Want a treat but need more veggies? Make my Paleo Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins with Hidden Veggies to do it all in one bite!
There’s something you should know about me. I like shortcuts. Maybe call me a bit lazy, or maybe just say I have a strong desire for efficiency. Either way, my secret’s out.
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I have snuck veggies into delicious treats before. In fact, I was so successful at my first attempt, some people have even served up a helping of spinach at their kids’ birthday parties without anyone knowing with THIS RECIPE. The perfect revenge on kids who hate green foods if I do say so myself.
I had another idea this weekend while I was taking another shortcut. I was making my instant coffee, yes instant, and realized that a muffin was on the horizon. I mean, my hands are tied, what choice did I really have?
So yes, instant coffee. I’ve been making it for awhile now because honestly mornings during the school year are like me literally trying not to lose my mind and have a nervous breakdown all before 8am. So I learned that if I am to properly caffeinate, sometimes I need to be lazy. I mean efficient. I have two brands of instant coffee I use regularly, THIS one and THIS one. Both are organic and get the job done, especially when I combine them with my dairy free creamer and collagen I can join the human world again without collapsing.
The other “efficiency” in this recipe is to add in veggies where there otherwise would have been only a treat. I used cauliflower in this one and the texture is absolutely perfect and nobody will know you’d find nutrition in there! So now you’ve got the antioxidant power of cocoa powder, coffee, AND cauliflower all in one little muffin. Who knew a muffin could add 20 years to your life. <<wink>>
Paleo Mocha Chocolate Chip Muffins with Hidden Veggies
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup dairy free milk
- 1/4 cup olive or avocado oil (or melted ghee or melted coconut oil)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/ teaspoon 100% vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1.25 cups cassava flour
- 1 cup “riced” cauliflower (raw)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch sea salt
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup fair trade dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Place muffin liners into a muffin tin (this makes around 12)
- Combine wet ingredients in a blender and turn on low for around 30 seconds
- Add in the other ingredients except for the chocolate chips and blend at medium speed or until the batter is smooth without lumps
- Stir in the chocolate chips by hand
- Distribute the batter evenly in the muffin cups and bake for around 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
- Serve warm or freeze for later
I love your blog, I love your recipes and I can’t wait to make these muffins. I have a Costco size bag of frozen riced cauliflower that I haven’t used yet. I should probably thaw a cup and squeeze out the excess liquid, but think I’ll try it in these muffins. The instructions clearly so “raw” so this experiment is on me. I’ll try to remember to report back with my results. ?
If you just try from frozen it just may have a bit more moisture you’d need to “bake off” with a little extra time in the oven. Otherwise they still could work with frozen cauli!
Just wanted to follow up and let you know I finally made these muffins tonight using frozen riced cauli and it worked like you said. They are delicious! Thank you again!
★★★★★
Intrigued by the idea of cauli rice in the batter AND appreciative of a Nut-Free grain-free Paleo muffin, I made these straight away. Suffice it to say that the entire dozen was GONE in 10 mins flat, and we only had four people home at the time. The flavor is incredible and both the rise and cake-crumb are perfect. Once again, a perfect winner from PP!
★★★★★
Hi Jennifer- I’ve had these bookmarked since you posted them and I was finally able to make them as snacks to bring on vacation. I really like them!! I’m glad to see a hidden veggie that surprised me! I was unsure about the texture at first because they were both moist and chewy, but I dig it! I like the texture I just wasn’t sure if it’s what you intended?? but I am into it. As usual, these taste even better the next day in my opinion.
The only change I made was subbing brewed coffee for some of the liquid because I didn’t have instant— which works great!
Thanks for another delicious nut free treat!
★★★★
Glad to hear your enjoyed them. I didn’t notice any chewiness myself but that’s very interesting!
These look AMAZING! I have cassava flour but usually bake in gram measurements for accuracy (I’ve found it can be very dry if you use too much). Do you know how many grams would be in 1 1/4 cups? Thanks!
Could I use cold brown rice instead of the cauli?….I don’t to
Erase brassicas well, they sure look like my kind of muffin ?
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it before! Let me know if it works!
Ok, so when this was mixed up and I looked a the “batter” I assumed something horribly wrong. I couldn’t imagine the issue would be with the recipe because your recipes are excellent. Duh. So I assumed it was me and my frozen cauli rice. But I went ahead and put them in the oven and, though I did have to cook them considerably longer than 25 minutes, they are excellent! Like always. Thank you!!
★★★★★
To clarify, it seemed wrong because it was very thin, more like chocolate milk than batter. Should’ve said that.
Looking forward to making these but had question. Do you use the dry instant coffee or do you use coffee made from the instant coffee
I use dry instant coffee. Thanks Connie!