Walnut & Chocolate Muffins. Vegan. Gluten Free.

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Walnut chocolate chip muffins.

These muffins were inspired by The Minimalist Baker’s Banana Chocolate Pecan muffins.  I’m admittedly not a fan of pecans so I made a few adaptations.  Mainly, I reduced the sugar necessary in the original recipe and increased the baking time a bit.  These muffins are insanely tasty and a perfect morning muffin or snack on the go!

As my oldest heads back to school this week, her final year of varsity swimming is upon her.  I obsess about her nutrition each week because she does many double practices a day and I love to have plenty of options at her disposal.  These muffins will be perfect – transportable, packed with protein and healthy fats along with great nutrition to keep her moving throughout her day & prepared for thousands of meters in the pool.

As I mentioned, I reduced the sugar from the original recipe.  The bananas and chocolate chips, I find, add plenty of sweetness.  These are dense muffins and quite filling.  I store these on my countertop in my cake stand but the fridge would also work well.  Plus freezing these in a ziploc would also work well.  This recipe yields 11 muffins.
Ingredients:

2 flax/chia eggs (2 tbl flax or flax/chia blend mixed with 5 tbl water – mixed and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken)
4 ripe bananas
2 teaspoons of baking soda
Scant 1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of maple syrup (I used a bit less than a full 1/4 c)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of melted coconut oil (I used Nutiva)
1 cup of gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Redmill 1 to 1)
1/2 cup of almond meal (see notes)
1/2 cup of rolled oats
Walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup of dark vegan chocolate chips

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Method:

Into my food processor, add your almonds and blend down to a course flour or meal.  Dump that out into a bowl and start with an empty bowl.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Spray your muffin pan with coconut oil and set that aside.  Prepare your flax/chia egg and let that sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

Into your food processor bowl, add your banana and baking soda.  Pulse several times to blend down to a creamy consistency.  Add your sugar, syrup, cinnamon and salt.  Pulse several times to blend.  Add the vanilla, flax egg and coconut.  Blend again.  Then add your flour, meal and oats.  Pulse 8-10 times or until blended.  Using a scoop, ladle the batter into the prepared muffin tins.  Fill 3/4 of the way.  By hand, add some walnut pieces to the  top of each muffin. Then I sprinkled some chocolate chips on the top as well.  Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove and let cool completely before serving.  Enjoy!

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Enjoy!
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fitness_update
Sunday: 10.5 outdoor miles
Monday: 60m elliptical, 45 treadmill, upper body weights/core
Tuesday: 9 outdoor, rainy & windy miles.
Wednesday:  Rest day.

This wraps up my running for November.  Here is a snapshot of my progress since I’ve been cleared to run.
August: 1.55 miles
September: 40.81
October: 122.33
November: 142.30

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— Knead to Cook

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