Vegan Beet Puree and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Today is the first Monday that I didn't have to set my alarm to go to my internship, and I'm not going to lie it felt great! I now have so much more time to create delicious recipes to share with all of you and I think I'm going to be eating and cooking a lot of yummy food for the next couple of weeks.

I had roasted a couple of very large beets last week and was finding it very difficult to eat them every day to use them up. I searched other ways to use roasted beets and found this muffin recipe. It may sound odd to put beet puree into muffins, but it mostly adds moisture to the muffins and makes them delicious.

If you absolutely love chocolate, these muffins will be heaven for you to eat for breakfast in the morning. They are so rich with chocolate because they are made with both cocoa powder and Ghirardelli chocolate chips. I highly recommend using the Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips (they're the best out there in my opinion).

If you don't have access to beet puree you can substitute it with applesauce, again the puree or applesauce just adds great moisture to the muffins. 

I'm actually writing this post while my boyfriend is next to me enjoying a couple of these muffins for breakfast. He loves them and so will you. Enjoy!

Vegan Beet Puree and Chocolate Chip Muffins:

(original recipe from: http://minimalistbaker.com/)

2 tablespoons flaxseed meal

5 tablespoons water

1 cup beet puree (can substitute with applesauce)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)

1/3 cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 375° and grease a muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl mix together the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. After 5 minutes, add the beet puree, oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, baking soda and salt and whisk for 45 seconds.
4. Add in the cocoa powder and flour and stir until combined. Do not overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips and spoon the batter into the muffin tin filling each tin 3/4 of the way full. Top with some more chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 17-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container.