Deliciously Ella’s Chocolate Banana Muffins

I absolutely love a banana muffin, they’ve been a favourite throughout my life and paired with chunks of melted dark chocolate and roasted walnuts they are just perfect: soft, fluffy, sweet and so easy to make. If you don’t want twelve muffins, just halve the mix and make six, which will see you through a week’s worth of afternoon snacks!

Makes 12
Ingredients

• 3 large overripe bananas (about 350g, peeled weight)
• 150ml almond or oat milk
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 4 tablespoons cacao powder
• 200g spelt flour
• 100g coconut (or brown) sugar
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 80g dark chocolate (we like 70 cocoa solids)
• about 12 walnuts (or pecans), roughly chopped or broken (if you want to make these nut free leave these out)

1. Preheat the oven to fan 180°C fan and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cases.
2. Chop the dark chocolate into chunks, roughly the size of a chocolate chip.
3. Mash the bananas in a large bowl using a fork, until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the almond milk, coconut oil, cacao powder, spelt flour, coconut sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt, then stir until a smooth batter forms.
5. Stir the dark chocolate into the mixture. I always keep a small handful of it back so that I can put it on top of the muffins, as it makes them look even more chocolatey and delicious.
6. Spoon 2 tablespoons of mixture into each muffin case, scatter over some walnuts, if using, and add a little piece of chocolate to the top.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, then leave the muffins to cool for 10–15 minutes before serving.

Recipe extracted from Deliciously Ella Quick & Easy.