Like, am I even allowed to call a double chocolate muffin 'healthy' when it is this chocolate-y good? I thought about calling it 'healthy-ish' (I did initially when I posted it on instagram) but I didn't want to qualify things, to water down, to tip toe around it anymore. This muffin deserves to be labelled as healthy...as far as muffins are concerned. Waitaminute, did I just qualify it? 

No no, pretty sure I'm just being accurate ;)  

But truly, these muffins are naturally sweetened with dates and ripe bananas (no processed sugars), are gluten-free, has fiber and heartiness from rolled oats and has only healthy oils from ground up pecans and extra-virgin olive oil. The chocolate-y goodness comes from a combo of raw cacao powder and melted dark chocolate. By the way I highly recommend getting quality dark chocolate (about 70%) and quality raw cacao powder for all your baking.  Raw cacao powder is less processed so more of it's antioxidant benefits are retained (the brands I have access to and like using are Organic Traditions, Nativa and Prana).

Also while we're on the topic of muffins, I tell this to anyone who would listen: muffin batter freezes super well!  I have a 6-cup muffin tin so I often bake off half of the batter and freeze the other half to bake quickly on a busy weekday morning. The baked muffins also freeze well and can be warmed up in a minute in a microwave (I like to tent it with a damp paper towel to keep it moist) if you want to warm up just one or two muffins at a time.

This recipe is adapted from Green Kitchen Stories' "Turmeric Breakfast Muffins" which (in my humble opinion) is a gold standard muffin recipe to begin with. I've tinkered and adapted it into a double chocolate version because sometimes we just need a little chocolate at 7am, don't we?   

Healthy Double Chocolate Muffins

{ gluten free, refined sugar free }

Recipe makes 12 large or 10 large bakery style muffins.

INGREDIENTS

Dry ingredients:

1C (100g) pecans (or walnuts)

1C (85g) rolled oats (gluten free if gluten intolerant)

2/3C (90g) buckwheat flour

3 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp ground cinnamon 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Wet ingredients:

2/3C (160ml) plain yogurt or kefir or buttermilk

1/3C (80ml) extra virgin olive oil

2 ripe bananas (about 1C)

6-7 soft dried dates 

3 large eggs (or vegan eggs: stir together 3 tbsp chia + 9 tbsp water and sit for few minutes)

3oz (85g) good quality dark chocolate ~70%, melted over double boiler

For topping the muffins in the last few minutes of baking:

Some good quality dark chocolate bar ~70%, chopped into ~3/4" chunks

Large flakey sea salt

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 400f.  Line or grease muffin tin.

2. Add the pecans and roll oats into a food processor and pulse into a coarse flour.  Transfer to a large bowl and add in the remaining dry ingredients. Mix well with a whisk.

3. Using a blender (or in the same food processor if you're like me and prefer not to wash another appliance albeit sacrificing some smoothness -- I'll let you choose), add all the wet ingredients except the melted chocolate. Whiz it up until a smooth consistency is achieved. 

4. Melt the chocolate.  If you are using a chocolate bar (as opposed to chocolate chips), cut the bar into smaller pieces for quicker and more even melting.  Bring a pot of water to a gentle simmer and set a heat-proof bowl containing the chocolate  over the pot, ensuring the bowl bottom does not touch the water at all. Using a spatula, stir and stir until almost all the lumps are gone.  Remove from the heat and stir the remaining lumps away with the residual heat. Let it cool slightly.

5. Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients from the previous steps 2 & 3 and fold everything until well combined. But do not overmix. Finally, fold in the melted chocolate.

6. Divide the mixture into the muffin tin. Bake first for 16-18 minutes.  Top each muffin with a piece of chocolate and a teeny sprinkle of flaky sea salt.  Place back into the oven for another 2-3 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry (tip: stick the tester in at an angle next to but not through your piece of chocolate otherwise the ooey gooey chocolate may look wet even if the muffin is done).   Do not overbake. 

Enjoy!! xx

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