Chocolate Beet Muffins

Until last summer I had never eaten a beet before. In fact I wouldn’t have been able to pick a beet out in a lineup of root vegetables. But my CSA box had been over run with beets. To the point where I must have had about a dozen of those buggers in my fridge dying to be made.

When I first started getting the beets I made this Beet and Goat Cheese Pizza that my friend Marci suggested. And while I loved it, my husband just wasn’t crazy about it. I needed to find another way to use up all those delicious beets.

So I turned to Pinterest and this weekend I made 2 delicious beet recipes. One of the first things you should know about cooking with beets is that most recipes require them to be roasted. I’ve made beets 3 times this summer and the roasting has been the most difficult part because direction on how to roast beets vary across the Internet. Here is the best way I’ve found to roast beets.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400
2. Place beets in aluminum foil and drizzle with EVOO
3. Wrap foil around beets and place on a cookie sheet.
4. Place in oven and roast for at least 1 hour, depending on size of beets.
5. When you can stick a fork in them and it moves freely they are done.

After roasting the beets I find it’s best to let them cool before peeling. Peeling a hot beet is no fun and a sure way to get burnt, those beets get really hot inside.

Once the beets are cooled I quarter them and put them in the food processor and puree till everything has a fine, even consistency.

I modified this Vegan Chocolate Beet Muffin recipe from The Minimalist Baker to fit what I had in my kitchen. I always change recipes when cooking but I rarely do it with baking, so I was happy that these came out so great.

Ingredients for Chocolate Beet Muffins:

1 cup beet puree
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
1.5 tsp Baking Soda
2 Eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. In a large bowl combine beet puree, melted coconut oil, agave nectar, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk until oil is combined and consistency is uniform.
3. Whisk in milk and eggs.
4. Add cocoa powder and flour stir until combined, do not over mix. Add a splash of milk if batter seems too heavy or thick.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin tins.
7. Bake for 17-20 minutes, my muffins were perfect at about 18 minutes.

These muffins are super chocolaty and go great with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk. My husband who notices everything when it comes to food didn’t even realize there were beets in them, so these muffins are a great way to get kids to eat a veggie they may not usually try.