Mini Chocolate Spinach Breakfast Muffins
Think a smoothie is the only way to get your greens in during the first meal of the day? Think again. You'll enjoy these savory little nuggets while reaping the benefits of the cocoa, walnuts and spinach. With no added sugar or oil, you can pop these all day long.
Ingredients
Setup
- 1 tablespoon ground flax
- 2 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1 3/4 cup of soy milk
- 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- couple of pinches of sea salt
- 1 cup of chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed to get any remaining water out
- 1 cup of date paste*
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 350- degrees F.
In a small bowl (or a ramekin) add the flax and the water, stir and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
Add the apple cider vinegar to the milk and briefly stir. Allow this to sit for a few minutes and it will curdle a bit, becoming your "buttermilk".
To a large bowl, add the flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda and salt. Whisk well.
In a separate bowl, add the spinach, date paste, vanilla, flax mixture and buttermilk. Mix well.
Create a well in the dry mixture bowl and slowly pour in the wet contents and mix with a spatula. Do not over mix.
Fold in the walnuts.
Line a mini muffin tray with paper liners or quickly spray pan with a non-stick baking spray. With your hands or a spoon, pick off a little of the mix and fill the muffin tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Makes roughly 28 mini muffins.
If you are making regular size muffins, bake for 20 minutes and this makes 12-14 muffins.
Placed in a freezer safe bag, the muffins will keep for about 6 weeks, frozen.
*To make date paste, add pitted dates to a blender and slowly drizzle in warm water to get everything moving. Blend until you achieve a thick, creamy and smooth texture.
