Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

These Chocolate Blackbean Muffins are naturally sweet,  light and have loads of rich chocolate flavour.  They are soft and moist and there is not a hint of blackbean taste in sight. 

These are not your average chocolate muffin.  They are power muffins, packed with healthy nutritious ingredients that will keep you fuller for longer. I love baking with black beans and use them in my Decadent Black Bean Chocolate Cake and my Fudgy Black Bean Brownies.

Recipe Highlights

• These blackbean muffins are naturally sweetened with no added sugar
• They are made using a food processor, making them very speedy to whip up
• Easy to customise with additional flavour add ins
• This recipe makes 12 average sized muffins, but its easy to make a half batch or double batch
• They are ideal for freezing so you make them ahead and have healthy snacks on tap
• Soft, light and airy with a tender crumb that will convince you to ditch traditional muffins made with flour
• They're flourless, high in fibre and high in protein, perfect for your clean eating habits
• You can't see or taste the blackbeans but you get all the nutritional benefit from them
• Uses simple ingredients, all of which are available at your local supermarket

Ingredients

These muffins are absolutely perfect with your morning coffee, as 3pm afternoon snack, or as an after dinner sweet treat to keep cravings at bay.

Some black bean muffins are heavy and dense and are more like a brownie, but these are less like a brownie and are more "lighter" but still very filling thanks to all the natural read food ingredients. Similar is this Healthy Chocolate Chickpea Cake that is light and fluffy and low calorie!

Ingredient Notes

• Blackbeans:  Use whatever brand of canned blackbeans you have available.  Make sure to drain the brine and to rinse the beans under tap water to remove the liquid.  I find using a colander or metal strainer works well to strain the brine, rinse the beans
• Almond Meal:  this is the courser variety, not to be confused with almond flour which is much finer.  Using Almond meal helps to keep the muffins light and airy.  I have made them with almond flour and they tend to come out more dense, although still very delicious
• Banana:  this adds additional moistness and flavour to the muffins.  Make sure to use a very ripe banana.  The riper the better as it will also add sweetness as well.
• Eggs:  room temperature eggs are ideal, however straight from the fridge is fine too.  The eggs in this recipe help to really increase the protein factor.

• Cocoa Powder:  I use unsweetened cocoa powder which is generally available in the health food aisle at the supermarket.
• Dates:  Medjool dates are the best for this recipe as they are sweet, plump and juicy with a caramel like taste.  They also have a softer skin which makes them perfect for blitzing up so that they disappear into the muffin mixture.
• Sweetener:  I use the brand "Raw Earth" Brown Sweetener which looks like brown sugar and adds a lovely sweetness.  Alternatively you could also use white or golden Monkfruit sweetener that measures like sugar, or even granulated stevia that measures like sugar. I also use brown sweetener in these Sweet Potato Chocolate Muffins and it works a treat!
• Vanilla Essence:  this adds a layer of flavour and helps to disguise the blackbean taste
• Coffee:  I use instant coffee dissolved in water that has cooled down.  The coffee is an optional flavour add in, and I don't always use it.  It adds a richness and depth to the flavour but its not essential.
• Baking Powder:  this is essential to help the muffins rise.  If you haven't used your baking powder in over 4 or 5 months, its best to buy a new one as it looses its power over time.  Using baking powder that is past its best will leave you with muffins that are flat on top instead of that nice dome effect
• Spray Oil:  I use an olive oil spray which works well, but similarly a vegetable oil spray or coconut oil spray would work well.  Avoid using avocado oil spray, peanut oil spray or any kind of sesame oil.

How To Make

1. Preheat Oven:  Preheat fan oven to 180  C / 360 F
2. Soften Dates:  Microwave dates for 1 minute on high.
3. Make blackbean and date paste:  Add dates and drained and rinsed blackbeans to food processor and blitz for 30 seconds or until a rough paste is formed.

4. Add everything else and blitz:  Add remaining ingredients to food processor and blitz until combined and a chocolate batter has formed

5. Spoon into muffin cases:  Spray a two 6 hole silicone muffin trays with olive oil spray and spoon mixture evenly between each one
6. Bake for 25 mins at 180 degrees C / 360 F

Recipe Tips

• Soft Dates:  if your dates are already at room temperature and are quite soft, you can skip the microwave step.  Its only necessary if the dates have been in the fridge and are hard.
  • Make sure to remove the seed inside the date if you have not bought pitted dates.  Putting them into your food processor with the seed in will not go well.
• Coffee:  make sure to dissolve the coffee granules in water before adding to your batter otherwise it will have trouble mixing into the rest of the ingredients
• Scaling the recipe:  To make a half batch (6 muffins) or a double batch (24 muffins) use toggle in the recipe card and it will adjust the ingredients accordingly
• How To Store:  These muffins are best stored in an air tight container in the fridge as they are more moist than traditional flour based muffins.  They'll keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
• How To Freeze:  Wait till muffins have cooled to room temperature and them place them in ziplock bags.  Either one per bag, or multiple. 
• How To Defrost:  The best way is to let them come to room temperature naturally in the ziplock bag

Flavour Add Ins

• Chocolate Chips:  adding in sugar free white or dark chocolate chips is a great way to add even more chocolate flavour. If you;re craving a a healthy sugar free muffin without black beans, check out my Double Chocolate Chip Muffins.
• Dried Blueberries:  These add a tiny hit of sweetness and chocolate and blueberries work so well together.  About ½ cup is ideal to add to the batter after it has been blitzed in the food processor.  Just remove the blade and stir the blueberries through.
• Orange:  for a chocolate orange twist, grate the zest of an orange into the batter before blitzing
• Peanut Butter:  Add 2 tablespoons to the ingredients before blitzing to ensure its thoroughly mixed through
• Walnuts:  crumble 1 cup of walnuts and sprinkle on top of each muffin right before putting in the oven, or alternatively, add the crumbled walnuts to the batter after blitzing.  (make sure to remove the blade before stirring through)

If you've never tried black beans in your muffins, you will be very pleasantly surprised at how indulgent and satisfying these rich yet light chocolate black bean muffins are.  Because they're naturally sweetened and contain no sugars, honey or maple syrup, they are perfect for managing sweet cravings and will have you wondering why you waited so long to try them.