Chocolate-Walnut Banana Muffins
These chocolate-walnut banana muffins are satisfying and slightly sweet, with dark chocolate, chopped macadamias, and just a touch of passionfruit flavor. Treat yourself to a batch of these tasty snacks!
Servings 12 muffins
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup mashed very ripe banana 1 ½ large, or 3-4 small apple bananas
- ¼ cup passionfruit juice or orange juice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup gluten-free baking flour I recommend King Arthur
- ¾ cup almond meal
- ¾ cup walnut meal grind in food processor
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chunks plus another 2 tablespoonfuls, chopped, for topping
- 2 tablespoons chopped macadamias or hazelnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C (325F) and grease muffin tin, or use muffin papers.
- Process the walnuts in the food processor until ground finely but not until they become walnut butter, about 1-2 minutes tops. Remove from the food processor into the bowl you’ll be using for the dry ingredients.
- Whisk together the coconut oil and honey until combined. Add both eggs and mix well. Add mashed bananas and passionfruit juice - stir in gently, and you can leave clumps of banana - it doesn’t need to be smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, stir the flour, almond meal, and walnut meal until just combined. Add the baking soda and salt and stir well, checking for lumps of baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring carefully but not overmixing. Gently fold in the dark chocolate chunks.
- Scoop evenly into muffin tin - you can fill nearly to the top of each muffin cup, as these do not rise very much. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with chopped chocolate and nuts.
- Bake 26-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. As ovens vary, the first time you make the recipe, check at 24 minutes.
Notes
If you are using Central American bananas (like Chiquita) they don’t need to be spotty/black, but the riper they are, the easier they will be to mash, and the more aromatic they will be. If you have the good fortune to have Apple bananas, the riper the better for ease of mashing, as Apple bananas are firmer than the Central American type.
I use an ice cream scoop to help get the same amount of batter into each muffin cup.