Chocolate Squash Muffins (dairy, gluten, soy, egg free)

The problem with most "sneaky vegetable" recipes is that they tend to mask unwanted veggies with a lot of unhealthy ingredients- it kinda defeats the purpose. This recipe from Tenderfoodie.com tastes great, is moist and incorporates many healthy foods. I reduced the amount of sweetener from the original recipe but still found them to be a little too sweet. If you are conscious about your sugar intake, play around with the honey- there are no eggs in the recipe so the batter is safe to try!

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups butternut squash or acorn squash (roasted and peeled)
• 1 small banana (or half of a large one)
• 4 TBS ground flax mixed with 8 TBS filtered water & left for 5 minutes to gel (this is your egg replacer)
• ½ cup almond butter (can also use a nut-free sunflower butter)
• ½ cup honey (or sweeten to taste)
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup carob powder (or raw cocoa) 
• ½ cup coconut flour (exactly - sift out the lumps before you measure)
• ½ TBS of cinnamon 
• 1-teaspoon gluten-free, aluminum-free baking powder
• 1-teaspoon baking soda
• 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract (I like alcohol free)
• ¼ teaspoon of sea salt

 

Directions

1. Vent the squash by poking poke several holes in it with a knife. Then roast the squash whole at 425 degrees for about 1 hour or until a knife easily pierces through the centre.  Cool and cut in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.  Then scrape out the flesh and measure 2 cups. 
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Grease a 12 muffin tin with coconut oil
4. In a food processor or high speed blender, combine the squash, banana, almond butter, flax seed mixture, honey, and coconut oil. Add the vanilla. Blend well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the coconut flour, carob powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt, then add it to the wet ingredients and blend well.
6. Scoop into the muffin cups filling to the top.
7. Bake for 35 minutes.