Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Blender Muffins

I really, really, really love Pinterest. Aside from the abundance of food porn & amazing crafts, I've also found many a fascinating tips and tricks. In fact, most of the baking tricks I know, I've learned from recipes I've found on Pinterest. Case in point...these AMAZING Blender Muffins!

I can honestly say, I've never, EVER considered mixing something up for baking in a blender. Maybe that's because my blender is absolute crap or maybe because my brain doesn't think outside the "bowl" (see what I did there? Like "outside the box" but BOWL, because, well, you get it). Either way, this way of preparing is amazing. Little to no mess, everything is contained and it makes for a very rich and velvety texture.

These mini muffins are amazing. There is NO refined flour, sugar, butter (the banana acts as the butter) or any dairy for that matter. That means they are gluten & dairy free. The best part? They taste like the most decadent dessert. They are actually so rich, you'll probably only need to eat just one to satisfy your chocolate craving (whether at breakfast or after dinner). Also, I love that no special ingredients are required...you'll probably have everything you need, already at home!

I highly recommend you try out this recipe!

[On a side note, I've started training for my next half marathon (Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon) that takes place on October! I'll be posting about my training over the next coming months so if you have any questions about it, shoot me an email (runningtobake@gmail.com), I'd love to answer it in my upcoming posts!]

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Blender Muffins

from Averie Cooks

makes about 16 mini muffins

Ingredients:

1 medium/large ripe banana, peeled

1 large egg

1/2 cup heaping with creamy peanut butter (best to go with regular peanut butter, not natural for this one)
1/3 cup cocoa powder

3 tbsp honey (maple syrup would work as well)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + more for sprinkling 

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 2 mini muffin pans with non-stick spray or line with mini muffin wrappers. 

In a blender (or food processor, or with a hand blender) combine banana, egg, peanut butter, cocoa powder, honey, vanilla, baking soda and salt and blend until creamy and smooth. Takes about 1 minute or so. Since my blender is not the best, I had to stop and mix with a wooden spoon once or twice to make sure everything combined properly. 

Remove blender from stand and stir in the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Mini ones would probably work best, but I only had regular size on hand and they were fine.

Using a tablespoon, spoon mixture into muffin tins, filling up about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of the muffins and press in lightly with your finger tips. 

Put in oven and bake for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on your oven, the ripeness of the banana and size of the tins (I have 2 different sizes of "mini" muffin tins). Mine took about 12 minutes to cook, just make sure you watch them. They're ready when the tops are springy to the touch and a tooth pick is inserted and comes out clean. 

Allow to cool in the tins for 15 minutes (if you can!) then transfer to a wire rack. You may need to loosen the edges with a knife in order for them to pop out cleanly. 

Store up to 5 days in an airtight container or 6 months in the freezer (HA! Like they'll last that long). 

Enjoy! These are truly delicious!