Double Chocolate Orange Banana Muffins (Vegan)

Recipe from Plant-Powered Families by Dreena Burton

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 12 standard size muffins

These turned out way better than I anticipated.  The chocolate-orange combo is a match made in heaven.  The muffins were perfectly moist with a lovely crumb.  I love that they are made with whole-grain spelt flour, and sweetened, not with refined, processed sugar, but with ripe bananas and maple syrup.  Make a batch on the weekend and enjoy these throughout the week for a mid-day pick-me-up.

1½ cups whole-grain spelt flour

½ cup almond flour

¼ cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate cocoa powder.)

2 teaspoons fresh orange zest (from 1 large or 2 small oranges)

¼ rounded teaspoon sea salt

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pureed overripe banana* (about 2 large bananas)

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice** (from 1 large or 2 small oranges)

½ cup pure maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ cup non-dairy mini or regular chocolate chips (I used bittersweet mini chips.)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.  (I always spray the liners with a bit of oil spray.) In a large bowl, whisk the flours, cocoa powder, orange zest, and sea salt.  Then sift in the baking powder and baking soda.  (The zest will be moist and will clump in the dry mix.  Use your fingers to rub the zest in so that it’s distributed evenly.) In a medium bowl, combine the pureed bananas, orange juice, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, then add the chocolate chips.  Stir through until just well combined without over mixing.  Ladle the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes: To make a nut free version, substitute ½ cup oat flour for the almond flour.  They won’t be quite as moist, but will still have a lovely flavor and texture.  *Banana: If you have an immersion blender, puree about 2 large bananas in a deep, large cup, then measure to get your 1 cup needed.  If you are a little shy with the measure, use applesauce to make up the difference. Be sure the bananas are very ripe (black speckled.)

**Orange Juice: I was just shy of ½ cup of the orange juice, so I made up the difference with a bit of water.

Nutritional Information via CalorieKing app: (1 serving = 1 standard-sized muffin) 200 calories; 4.4 g fiber; 13.1 sugars; 5 g protein; 13.4 mg calcium; 201 mg potassium