Low Fat Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

I have a cold. I need nourishment! I've had an up and down day, I've felt pretty crappy, and have stayed in my PJs - its 4:30pm. I need chocolate, antioxidants, something baked. I have some great chocolate, and cocoa nibs, and I'm going to use them!

I went on a trip down to Margaret River recently and paid Gabriels Chocolates a visit. They were the very first single origin bean to bar chocolate maker in WA, and a visit to their factory in Yallingup is worth it!

When you walk in the first thing you notice is the smell - it's awesome! You can try their chocolates, read the tasting notes on the back of the packet, see the cocoa beans and nibble on the crushed cocoa nibs. 

The woman working there has told us cocoa nibs has 300 times the amount of antioxidants than blueberries! That is crazy good for you! I grabbed a bag straight away! A quick google confirms the cocoa nibs status as a superfood - its all over the place. They taste very slightly chocolately, nutty with a hint of bitterness. 

I also grabbed a 3 pack of their dark chocolates, all 72% - their highest was 85%! I can imagine that being amazing in a sauce over game meats or a steak in winter!

Steve and I had cracked open the blue one to eat a few bits, and so today while my body was having a battle with the flu, I decided that there was nothing else for it than something baked with chocolate. Something easy, something that required only what I had in the cupboard. Muffins.

I looked for a bunch of recipes, and eventually David from Food Blarg sent me a really basic Stephanie Alexander recipe which I pimped out with inspiration from Kirbie's Cravings and her post on the best chocolate muffins! They turned out really well, considering I forgot to put the oil in. That's what made them fat free! They're pretty grown up muffins, they're not that sweet because of the dark chocolate, paired with the cocoa nibs - and I only added about 1/4 cup of sugar. So they're actually pretty good for you! If you used spelt flour or something similar it would be even better!

I decided to use the Rio Caribe, from Venezuela - 72% chocolate, with flavours of coffee, almonds, red fruits and pure cocoa.

The hot chocolate mix I used was a spanish one I got from Kakulas Sisters in Fremantle. Its in a beautiful tin and tastes amazing! Its got  a bit of sugar and vanilla in it too.

Ingredients

Makes 6 large, or 12 mini muffins

1 cup of SR flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

40g of high quality chocolate (I used 72%), chopped

2 heaped tsp of good quality hot chocolate mix 

5 or 6 frozen raspberries

oats for garnish

cocoa nibs for garnish


NOTE: I would also add vanilla (I didn't have any), and for a yummy twist, omit the raspberry and add some instant coffee and cinnamon - finish it off with a coffee glaze for a spiced mocha muffin!

Method

1) Preheat oven to about 180C, grease your muffin tin. 

2) Mix all dry ingredients into your mixer.

3) In a seperate bowl mix all the wet ingredients together, then add to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

4) Add the chopped chocolate, and crumble in the frozen raspberries.

5) Pour the (very runny!) mix into the muffin tins, pretty close to the top, and sprinkle the top with a tsp of cocoa nibs and oats.

6) Bake the muffins for about 30-40mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.

7) Leave them to cool in the tin until they're manageable and then allow to cool on a tray.

Eat with guilt free pleasure!