You’d never believe these fluffy, moist, and rich gluten-free muffins don’t contain any chocolate! Roasted carob is an ingredient that was once a very popular alternative to cacao in the health food world, but in recent years has fallen out of the spotlight. But fear not! There are many ways you can use carob as a satisfying chocolate replacement, or simply as a nutrient-dense and caffeine-free ingredient that holds its own.

Carob is naturally sweeter than cocoa, so you don’t need to add as much sweetener to recipes using carob powder as you would in one with cocoa. Because carob powder is made from roasted carob pods, these muffins have a delightfully toasty flavour.

We’re using this roasted carob powder from Indigo foods. You can find it in the baking section in the store!

While these totally pass as a breakfast-friendly baked good, they would also be excellent as cupcakes with the addition of a chocolate or vanilla frosting on top!

CAROB ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

You’ll need:

1 cup almond flour

½ cup brown rice flour

½ cup tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon pink salt

¼ teaspoon xanthan gum

½ cup roasted carob powder

1 free-range egg

2/3 cup unsweetened plant-based milk

1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or avocado or olive oil)

½ cup coconut palm sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 organic zucchini, finely grated (about 1 ½ cups)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 325*F, and prepare a muffin tin with liners of your choice.

In a large bowl, combine almond flour, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum and carob powder and mix well. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine egg, plant-based milk, oil, coconut sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar and mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Squeeze most of the excess water from the shredded zucchini and fold into batter.

Fill muffin cups with the batter and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when gently pressed.

We hope you love these extra tasty muffins. Please let us know if you give them a try by sharing a photo on Instagram and tagging us at @thepeanutmill!

Shop our online store for the recipe ingredients here!