Brownie Batter Banana Bread Muffins

Brownie Batter Banana Bread Muffins - These double chocolate banana bread muffins are delightful treats made with whole food ingredients for a guiltless pleasure. Paleo-friendly, grain-free, dairy-free, and naturally low in sugar. 

Who doesn’t love a fun mashup! *No pun intended! I have combined my two favorites into one magnificent treat, paleo banana bread, and chocolate! And while I may have used different ingredients, these muffins are still paleo-friendly and naturally lower in sugar. 

What I love about these muffins, is that they arguably taste like dessert! It’s hard to believe they are nutritious enough to be considered a snack, pre-workout fuel, or a great addition to your morning smoothie! 

Bonus: these muffins freeze beautifully! The reason why I point that out is that these are now my go-to snack. I just pop one muffin in the microwave for 20 sec, or leave one out to thaw, a dollop of dairy-free unsweetened yogurt, and top with fresh bluebs and cinnamon. The best sweet snack!

As I said earlier, these muffins honestly taste like a dessert! But if you would like a more substantial muffin, then add ½ cup gluten-free oats to the batter. You can tell in the pictures which one is the oatmeal muffin version. Both are tasty and satisfying! 

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with! 

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Brownie Batter Banana Bread Muffins - These double chocolate banana bread muffins are delightful treats made with whole food ingredients for a guiltless pleasure. Paleo-friendly, grain-free, dairy-free, and naturally low in sugar. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup paleo flour

• 2 large bananas (ripe)

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips

• ¼ cup avocado oil

• ¼ cup coconut sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 tbsp dairy-free unsweetened yogurt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp pink himalayan sea salt

• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Optional: heartier muffin, add ½ cup GF oats

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray or add muffin liners to a muffin tin (about 10). 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients minus the chocolate chips. 

3. In a separate bowl, mash bananas using a fork until you get a smooth and liquid consistency. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips. 

5. Divide batter evenly into muffin tins, sprinkle each muffin with a few more chocolate chips and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. 

6. Cool muffins for 5 min then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Muffins are best served warm and even better the next day. Makes about 10 muffins.

Notes

• If you want a heartier muffin, add ½ cup GF oats! Just make sure the batter is still a pourable consistency and not too dry and thick. If it is, then slowly add in yogurt.

• Muffins are freezer friendly! Simply place in a ziplock bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, microwave for 20-30 seconds or thaw out. 

• Ingredient brands I love for this recipe: paleo flour, dark chocolate chips, yogurt. 

Superfood Dark Chocolate Bark

A healthy chocolate treat that will satisfy any sweet tooth!

Any sweet tooth's out there?! Me, me, me!! My sweet tooth is bad, especially during the holidays. I’m all about balance and intuitive eating but when it comes to sweets, I have zero control! I work at a university so for the past two weeks there has been at least one sweet item in the break room. When my pants started to feel a little tighter than usual, I decided to put an end to it!

To satisfy my sweet tooth without feeling guilty, I created a superfood dark chocolate bark that is super easy to make and is loaded with all the good things, sans added sugar, dairy, and gluten.

The dark chocolate base is made with only 4 ingredients: dark chocolate, maca powder, quinoa, and MCT oil. Quality dark chocolate is quite nutritious as it contains high amounts of fiber, iron, magnesium, and copper. Not only is maca powder popular for increased energy levels and vitality, it provides a sweet “honeycomb” flavor to the chocolate.

Toasted quinoa provides a nutty crispy texture to your bark while providing high amounts of protein and fiber.

MCT oil is easily absorbed throughout the body providing your body an instant source of energy that can be converted into ketones to fuel your brain. I like using this brand: Sports Research

Not only is the base full of superfood ingredients, so are the toppings! I used a random mix of just about everything but you could use whatever you have in your pantry. For example, I used bee pollen, goji berries, cashews, cacao nibs, pepitas, and coconut flakes.

This bark is rather bitter but with a honeycomb undertone. If you prefer your bark a little sweeter, then gradually add 1 Tbsp of pure maple syrup or honey until desired sweet flavor. If you do not have MCT oil, you can use coconut oil instead. Coconut oil does not replace MCT oil as far as nutrition, it just provides an oily consistency that you need when melting the bark.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Ingredients

• 1 bag (10 oz) organic dark chocolate

• ½ cup quinoa

• 2 Tbsp MCT oil (or coconut oil)

• 1 tsp maca powder

Toppings

Cashews, almonds, pistachios, goji berries, cacao nibs, bee pollen, chia seeds, coconut flakes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread quinoa in a single layer.

3. Toast quinoa in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until lightly brown and toasted.

4. While the quinoa is in the oven, melt chocolate by placing the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and nuking the bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments.

5. When the chocolate is completely melted, add the toasted quinoa, MCT oil, and maca powder. Stir to combine.

6. Transfer chocolate mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread chocolate using the back of a spoon to spread it out into a rough rectangle.

7. Scatter toppings over the chocolate while it is still warm. Feel free to get creative!

8. Place baking sheet in the fridge for up to 1 hour or until the chocolate has set.

9. Use a sharp knife to chop the slab into rough pieces.

10. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.