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Triple Chocolate Banana Muffins

Healthy, delicious and decadent triple Chocolate Banana Muffins, no Sugar, no Oil and Vegan. These are the ultimate healthy indulgent chocolate Muffins. So delicious, moist and wholesome. A real treat for serious chocoholics like me. You can adjust the sweet level by increasing the dates content, and also the level of bitterness on the Chocolate. I’m using a 85% chocolate bar and 100% chocolate buttons.

  • Prep 25 mins
  • Cook 20 mins
  • Total 50 mins
  • Makes for 12 Muffins

Ingredients

  • 3 medium very ripe Bananas
  • ½ heaped cup of raw Hazelnuts
  • 8-12 Medjool Dates
  • 180 ml of Plant Milk
  • ½ cup or 50gr of Cocoa Power
  • 1 tsp of Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp of Baking Soda
  • 90gr of Wholewheat Flour (Spelt or Gluten free if needed)
  • 80gr of Almond Flour
  • 100 gr of vegan dark Chocolate 85% (min 75%)
  • 1 pinch of Salt
  • 1tsp of Coffee Powder (optional)
  • Chocolate Buttons or Chocolate shards to top

Instructions

Step 1 – Start by roasting the raw Hazelnuts in the oven at 170C for 12mins. If your Hazelnuts are already roasted, reduce the time in the oven for 8 mins. If the dates are hard, soak them for 20 mins in boiling water.
Step 2 – Let the nuts cold down for 5 mins. Blend the Hazelnuts in a food processor until they turn into a runny butter. Add the Dates and process for a few more seconds until they are all incorporated and you have a homogeny mass.
Step 3 – Peel the bananas, add them to a bowl and smash them with a fork until they are smooth.
Step 4 – Add the Hazelnut/Date butter to the mashed Bananas and slowly incorporate the Plant milk until you get a smooth batter.
Step 5 – In a separate bowl bring together the dry ingredients, Almond Flour, Wholewheat Flour, Cocoa Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, pinch of salt and Coffee Powder if using.
Step 6 – Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Generously grease a standard 12 cup muffin tin on the bottoms and sides with vegan butter or cooking oil, sprinkle flour of your choice to cover the bottom and sides of the cups.
Step 7 – Hold a fine mesh strainer over the wet ingredients bowl, add the flour to the strainer, and gently tap the side repeatedly until all of the flour has passed through the strainer. You may need to help the last little bit get through the hole just move it around with a spoon.
Step 8 – Carefully incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet Banana mix, with folding movements until you get homogeny batter.
Step 9 – From the Dark Chocolate bar, take 12 cubes and cut the remaining chocolate into small fine chards. Carefully fold the little chards into the Chocolate batter, don’t over mix.
Step 10 – Pour 1 heaped Tbsp of batter into the bottom of each cup muffin. Topped with the reserved 12 square of Chocolate.
Step 11 – Divide the remaining batter throughout the 12 cup muffins. Topped with Chocolate Chips and some Hazelnuts or nuts of your choice.
Step 12 – Bake for 20-24 mins at 180ºC. Let them cool down for 5-10 mins. With the help of a butter knife take the muffins out of the tin and let them cool down further on a wire rack.

About the Ingredients

Ripe Bananas: Ripe Bananas are sweeter and if they are very ripe you can use less dates in this recipes. If your Bananas are a bit less ripe you should increase the amount of Dates. Bananas are a healthy source of fibre, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and various antioxidants and phytonutrients. Bananas are also a rich source of carbs which makes them perfect for runners like me or to help in any kind of endurance sport.

Raw Hazelnuts: I prefer to get raw Hazelnuts and roast them before use. Hazelnuts are good eaten raw but the flavour takes on a more mellow, sweeter character when they roasted. Like almost all nuts, they have a high fat content and roasting helps to bring the oils out perfectly to do Hazelnut Butter. If you get roasted Hazelnuts you should still roast them to help the oils realised, 8 mins at 170C should do. These are our only source of fat in this recipe but a healthy one full of nutrition and fibre.

Medjool Dates: Medjool dates are rich in natural sugars, fiber, and several vitamins and minerals. Like other dried fruits, they pack a lot of calories in a small serving. They are one of the healthier way to bring sweetness to many recipes. Check the full nutritional facts, are dates good for you?

Plant Milk: I’m using unsweetened Soya Milk, any good quality unsweetened Plant Milk can be use here.

Cocoa Powder: Choose a good quality one, I’m using an organic raw Cocoa Powder. Cocoa Powder is rich in polyphenols, which have significant health benefits, including reduced inflammation and improved cholesterol and blood sugar levels and reduced risk of heart disease.

Wholewheat Flour: I’m using Wholewheat Flour because of the fibre content, I think it works well in this recipe. Spelt Flour also works well though the muffins don’t grow as much. If you need you can substitute for a gluten free flour, the texture of the Muffins will vary according your flour but they will still be delicious.

Almond Flour: It’s low in carbs, packed with nutrients and has a slightly sweeter taste. It also adds a different texture and moisture to our Muffins.

Vegan dark Chocolate: Choose a good quality dark Chocolate as this important ingredient can change the taste of your Muffins. I’m using organic 85% Cocoa solids, I recommend a minimum of 70%. If you buy a good quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa content then it’s quite nutritious. It contains a decent amount of soluble fibre and is loaded with minerals, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and Selenium.

Coffee Powder: Like Salt and Spice, Coffee and chocolate pair so well precisely because they have a lot in common. Both of them are actually seeds of fruit growing on tropical plants, and both of them are processed in a similar manner. They’re picked, fermented, dried and then roasted. Just like coffee, chocolate can be marked by a variety of flavour combinations: while some varieties boast notes of fruit and berries, others are dominated by rich, bitter flavours. They are perfect companions that bring out the best of each other.

Chocolate Buttons: I’m using 100% absolute black buttons Dark Chocolate as I like the bitterness they bring to the sweet Muffins but feel free to use any Chocolate you like. Cooking and baking is all about adjusting to our taste buds.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE.

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