These vegan muffins are perfect for using up ripe bananas! They are moist and sweet and full of chocolate flavor due to using cacao powder and chocolate chips!
Somehow, I hardly ever bake muffins! I guess it's because they often go bad since my family is not big into muffins. Personally, I like muffins very much – my top three flavors are lemon poppy seed, blueberry and chocolate. But not the ones that are essentially vanilla with chocolate chips. I mean muffins that are full on cacao flavor bombs!
I generally like chocolate that is very dark. These days I am snacking on 100% dark chocolate. Sounds a bit extreme? It takes some time to adjust but now it tastes almost sweet to me. But I generally love bitter things so I might not be a good person to judge by. Given the faces that my husband and our 5 year old made when they tried a tiny piece of the 100% dark chocolate, I would say it's not for everyone!
So naturally, given my preference, these muffins contain unsweetened cacao powder as well as chocolate chips. I didn't use dark chocolate chips because I felt that would be too much but rather the “milk” chocolate ones. With the banana and the added brown sugar, it's just the perfect amount of sweetness.
I left the muffins like they are and just sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar on top but they would be fabulous with a vegan icing as well! I have to make them again and test an icing I have been experimenting with for a while. Do you prefer cupcakes or muffins? Or do you love both the same? I can't even decide!! I love them both for different reason... but I probably will never say no to a cream cheese based icing, especially if it's not too sweet!
These muffins are perfect for using up any ripe bananas you have lying around. There are so many ways to use ripe bananas but I kept some specifically for this purpose! Now I have to wait again for the next ones to get ripe. You could say, the riper the sweeter but I find there's a point when they get too dark. Then the banana taste gets too intense for me. I prefer them with many brown spots, that's the perfect ripeness for me when it comes to baking with them.
The muffin batter comes together really quickly! You just have to let the vegan buttermilk and the flax “eggs” sit for ten minutes and then you can combine everything together. Bake them in muffin forms for 25 minutes and they're done. They will smell amazing while baking but make sure to still wait for a bit when they're out of the oven as to not burn your tongue! I find that waiting part difficult sometimes!
Will you make these delicious muffins soon? Or how about my Apple & Chocolate Muffins?
These vegan muffins are perfect for using up ripe bananas! They are moist and sweet and full of chocolate flavor due to using cacao powder and chocolate chips!
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Fill a muffin baking tray with paper cups.
To make flax "eggs", add ground flax seeds (= flax meal) and water to a bowl. Mix well and put in the fridge for 10 minutes. Take out after 10 minutes and mix well again.
To make vegan "buttermilk", mix almond milk with lemon or lime juice and let stand for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, mix all purpose flour, quick cooking oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda and unsweetened cacao powder. Mix well.
In another bowl, add coconut oil (creamy) and sugar and cream for 1 minute. Then add the flax "eggs" (after the 10 minutes), mashed bananas and almond "buttermilk".
Add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and fold in.
Fill the muffin paper cups about 2/3 of the way. Top with more chocolate chips if desired. Bake at 180°C (356°F) for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool off on a cooling rack. Enjoy!