Chocolate Courgette Muffins (vegan, gluten-free)
These gluten-free and vegan Chocolate Courgette Muffins are delightfully decedent and incredibly moist.
Servings: 15 muffins
Calories: 331kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 250 g coconut milk
- 140 g coconut oil melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 300 g courgettes grated
- 350 g soft light brown sugar
- 200 g almond flour ground almonds in UK
- 125 g oat flour
- 70 g cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted /gas mark 4 / 350°F.
- Fill a muffin tin/s with 15 muffin liners.
- Prepare the chia egg by mixing the chia seeds with the 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Set aside for 5-10 minutes for the chia seeds to gel together.
- Place the grated courgette in the centre of a large piece of muslin, porous cloth or even into a nut milk bag. Using your hands, squeeze the excess water out of the courgettes. After this the grated courgettes should weigh about 250g. Set aside.
- Whisk together the almond flour, oat flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl then set aside for a moment.
- Pour the coconut milk and apple cider in a large bowl or food mixer and beat until the liquid is frothy.
- Add the melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, sugar, chia egg and grated courgette. Beat until well combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the liquid ingredients in two batches to ensure even combining.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin liners, filling each almost to the top.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins immediately from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Use a coconut milk that doesn’t have any thickeners, stablilisers or gums. The best one in the UK is the Biona brand.
- Almond Flour. This recipe calls for almond flour which is blanched and ground whole almonds (without their skin). In the UK this kind of flour is sold in most major UK supermarkets labelled 'ground almonds' in the baking aisle. To make sure you know which almond flour you are choosing then check against this article The Difference Between The Almond Flours.
- Oat flour substitute: you can switch out with sorghum flour or teff flour
- If you can’t find gluten-free oat flour then you can grind your own by using the equal weight of gluten-free rolled oats and grinding in your food processor. Since you’ll probably be unable to achieve as fine a grind the texture of the muffin will be slightly chewier but just as delicious.
- The best way to scoop the muffin batter into the muffin liners is to use an ice cream trigger scoop. Each muffin should contain about 2 generous scoops.
- The muffins will keep up to 5 days in a air tight tin in a cool dark place.
- These muffins freeze excellently. Freeze in a ziplock bag for up to 3 months and leave to defrost on the kitchen top thoroughly before consuming.
- Ingredient measurements: Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy. US customary measurements: These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups Nutrition information: Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification. The nutrition serving is for 1 muffin.
Nutrition
Calories: 331kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 276mg | Potassium: 279mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 40IU | Vitamin C: 3.7mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 2.4mg