Black Bean Chocolate Muffins

Black Bean Chocolate Muffins… say what?!?

My son wasn’t so sure when he saw me blending black beans in my food processor. He was even less convinced when my food processor had trouble blending the thick batter towards the end of my creation process. But when the kids (and my husband) tried the final product they were convinced. I have a family favorite on my hands.

This creation started when my friend was raving about black bean brownies she had tried but was bummed that it called for an entire cup of sugar. I had also been thinking it would be nice to make a breakfast muffin for my kids that they could just grab before I had a chance to make them something more substantial. Since we don’t eat cereal I always make my kids breakfast.  They are just 5 and 7 years old and not near the age to be cooking anything up all by themselves yet.

The end result was not a brownie but a chocolate fudge like muffin that the kids can eat, not only for special occasions, (my daughter has already requested this muffin as her treat on her birthday) but also with only 2 TBS of  grade A organic maple syrup in the entire recipe.  These lower sugar muffins are a healthy breakfast option as well. Of course, if you have more of a sweet tooth you could add your favorite healthier chocolate chips or make your own chocolate chunks to add. I also think these would be delicious topped with homemade almond butter… but what muffin isn’t?

Here is how I made our families new favorite chocolate breakfast muffin. This recipe makes 9 muffins. I know, kinda weird since muffin tins hold 12 muffins. However, when I tried to tweak the recipe to expand it to 12 it either had strange amounts of each ingredient or just didn’t have the same yummy fudgy consistency. So just double the recipe if you would like more than 9 muffins. I feel like 9 is a perfect amount for our family since we don’t eat a lot of sweet foods. These are a nice “sometimes treat”.

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed really well)
• 2 TBS almond butter (I used my homemade almond butter but you could use store bought- best with sea salt and coconut oil)
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (preferably aluminum free. I make my own: see notes below. **)
• 1/8 tsp sea salt We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt from Thrive Market
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (the kind with out the high fructose corn syrup)
• 3 TBS coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp liquid stevia (This optional but adds a little more sweetness without the added sugar and carbs. You could also add a little more maple syrup if you rather.) We buy our liquid stevia from Thrive Market
• 2 TBS organic grade A maple syrup (I  now usually use about 3 medjool dates instead since we have moved away from using maple syrup as much and they turned out fantastic)
• 5 egg yolks: You could use a couple whole eggs instead but I feel like the yolks help give this muffin it’s fudgy consistency. Save the whites and you can use them in other recipes or eat your muffins with a side of eggs for a perfectly protein packed breakfast. 😉
• Optional: We add some collagen for added protein. Typically about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. We buy our Great Lakes Collagen from Thrive Market

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Drain and rinse 1 can of black beans thoroughly then put in a food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Add all of your other ingredients and mix in food processor.

4. Scoop out batter into lined muffin tins. The batter will be extremely thick and sticky.

5. Place muffin tin in oven and cook for about 12 minutes. Don’t overcook! You want these to turn out fudgy and they will be dry if you cook them too long. They might even look a little mushy compared to your “normal” muffins but they will be yummy once they cool.

6. Take out of the oven when done and allow them to cool before eating.

Store these in the fridge as they will go bad quicker if left on the counter. These also freeze well for later.

You could  add in some healthier chocolate chips or homemade chocolate chunks or broken up pieces of your favorite dark chocolate if you want this to be more of a dessert than a breakfast cupcake. My hubby and kiddos thought it was sweet enough, but if you aren’t used to the darker chocolate sweet treats you might want to add some chocolate chips or top with your favorite healthier frosting. They would make amazing cupcakes. My daughter has already decided she wants these muffins as her birthday treat… in August (5 months away from now). 🙂

My son waited patiently as I took photographs of the muffins.

And not so patiently as “George” tried to snag a muffin.

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**I make my own baking powder and it’s super easy. Just mix 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda (for example 2 TBS cream of tartar with 1 TBS baking soda). I usually make a cup of it and store for later.