Orange and chocolate are a great combination, and there are lots of local oranges at the moment. I buy up battered bananas for baking and keep them frozen in 200g portions ready for baking. Too good to waste and generally never as bruised on the inside as you’d expect from their brown exterior. Cranberries work well but I suspect chopped dates, sultanas or apricots would be just as good.
Chocolate orange and cranberry muffins
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
I’m using my ‘air roaster’ for most of my baking so I’m scaling things for nine muffins which fit in a cut-down silicon muffin pan quite nicely. As these rely on the chemical reaction of acid / alkaline ingredients you need to get the mixture into the pan and into the oven as quickly as possible after mixing the wet and dry mixtures to get a good rise.
Author: Rachel Knight
Recipe type: Baking, Vegan
Serves: 9
Ingredients
- 250g wholemeal flour (I use spelt flour)
- ¼ cup cocoa
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 2 very ripe bananas (about 200g banana flesh) peeled and chopped
- 150g orange (weighed including skin) unpeeled and cut into about 12 chunks
- ¼ cup raw sugar
- 1 tbsp lecithin granules (optional but I prefer the texture and makes release from tins easier)
- 1 tbsp chia seeds soaked in ½ cup plant milk for 30 minutes
Instructions
- Put the flour into a large mixing bowl, sift in the cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
- Add the cranberries and mix well.
- Put the banana, orange chunks (including skin), sugar, lecithin (if using) chia seeds and plant milk in a blender or liquidiser.
- Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides a couple of times with a spatula.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Mix and divide between nine muffin mounds
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until firm and browned.