One of the little traditions we do on Gracen’s half birthday (ohmahgerd, I have a two and a half year old) is make a fresh batch of muffins (aka ‘cupcakes’) to top with freshly whipped cream and candles later in the evening. So today we used our usual no sugar added banana muffin recipe, tweaked it just a little bit, and came up with these delicious chocolate coconut creations. They are super yummy and truly do feel like a cupcake instead of a healthy muffin… Especially if you add the dark chocolate chips I added to the adult half of the batch (with which I doubt they can be remain in the ‘healthy’ category, but hey – I try my best). ☺
Here’s the recipe…
Healthy Banana Chocolate Coconut Muffins
- 4 large ripe bananas
- 1 organic egg
- 1/3 cups of coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups of wholewheat flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut shavings
- dark chocolate chips (optional – we used 1/3 of a cup in half the batter)
Preheat oven to 350° . Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by brushing it with coconut oil.
Mix the bananas, other wet ingredients, and cocoa until the mixture is mostly smooth and only slightly chunky. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (save the coconut and chocolate chips) well. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Slowly stir in the coconut (and chocolate chips if adding them). Fill greased muffin tin with the mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool.
Enjoy!
‘Tis the season for all things pumpkin, so today Grae and I decided to experiment with making a healthy, but delicious, pumpkin treat. I must say, we were definitely ‘winging it’, but our version of pumpkin spice muffins turned out great! They’re soft and moist inside, full of flavour, and perfectly sweet. Not to mention, they contain no white flour, butter/margarine, or refined sugar. Yay for that.
Here’s our line up of ingredients… Wholewheat flour, organic old-fashioned oats, ground flax seed, walnuts, pecans, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pure organic pumpkin puree, grapeseed oil, organic eggs, pure maple syrup, and pure vanilla.
Of course, having a sweet little wispy haired sous chef helps too.
Start by putting the flour into a large mixing bowl.
Add the oats and ground flax.
Be sure to cram as many oats into your mouth as possible when no one’s looking.
Next up, add the baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
Give everything a good stir.
In a separate bowl, pour in the pureed pumpkin.
Add the maple syrup and vanilla…
The grapeseed oil…
And the eggs.
Then give everything a good mix.
Next, add the dry mixture into the wet one.
Mix until just combined.
Then add the nuts…
And gently fold them into the batter.
Prepare a muffin tin by lining it with silicone baking cups or a light layer of grapeseed oil.
Fill the muffin cups almost to the top, but not quite, then pop them in the oven.
Take them out once the tops are cracked and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let them cool for a couple of minutes and serve to your very excited and very silly little munchkin.