Black Bean Chocolate Muffins

My friend Cindy brought these muffins to our annual camping trip and I immediately was addicted!  They have the perfect combination that is so hard to come by with muffins.  They taste great and are super good for you. There ends up being less than a tablespoon of sugar and oil in each muffin.  I am going to give you the recipe as I now make them- doubled- which makes 24.

 I find I like them two ways.  The first way is straight out of the oven nice and warm with a cup of tea.  The second way they are enjoyed in my household (perhaps more so than the first), is to pull them out of the frig and enjoy with a cold glass of milk.  They can be kept frozen or refrigerated for quite some time.  We have eaten them two weeks later out of the frig and have not noticed them tasting any different.  I should also mention you can get pretty creative with this recipe.  I have used wheat flour instead of oatmeal flour, milled chia instead of milled flax seed, and added  a handful of dried fruit and nuts.

As a side note, to make oatmeal flour just put some oatmeal in a high powered blender or coffee grinder and process until the consistency of flour. I must say I like the flavor oatmeal flour gives more than wheat flour.

So here is what you need to make 24 muffins:

1 can of black beans undrained
2/3 cup milled flaxseed
2/3 cup natural cocoa powder (baking cocoa)
1 cup raw sugar
2 cups oatmeal flour (or wheat)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
2 cups shredded carrot (can also use zuchinni or a combination)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla

Step one is to open the can of beans and blend in a blender.  If you do not have a blender you can mash them by hand with a potato masher.

It should be this consistency when it is done being blended.  You can soak your own beans and boil them.   Just make sure you reserve some of the water you boil them in to blend with the beans to get this smooth consistency.  I have found that buying a .68 cent can of beans is just easier.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.  You can also spray the pans with cooking spray if you do not have cupcake liners.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and blend together.  If you are going to blend by hand it would be easier to mix the wet ingredients and then add the dry ingredients.  Here are the ingredients again:

2 cups pureed beans, 2/3 cup milled flax seed, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup raw sugar, 2 cups of flour of your choice, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ginger, 1 tsp salt, 2 cup shredded carrot, 2 eggs, 2/3 cup coconut oil, 2 tsp. vanilla.

This is what it looks like when all the ingredients are combined.  This is also when I add any extra dried fruit or nuts.

Divide batter equally among the muffin tins and place in the preheated oven.  Stagger the tins and set the timer for 10-12 minutes.  After the timer goes off switch the tins and bake for another 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy these delicious muffins.  Whatever you don't eat warm, store in an airtight container in the frig or freezer.  Thanks Cindy for sharing this great recipe!