Banana walnuts and chocolate muffins

These are my family and friends favourite. Do not be fazed by the number of the ingredients, the chances are - most of them are already available in your pantry, if not they will be for the next time you bake these muffins, as I am sure you will. There are some options as well, which you do not have to use, in my case it all depends on what I have available. If you or someone in your family (like my daughter) is intolerant to wheat, use Spelt flour, it works just as well, - a mixture of wholemeal and while or just white, your choose. I like it a bit healthier, so I use the mixture of organic wholemeal and white flour - Spelt or regular Wheat.

Ingredients:

• 2 tea spoons of ground linseeds and 2 tea spoons of chia seeds mixed together with some water to the consistency of yogurt or pancake butter, leave for a few minutes before using until the mixture becomes ‘gloopy’

• 60 ml walnut or other veg oil (avocado, light olive or sunflower) I like walnut oil for this recipe, but tried with other oils too and it worked just as well.

• 40 g cocoa butter - if in buttons roughly break into smaller pieces

• 140 g coconut sugar or 120 g of brown or dark Demerara sugar

• 50ml of any plant base milk - oat, almond, cashew, soya - whatever you have.

Whisk all the above well together, then add:

• 100 g whole meal flour

• 125 g plain white flour

• 1.5 tea spoon baking powder

• 100 g walnuts - Pecan nuts or Pistachio nuts also work very well

• 100 g or so chocolate chips

• 4 large overripe - almost brown bananas or 6 smaller ones - mashed

Whisk all together with the oil and sugar mix - either with a blender or by hand with a whisk.

Optional - when all well mixed together - add a handful of blueberries or grapes or any other berries you like, I often use blueberries. You could also use mixed frozen berries - my son really likes this version as it adds a bit of a sour note to the mix. Fold the berries in the mixture and distribute the mixture into 12 regular muffin tins or 18 mini muffin tins

Optional - sprinkle cocoa nibs on the top before baking

Bake at 200 C (180 C Fan) oven for 35-40 minutes- depending on your oven. Check half way through to see if you need to turn the tins around - my oven is hotter at the back - and at 30 Min to see if the muffins are ready. They should be golden on the top, but still a bit wet inside. Let the muffins cool a little before taking them out of the tins.

#Vegan #Food #Plantbased