These double chocolate lentil muffins have a hidden dose of protein in the form of red lentil puree! A deliciously healthier treat.
So, you may be saying to yourself…lentils and chocolate? Huh?
Let me explain. A long time ago, Baby Bee reacted to some red lentil soup. This was back in the day when we didn’t know about any of his tree nut allergies, and it was quite shocking to see him react to a simple bowl of soup. He got some hives, some swelling, and he was very fussy. We took him to the doctor and she saw him immediately, and gave a dose of steroids. Very quickly, he felt better and looked much better, too.
Later that year, we had him tested for a lentil allergy, and although a skin test was negative, our allergist recommended that we go ahead and do a food challenge in office. So, knowing how he is, and knowing that we needed to actually complete all the steps of the food challenge in order to pass, I decided I would bake the lentils into something delicious. I knew if I tried to do lentil soup or a lentil burger, there was a much higher chance that halfway through he would say, no thanks, that’s enough! But I have yet to see him refuse chocolate, so I decided to be sneaky.
I’ve made black bean cupcakes and black bean brownies before, so I thought it would be pretty easy to hide some lentils in some muffins.
And it was! Baby Bee gobbled two of these up at the lentil challenge, and the good news is, he passed with flying colors! I’m excited to be able to introduce him to more lentil dishes, like lentil soup and mujadara.
I’ve made these a few times now, and you can’t taste the lentils at all. They do make these muffins extra filling though! One is enough for me. Both boys love these, and I love that they are getting a little bit of extra protein and fiber.
Double Chocolate Lentil Muffins.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cooked red lentils
- 5 Tablespoons organic canola oil
- ⅔ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup water
- 7 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ⅓ cup gluten free flour blend or white spelt flour if you are not gluten free
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
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Place ¾ cup of cooked red lentils in a food processor and pulse until they are smooth. (If you have really cooked your lentils down until they are mush, you can skip this step and mash with a fork, but I have tried it both ways and I think the result is better if you use the food processor).
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Place the red lentil puree in a bowl and add the organic canola oil, sugar, water, and cocoa powder. Stir well.
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Add the gluten free flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir well until combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir again.
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Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 17-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
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Cool muffins on a wire rack.
These muffins are a great way to use up leftover lentils. I have not tried using green lentils in this recipe – red lentils work well because they get so soft when you cook them. I have made these muffins using gluten free flour, and using spelt flour. Both work very well. I used King Arthur Multi-Purpose Gluten Free flour and they turned out very tender and not heavy or dense.
Have you tried sneaking beans or lentils into your baked goods?
Deeksha
This look so yummy. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Erin
These were delicious!! I used white flour only because I was out of spelt and melted coconut oil. I did up the amounts of sugar for a slightly sweeter muffin!! My kiddos were licking the bowls. Yum!!!
LARA Klapper
Can you swap black beans?
E
Have you tried or thought about using only the lentil flour/lentil puree? so triple the amount you used and skip the GF flour?
Kelly Roenicke
I have not tried that, if you do, let me know how it goes!
Julia Dennis
I have made these a couple of times, and it is a great recipe! Instead of thd gluten free flours I just used whole wheat flour, and it worked well. I had to add just a bit extra water, but they have turned out well! I also did it once using blended oats instead of the flour and that worked out too!
Thanks for posting this, I like muffin recipes that leave out egg/egg substitutes.
Julie
These look great! Would love if you had nutritional information on the page!
Kelly Roenicke
I have just switched to a new recipe plug in, and soon all recipes will have nutrition facts!
Julia
These are great! I used green lentils because I didn’t have red ones. I also added vanilla, and I was really low on flour so I used half flour half rolled oats. They are great! My husband and my son both love them.
Kelly Roenicke
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that news, thanks for sharing!
Julia Dennis
Do you think it would work ok with green lentils?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, that’s fine! I see you tried it that way, sorry it took a few days to respond!
momversusfoodallergy
What a great recipe to sneak healthy lentils into our kids….and ourselves! Yum!
Kelly
Thanks, Rachel!
Sharon Wong
I love red lentils, what a great idea to add it to muffins! I really need to cook with beans more. I will need to check out some of your other healthy easy recipes.
Kelly
Thanks, Sharon!
Katie @ Produce on Parade
Omg, can’t wait to try these! Always trying to get more lentils in! :) This is awesome.
Kelly
Thank you, Katie!
Strength and Sunshine
Yay for lentils!!! These are fabulous!!!
Kelly
Thank you!
EBL Food Allergies
Your pictures are GORGEOUS! What a great way to pack in some protein to my all favorite flavor, chocolate!
Kelly
Thank you so much! :)
KeeleyMcGuire
What a great fiber packed recipe!
Kelly
Thank you!