Chocolate Almond Butter Muffins

gluten free, dairy free, sugar free and delicious with your coffee!

Who doesn’t love a bit of chocolate? With the month of February upon us, it seems appropriate to entice the chocolate lover in all of us!

Why 2 options? Simply put, you may not like to bake with protein powder. I like to do this to not only add protein into my meals, but to also thicken recipes. This recipe is equally delicious with or without the protein powder. I also used 1/2 banana in option 1, however substituted a few dates and honey for the the banana in option 2. I did get a slight banana flavor in my first bite of the option 1 muffin.

These muffins keep well for 3 days covered at room temperature or for up to a week in the refrigerator (if they last that long!)

Option 1 Ingredients:
1 cup walnut halves
1/2 banana
4 pitted dates
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
blend- then add:
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup dark baking cocoa powder
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
topping:
dark chocolate almond butter
roasted sunflower seeds

Option 2 Ingredients:
1 cup walnut halves
6-8 pitted dates
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
blend- then add:
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup dark baking cocoa powder
topping:
dark chocolate almond butter
roasted sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 400°
Line your muffin pan with parchment wrappers- makes 12 muffins

In your food processor or blender, add ingredients in the order above on the ingredient list and process each time until well blended. Walnuts bake very nicely, if you like the nut pieces in your muffin, add all ingredients and pulse just until blended.