Ketogenic Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cocoa Hazelnut Spread

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with a twist

 

 

Hello.  In today’s post I am going to share a recipe of amazing low-carb, keto-friendly banana chocolate chip muffins.

I changed an original recipe, because well – what’s the fun in making the same thing over and over again, right?  Lol.  I also ran out of some ingredients and had to improvise.  Like one of my friends said: Laziness causes creativity and progress.

Why these muffins?

My son is approaching his teens and like many kids his age he started getting pimples, eating like 2 people and, unfortunately, gaining weight.

He is a super picky eater, although I must admit things are getting better, he is trying a variety of foods now, including salads and vegetables (yey!!!!!)

However, he LOVES baked goods like brownies, muffins, crackers, bread and so on.  My almost teenager takes about two carb snacks (along with other foods) for school lunch.

So, I decided to start making homemade baked goods with low-carb flours in hopes that my boy can still enjoy the food he loves without overloading on carbs.

My philosophy does not include approach: you either eat what you are told, or go hungry.  I always like to think first if I would like if somebody forced on me whatever I am about to force on my kid.  For example, I would definitely be upset and angry, if somebody tried to give me an ultimatum and tell me that I can either eat a food I don’t like or go hungry.

That is why, I’d rather to find ways to make his favourite food to be a healthier one, then telling him he should stop eating it altogether.

 

I’ve had few successes and fails so far.  Today, I would like to share one of my biggest successes and post a recipe of delicious muffins that became a “you must bake them, mom” snack in our home.

Transformation of original recipe to recipe with cocoa-hazelnut spread (yummy)!

Original recipe listed  ½ cup of almond butter.  I made muffins this way few times and they were a great hit with my family and friends.

However, one day, I promised to my son that I will make these muffins and later realized that I ran out of almond butter.  I was so super lazy to go to the store, I decided to improvise.

This is when I decided to substitute almond butter with regular butter and cocoa-hazelnut spread. Since recipe called for ½ cup volume; I combined two ingredients to make for recommended amount.  This is how I ended up with ¼ cup of one ingredient and ½ cup of another.

Adding Xanathan Gum

When I bake or cook with gluten-free flours, I always add xanthan gum.  I tried to cook and bake so many pies, muffins, pancakes and so on without adding either psyllium husk or xanthan gum and the end product always turned as a fiasco.  It was breaking and crumbling like crazy.

After many tries I found that xanthan gum is better than psyllium husk because: a) it holds ingredients stronger, b) you need a very small amount in comparison to psyllium husk.

I know that some people are uneasy about using xanthan gum.  In this case you could add extra 1 or 2 egg , this will hold your baked/cooked goods better.

Fast forwarding to the results, I must admit that muffins with cocoa-hazelnut spread turned out to be super delicious.  It is such an amazing combination of bananas, cocoa, hazelnut and chocolate chips.  According to my husband, these muffins got a “special kick” which made them very unique and flavourful.  My son is not big on compliments; he just requested to make these types of muffins “all the time”.  I am taking it as a compliment J

If this recipe looks very complicated for you, please, do not feel overwhelmed.  It is super easy and fast to make.

 

 

RECIPE

Ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (you can do it either with fork or a hand mixer)

3 eggs

½ cup of coconut flour

1 tea spoon of xanthan gum

1 tea spoon of baking soda

1 tea spoon of baking powder

¼ cup of olive oil (or vegetable oil)

Pinch of salt

Chocolate chips – optional, I always put them because my whole family loves them

Plus either one:

·         ½ cup of almond butter (or peanut butter, I personally like almond butter better)

·         ¼ cup of regular butter, melted + ¼ cup of cocoa-hazelnut spread (Nutella or it could be any other brand)

Steps:

1.        Turn on your oven and set it to 360-370 degrees F

2.       Mix dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum in small glass bowl.  Set aside.

3.       Mix well wet ingredients: mashed bananas, eggs, olive oil and almond butter (or melted butter + cocoa-hazelnut spread).

4.       Add chocolate chips to wet ingredients, stir well.

5.       Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mix well.

6.       Grease muffing cups with butter or olive oil and fill with muffin batter, leaving about 1 cm from the top (muffins will rise while baking, you would want to allow some room for that).

7.       Place your muffins into heated oven and leave baking for about 30 min until.  Insert a clean, dry knife into a baked muffin and see if knife blade comes out dry and clean.  If it does, your muffins are ready.  Otherwise let them bake for another 10 minutes.

8.       Remove tray with muffins from the oven and let your muffins cool off on the counter for about 15 minutes.

9.       Do not remove muffins from their cups until they cool off, otherwise they could easily break halves and crumble.

 

That’s it.  Believe me, it is very easy and it would probably take you longer to read than to actually prepare the batter for muffins (cannot do anything for baking part, it will take time :)).

I find that these muffins dry fast, so keep them covered.

 

You could also read how to cook with no wheat low-carb flours and how to make delicious zucchini pancakes with almond or coconut flour.

 

P.S.  I always use silicone trays and cups for my baking.  I find that they are completely non sticky and I do not need to use parchment paper or grease too much.  You can easily find silicone trays on amazon (this is an affiliate link; that means that if you make a purchase, I might receive a small commission at no extra cost to you).  I’ve been using mine for years I have no worries about anything sticking to a tray.