Hey there!
Found this great recipe on Pinterest, “The world’s catalog of ideas” It’s a marvellous place to lose yourself in. It can motivate you to make delicious muffins like these AND introduce you to new food concepts, like sandwich cake! Do you know what a sandwich cake is??? (It’s revolutionary! Stay tuned!) and It can also show you 10 weird signs that your relationship is on the rocks even if you didn’t know it or how can you possibly live without finding out what experts say the shape of your butt actually says about you?? (giant eye-roll) and the worst part?? You can’t help it! Your hand just goes, like a mindless zombie and … clicks. You just have to know!
Anyway, you will LOVE these rich and moist Double Chocolate Banana Muffins! Not only are they super chocolatey and delicious but they contain dark chocolate which is an excellent antioxidant, probiotic and protein-rich Greek yogurt, heart-healthy coconut oil and of course potassium-packed bananas! You can enjoy these and feel good about it.
Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup, less 1 tbsp of all purpose flour (Measure 1 cup of flour then remove 1 tbsp from it)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 70% dark chocolate chips
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup vanilla or plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar lightly packed (I used a combination of Stevia (Granulated , cup for cup) and coconut sugar and it worked great!)
- 1 cup very ripe bananas (2 if large -3 if small) They need to be at their sweetest!
Tip: To quickly ripen bananas, pop them into a 350 degree oven for 6-12 min until they turn completely brown. Cool, peel and mash.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
If you haven’t done this already, remove and discard 1 tablespoon of the 1 cup of flour. The tablespoon of cornstarch replaces the removed flour, creating a higher, cake-like texture.
Get the skinny:
Dark chocolate is my new go-to for all my chocolate baking needs. It adds a satisfying, deep, intensely chocolatey flavour. It feels more sinful somehow, even though it’s the healthier option. Go figure. I don’t know if you’ve ever added coffee to a chocolate dessert such as brownies or chocolate cake. It adds the same depth as dark chocolate. Try it!
Sugar: So, I am trying to consume less sugar lately and although this recipe doesn’t call for that much, I still wanted to try substituting it. Why am I trying to consume less sugar? Well my father recently found out the he is diabetic and needs to be on medication for life. It’s hereditary, I am a carb-aholic and I’ve taken a liking to sweets more than ever. PLUS, I find that the more sugar I consume (chocolates, muffins etc…) the more I want. I now suddenly need to have something sweet with my morning coffee and then I need a pick-me-up in the afternoon etc… So, although I exercise and am at a healthy weight, I am trying to drop this bad habit I’ve formed. So, I decided to substitute the sugar in this recipe with two popular ‘healthy’ and natural sweeteners Stevia and Coconut sugar. You may be wondering why in the world I used both. Well, (lol) the Stevia bag claimed that you can use it like regular sugar , cup-for-cup but I found it too airy and fluffy; not the right texture. The recipe called for brown sugar…well…coconut sugar is brown and sorta’ clumps together… and that’s it! That was my thinking process! Anyway, my husband says these muffins are his favourite so I guess it worked out well. I was thrilled of course and felt a little less guilty. 😉
Coconut Sugar: “Compared with table and brown sugars, coconut sugar has impressive amounts of nutrients like zinc and iron as well as antioxidants. Coconut sugar also contains good amounts of inulin, a type of dietary fiber you don’t digest in your upper gastrointestinal tract. Instead, inulin acts as a prebiotic, feeding your intestinal bifidobacteria (a probiotic).
Among its benefits, clinical research finds prebiotics like inulin support gut health, colon cancer prevention, blood sugar balance, lipid (fat) metabolism, bone mineralization, fatty liver disease, obesity, and immunity.” However, lets not lose our minds putting coconut sugar on everything! It is still a form of sugar. In fact, 2/3 of it is composition is essentially sugar, containing fructose and glucose but the great news is that, as explained above it is much healthier and nutrient rich than its rival. As with regular sugar, continue to proceed with caution!
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jj-virgin/coconut-sugar-healthier-s_b_5669084.html
Stevia, a natural plant-based sweetener boasts that you can bake with it, as with regular sugar. Turns out Stevia contains ZERO calories and is safe for diabetics! It is naturally sourced, from the Stevia plant, causing no effect on blood glucose levels! Hooray! Now that I know I can bake with it, I will from time to time. Except for cookies! You can’t make a legit chocolate chip cookie without real brown sugar …but that topic will be for another post 😉
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287251.php
Thanks for reading!!
Stephanie M.
Recipe found here! http://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/greek-yogurt-chocolate-banana-muffins-movie/ VIA PINTEREST
3 responses to “Double Chocolate Banana Muffins”
Wow you definitely had success with these muffins. They look so good I want one now! Also, letting you know that I nominated your blog for the Black Cat Blue Sea Award: https://akitchenfable.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/the-black-cat-blue-sea-award/
Hello there!
Thank you for the follow and the likes and I’d especially like to thank you for nominating my blog! It’s exciting to know that people like what I have to say and share. Let me know if you try making these muffins or anything else!
Take care!
Stephanie M.
Ahhh what a great post!
Can’t wait to try 😍