In this post, I share a delicious coconut-based chocolate choc-chips muffins recipe. It’s grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free. Plus, why use coconut flour and tips for baking with it.
Health Benefits of Coconut Flour?
- Coconut flour is lower in carbohydrates than wheat and other grain flours, which helps balance blood sugar and improve satiety
- Coconut flour is higher in fiber. This recipe yields about 3 grams of fiber per muffin from coconut flour alone
- Good alternative if you’re following a gluten-free and/or grain-free diet and can’t use almond flour
I decided to challenge myself and try to make these muffins nut-free and dairy-free as well. I often have patients with nut allergies or dairy sensitivities. And for people with autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, dairy-free diet is recommended (read more here).
They’re not the same regular muffins made from wheat flour you get from your local bakery. Still, they were pretty good! Moist and light.
I don’t usually use too much sugar and the amount of maple syrup in this recipe was just right for us. Try it with this amount first. If you need your muffins to be sweeter, add more maple syrup (a tablespoon or two) next time.
Learn how to identify the REAL causes of your gut problems.
Baking with Coconut Flour
There are a couple of tricks when baking with coconut flour.
- It’s a dense flour that will absorb a lot of liquid. Make sure you add a lot of liquid ingredients. That’s why I opted for maple syrup, mashed ripe bananas, and coconut milk.
- Coconut flour doesn’t contain the proteins found in grain flours, which means it will not behave similarly in baking. You have to shape the baked good the way you want it to come out looking like. The muffins will rise, but not like your regular muffins, so make sure shape them nicely. Fill the muffins cups almost all the way to the top.
- Store coconut flour in the fridge. It’s a fat, and fats will go bad if not used timely.
[magicactionbox id=”5447″]
Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 cup coconut milk (See notes below)
- 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, use dairy-free dark chocolate for dairy-free muffins)
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with some melted coconut oil (when I used paper muffin cups, they stuck to the paper).
- Combine coconut flour, baking soda, and coconut powder in a small bowl. Use a fork or your hands to break any clumps in the coconut flour or cocoa powder.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the vanilla, maple syrup, coconut oil, coconut milk, mashed banana, and apple cider vinegar.
- Add the dry ingredients and combine well.
- Fold in the chocolate chips if adding them.
- Spoon batter into the muffin cups almost all the way to the top (the batter will not rise a lot).
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
