Banana, Tahini & Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I first published these to my old blog 4 years ago, and they were a big hit, as you can see from some of the comments below.

These banana, tahini and chocolate chunk muffins are perfect for the banana lover. They are moist and fluffy and naturally sweetened by the pureed bananas and the addition of pure maple syrup which is balanced out by the tahini and dark chocolate chunks. They’re appreciated by adults and kids alike.

I’ve used both whole spelt flour and light splet flour successfully, I’ve also made them with apple sauce in place of the extra virgin olive oil and they result is equally delicious. The tahini adds enough fat to prevent them from being pasty. So if you prefer an oil free version, go ahead and use the apple sauce.

I fill the muffin tins all the way to the top to get extra high muffin tops and it produces 6 large muffins with a bit of lefover batter that I usually bake in a mini tart tin, like this because I only have a 6 slot muffin tin, but there is enough batter in there to make 8 muffins.

The cacao nibs add a nice crunch, but if you don’t have them, just leave them out, or substitute them with chopped walnuts or pecans.

The tahini flavour is very subtle, but it works very well. If you don’t like it or don’t have it on hand (shame on you), you can replace it with runny hazelnut butter.

Banana, Tahini & Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Author Nissrine Boufawaz @ HolisticNiss.com

• Time 30 minutes
• Difficulty Easy
• Servings 6-8
• Diet vegan, oil free option
• Category Dessert

Ingredients:

• 1.5 C (214g) Whole or Light Spelt Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp Pure Bourbon Vanilla Powder
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 C (230g) Mashed Bananas (3-4 small medium bananas)
• 1/4 C Maple Syrup
• 1/4 C Runny Tahini
• 1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil or 1/3 C Unsweetened Applesauce for an oil free version
• 1/4 C (32 g) Chopped Dark Chocolate (I used 4 squares Vivani 92% Coconut Sweetened Chocolate)
• 2 Tbsp Chopped Cacao Beans/Cacao Nibs (or chopped walnuts or pecans), optional
• 1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Method:

1. Grease muffin pan with oil and pre heat oven to 180 celsius.
2. Sift flour and combine with all dry ingredients, except chocolate and cacao nibs. Form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
3. Whisk together wet ingredients, including mashed bananas, but NOT the apple cider vinegar.
4. Pour wet ingredients into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until well combined and smooth without clumps. Do not over mix.
5. Fold in apple cider vinegar, cacao nibs and chocolate chunks.
6. Poor batter into well greased muffin tins and bake on the center rack for about 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note:

Total bake time may vary based on the oven. Do not open the oven to check the muffins until they have risen completely (approx 18-20 min). Check the centers with a toothpick, if it comes out clean, they are ready. If the toothpick comes out sticky and more time is needed return them to oven for another 5-7 min.