Description

Chocolate black bean muffins have black beans blended right into the batter – promise, you can’t taste them. They are fudgy, dark chocolate, and so delicious. They are quite a bit healthier than your average chocolate muffin.

Ingredients

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for muffin batter

1 15 ounce can black beans, drained, and well rinsed
3 large whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup plain, full fat, Greek yogurt (see notes)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons cinnamon
optional: 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar (or, coconut sugar – see notes)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

for mixing in

1 cup dark chocolate chips, divided

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Instructions

Prepare: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, and set aside.
Blend the batter: To a high speed blender, add the can of drained, and rinsed black beans, whole eggs, egg yolks, Greek yogurt, melted coconut oil, cinnamon, instant espresso powder (if using), baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, granulated sugar (or coconut sugar), cocoa powder, and vanilla extract – blend on medium-high speed, stopping to scrape down the sides once or twice, until the batter is smooth. Note: if you’re not using a high speed blender, then you might need to stop the blender a few times to give everything a really good stir, it may take a few minutes to get it there, but it will blend eventually. Just make sure the batter is nice and smooth.
stir in the chocolate chips: Use a spatula to stir the 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the batter (reserving 1/4 cup of them for topping). Even though it adds an extra dish to wash, I do like to transfer the batter into a large mixing bowl, and mix the chocolate chips in there. I found too many of the chocolate chips got left behind under the blade. However, either method works fine.
Portion out the batter: Measure out 1/4 cup of the batter into each muffin cavity of the muffin pan. I like to use a spring loaded ice cream scoop to make it extra easy. Top the muffins with a few of the reserved 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
Bake: Bake the muffins for 9 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Reduce the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake another 8 to 9 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins.
Cool: Allow the muffins to cool for at least 20 minutes before gently removing them from the pan.
Serve: The muffins are great served slightly warm, with the chocolate chips still melty. Or, if saving them for later allow them to cool completely, and for the chocolate chips to solidify and completely cool, on a wire cooling rack.
Store: To store the muffins, make sure they are completely cooled, and store them in an air tight container that has been lined with paper towels on the bottom, and on top of the muffins to soak up any excess moisture. Store at room temperature for 4 to 5 days.

Notes

Greek yogurt: I most often use fat free Greek yogurt in my recipes. However, in testing these muffins multiple times, I found that they were the most fudgy, and delicious, when I used full fat Greek yogurt. I think with the cocoa powder risks them drying out, so they need the extra lusciousness from the full fat yogurt. Make sure you use actual Greek yogurt, and not Greek style yogurt – the consistency should be very thick and not watery. My favorite brand is Fage.

Sugar: I tested this recipe using both coconut sugar, and granulated sugar. We found the one with the granulated sugar to have a better taste, and consistency. The 3/4 cup of sugar in these muffins really isn’t that much per serving, especially compared to most traditional chocolate muffin recipes. That being said, if you really preferer to use coconut sugar, than go for it. The muffins were still very good.

Dark chocolate chips: I used chocolate chips that have 60% cacao in them, which I like. If you’re trying to keep these muffins on the lower sugar side, then I recommend sticking with dark chocolate since they contain less sugar than milk chocolate does. However, if you really prefer milk chocolate chips, or bittersweet chocolate chips, then go for it. Just keep in mind that this alters the nutrition facts.