Double Chocolate Muffins

These muffins come on the tail end of a streak of cooking disasters. Ok, maybe disaster is a bit melodramatic. But, there have been a series of mishaps. The quinoa recipe where I forgot to buy the quinoa. Forgetting the ginger to make chai. And then getting everything out to make chocolate muffins on a rainy afternoon to realize I was short on apple sauce, brown rice flour and almond flour. I forged ahead anyway and made a terrible batch of muffins. Meet my stubborn streak.

I kept thinking...what went wrong? Well, for one thing not having all the ingredients in proper amounts is an obvious answer. Still, the flavor was way off. Then, it hit me one morning: the wrong cocoa powder! I used a dark dutch processed cocoa. No bueno. You need enough acid to react with the baking soda and dutch processed cocoa is neutral, so the muffins were dense and gummy.

Back to the kitchen I went because I was determined that second breakfast needed to include a chocolate treat. Too, it just so happens that there is a holiday coming up that I think these would be perfect for. I'm not much for holidays, in general, but I do like any excuse to celebrate with food. Enjoy! 

Double Chocolate Muffins
makes 12, adapted from Giada's Feel Good Food

A small note, you can be generous with the 1/2 cup of apple sauce. And if you don't want to use butter, I think olive oil would be a good substitute.

1 cup brown rice flour (140 grams)
1/2 cup almond flour (50 grams)
1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (40 grams) 
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick grass-fed butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce (see below)
1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 bag (6 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350', Line muffin with paper liners or grease well. 

In a medium bowl, mix together brown rice flour, almond, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. 

Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat until very foamy and just starting to get a touch more pale (1-2 minutes). Add vanilla. Mix together apple sauce and maple syrup. Add to eggs and slowly drizzle in the butter as you whisk the mixture together. Add dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Scoop into muffin pan. Bake for about 25 minutes until tops just begin to crack and toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Let cool 5 minutes in tin and then remove to rack. 

Applesauce

1 lb apples, cut into 1/2 inch dice  *I used Gala and Golden Delicious
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Combine apples and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on a simmer for 20-25 minutes. Blend until smooth. Add in lemon juice. This will make more than you need for the recipe. You can freeze the rest or mix into oatmeal.