Chocolate & Beetroot Muffins

Delicious, soft, chocolatey muffins! The beetroot flavour is subtle, but it makes for a super moist muffin!

I bake these often for my girls for their lunchboxes (I often omit the dark chocolate top or top them with a few pumpkin seeds instead for an extra nutrition boost). As a bonus, they freeze really well too! For convenience, use vacuum packed cooked beetroot.

Makes 9 - 12 muffins

CHOCOLATE & BEETROOT MUFFIN BATTER

beetroot (cooked), 120g - about 1 large beetroot

egg, 1

water, 125ml (1/2 cup)

oil, 80ml (1/3 cup) - use your preferred oil - I like grapeseed or olive oil

yoghurt (unsweetened Greek style), 125g (125ml or 1/2 cup)

sugar (brown or granulated), 110g (about 125ml or 1/2 cup)

flour (plain/all-purpose), 150g (250ml or 1 cup) - cake wheat flour in South Africa

cocoa powder, 35g (80ml or 1/3 cup)

bicarbonate of soda/baking soda, 5ml (1 teaspoon)

TOPPING - OPTIONAL

dark chocolate (50% - 70%), 100g

To start, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line a 12-hole muffin tin with baking cups (or grease well with butter).

In a large bowl, finely grate the cooked beetroot (I usually oven roast beetroot whole in foil, so I trim the ends and rub the skins off once cooked and cooled before grating).

Add the wet ingredients including the sugar and whisk to combine.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and whisk again until uniform.

Divide the mixture among the baking cups (leaving room in the baking cups for the muffins to rise while baking).

Roughly chop the dark chocolate and top each muffin with a few chunks.

Bake the muffins for about 15 - 20 minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out fairly clean - these muffins are super moist, so a bit of cake mixture might stick to the skewer, as long as it isn’t raw cake batter).

Remove the baked muffins from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

These freeze really well in an airtight container for up to three months.