Chocolate Topped Muffins

Easter is generally a time of the year that calls for us to roll up our sleeves and get our dough on. As much as I absolutely love hot cross buns, this year I didn’t have the time to spend waiting for dough to rise and so decided to convert my hot cross bun recipe into a fruit and chocolate topped muffin instead!

These chocolate topped muffins are minimal in sugar; are gluten, dairy and egg free; and hold a considerable amount of fiber to keep our digestive system happy in time of possible chocolate overload!

Makes 12 Chocolate Topped Muffins

Ingredients

  • 45g organic coconut flour
  • 25g psyllium husks
  • 1 tspn organic Ceylon cinnamon
  • ½ tspn organic ginger
  • ¼ tspn organic allspice
  • 1 tspn gluten free organic baking powder
  • ¼ tspn salt
  • 125ml organic oat mylk
  • 9 tbspn warm water
  • ½ tspn organic vanilla essence
  • 4 tbspn organic coconut oil
  • 1 tspn organic maple syrup
  • 1 tbspn organic chia seeds
  • zest of ½ organic orange
  • 50g organic raisins
  • 100g organic 85% chocolate

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius
  2. In a small bowl add chia seeds to 3 tbspn of warm water, stir & pop into fridge
  3. In a medium bowl add all dry ingredients & mix well
  4. Melt coconut oil & add wet ingredients, stir well adding the soaked chia seeds
  5. Combine wet ingredients to dry, mixing well
  6. Finally add raisins & 50g of chocolate chopped into small pieces
  7. Mix through mixture
  8. Line 12 muffin tins with liners & divide mixture out between them. Make sure to press mixture into each liner leaving a little concave top on the muffins
  9. Place in oven for 40 minutes
  10. Remove from oven & allow to cool completely
  11. While you’re waiting for muffins to cool, melt the remaining chocolate
  12. Spoon melted chocolate over muffins while they are still in liner
  13. Leave chocolate to cool and harden, then remove Chocolate Topped Muffins from liners

Enjoy over your Easter Weekend!

Equipment

Muffin tin

The Nerdy Nutritionist

 Cacao (Theobroma cacao) ~ food of the Gods

Originally used by the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans, this powerful bean dominated as an aphrodisiac symbolizing wealth and power. Cacao has kept its reputation over the centuries due to its numerous beneficial actions and pleasing flavour to almost everyone’s palate.

  • With four times the amount of catechins (antioxidant) than green tea (1), cacao boosts extensive antioxidant potential to warn off any oxidizing conditions that occur naturally due to metabolism or from our surrounding environments
  • Cacao is a rich source of magnesium containing an impressive 500-600mg per 100g serve(2)
  • Also containing abundant amounts of phosphorus, calcium, selenium, zinc and potassium, these minerals make cacao one of the most beneficial foods for the cardiovascular system by reducing both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hyperlipidemia; and improving vascular function (1)

References

(1) Braun, L. & Cohen, M. (2010) Herbs & Natural Supplements – An evidence-based guide (3rd ed.) Elsevier: Australia

(2) Rucker, R. (2009). Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage. John Wiley & Sons, Inc: USA

 

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