evaluating Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard’s mental health state before the trial; she claimed to suffer from PTSD as part of her claim so the eval was necessary.

She spoke about how during the evaluation, they snacked on some muffins Dr. Curry’s husband had left for them at the psychologist’s office.

Somehow, when Dr. Curry was cross examined by Amber Heard’s lawyers, they went CRAZY asking questions about the muffins! Perhaps they were trying to pursue an angle that the muffins were some kind of bribery or that Dr. Curry’s husband was somehow fraternizing with the defendant. We’re not really sure, but eventually Dr. Curry became so annoyed that she asked to please, “stop talking about muffins!“.

A closeup of the Johnny Depp Trial Muffins topped with walnut streusel.

Muffingate became the newest meme on ticktock and twitter hashtag for a few days. So it’s now an inside joke of sorts for those who have been following the trial (I have been glued to ‘lawtube’ from the beginning and find it so fascinating!)

https://www.tiktok.com/@_ashton_lewis/video/7091033575277006086?referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2F&referer_video_id=7091033575277006086&refer=embed

And it’s a little crazy because I think Muffingate overshadows some of the serious nature of this case; after all, this is a multi-million dollar case of a very, very serious nature.

Plus, most agree that the psychologist Dr. Curry is an incredible girl boss that was excellent at testifying on the stand and being very scientific and firm on her opinions without being boring!

https://youtu.be/jZ1jluMFnzo

What is LawTube?

For nerds like me who enjoy educational videos, ‘Lawtube’ is a nickname that refers to the many popular YouTube Lawyers who vlog about important cases in the public eye and help to explain how law is practiced in the United States and give their experienced opinion about events in the courtroom as they happen.

I have found the Youtube channels of Alyte at LegalBytes and Emily at Emily D. Baker particularly helpful for this trial! They have joined forces with several other LawTubers who often jump on the same livestream to all give their opinions about what is happening.

Some of these LawTubers have even traveled to Virginia where the trial is being held and have managed to get in to sit in the gallery of the courtroom and observe the trial personally! They have been able to see the jury’s reactions to testimony and many other things that the camera’s don’t show and they share it all on their channels. It’s been fascinating to hear them report when on break from the court!

How do these Johnny Depp Trial Muffins represent the trial itself?

No one has revealed what kind of muffins Amber and Shannon actually snacked on, so I decided to create a unique recipe myself that I thought would reflect the trial.

Looking down on several Johnny Depp Trial Muffins on a wooden board strewn with walnuts, chocolate chips and a dusting of flour.

This has definitely NOT been a vanilla trial. I chose a deeply chocolate flavored muffin for a couple of reasons; chocolate helps relieve stress and gives comfort, and it’s the food love language (representing the passion lost between Depp and Heard). Plus for you JD fans out there, these muffins match Johnny’s deep chocolate brown eyes. :0) I made these Johnny Depp Trial Muffins with sour cream and brown sugar to give a little tang to offset the rich chocolate.

A glass mixingbowl contains melted shiny chocolate with a dollop of sour cream being mixed in by a whisk to make the Johnny Depp Trial Muffins Recipe

Then I just had to add some ‘spicy’ flavors! The presiding Judge once labeled one of Depp’s laywers as ‘a little snarky’ in a moment of brevity in court. Plus there has definitely been some serious spiciness from time to time in testimony shared from the stand. So I added allspice, clove, and ginger to these chocolate muffins to represent the ‘snarky’.

I also wanted to add whole chocolate chips to these muffins so there would be some surprises in every bite- and this trial has certainly been surprising at times.

Looking down on a muffin tin filled with wrappers and Johnny Depp Trial Muffins batter sprinkled with streusel on top.

Along with experiencing a little spice and surprises, this trial has been downright nutty at times! So I created a walnut streusel to sprinkle over the tops of these muffins to give a little ‘nuttiness’ to them. Voila! Johnny Depp Trial Muffins!

A pile of chocolate Johnny Depp Trial Muffins rests on a wooden table with one partially eaten, showing the interior.

I would recomend making a batch of these muffins for fun to share with your friends/family that have been watching the trial, or chow down on a few of these while we anxiously waiting for the verdict. I hope you find they taste fantastic!

You know what else is fantastic? Simply giving this recipe a star rating and a comment below! Your comments and ratings are greatly appreciated by me AND the Google algorithm. Thank you!

Did you know I have a full-color cookbook with lots more easy and delicious New Mexican recipes? You can learn more about it here!