Vegan Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 ºF. Prepare a muffin pan by coating with spray oil, or with liners.

Step 2

Mix the boiling water and cocoa powder together in a bowl to form a smooth paste.

Step 3

In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas until they form a smooth paste. If they aren't overripe and remain a little chunky you might want to consider using an immersion blender to blend the bananas to a silky smooth texture, otherwise you may end up with some light colored banana chunks in the final dark chocolatey muffins. As long as the bananas are ripe, this is only a visual problem, so blending is optional.

Step 4

Add the sugar, plant milk, oil, and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas and whisk until smooth.

Step 5

In a second large mixing bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine.

Step 6

When the oven is preheated, add the wet banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork or wooden spoon until the mixture is mostly mixed together but lumpy with some dry spots. Add the cocoa paste and mix until combined and batter is relatively smooth. Fold in most of the chopped chocolate, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the batter.

Step 7

Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 of the way full, then sprinkle the reserved chopped chocolate over each muffin. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 18-20 minutes or until the muffins have pulled away from the edge of the tin (if not using a liner). You can also test with a toothpick or a cake tester, but the chocolate chunks in the batter will make it hard to tell if it's done. A tester might pull out with some melted chocolate on it, but no wet batter and only a few crumbs should cling to it when done.

Step 8

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then pop them out and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.