Salted Chocolate Almond Chia Muffins [Vegan]

OMG, these muffins! Salty, sweet, and moist with a slight crunch. In a word: heaven.

I discovered this recipe on Real Simple's Instagram feed and the next day I was in the kitchen baking them (with a healthier vegan twist). Do you ever do that-- see something on Instagram and actually make it right away? In my dreams I do.

In reality, I rarely actually leave a photo, go to the poster's Instagram bio to click the link, and then leave the browser window open long enough that the recipe is available to me when I can actually use the information.

Fortunately, I recently cracked the code to getting recipes I discover on Instagram (or anywhere else via mobile) into my belly. Check out my blog post to find out how I use Plan to Eat to save and plan to make recipes I discover online.

Below is my version of the recipe. (You can check out the original muffin recipe at Real Simple.) Maybe one of these will be the first recipe you add to your Plan to Eat recipe book.

Salted Chocolate Almond Chia Muffins [Vegan]

Source: www.oliviacleansgreen.com

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2 c whole wheat pastry flour (WW pastry flour is lighter than whole wheat flour plus you'll barely notice the difference thanks to the chocolate)
• ¹⁄₂ c fair trade cane sugar
• ¹⁄₂ c coconut sugar
• ¹⁄₂ c unsweetened fair trade cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¹⁄₄ tsp kosher sea salt plus more for sprinkling (or sprinkle with a flaky sea salt, such as Maldon as recommended in original recipe)
• 5 tsp chia seeds
• ²⁄₃ c almonds divided
• ³⁄₄ c fair trade vegan chocolate chips
• 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1 c almond milk
• ³⁄₄ c coconut oil or canola oil
• 1 TBS ground flax seeds
• 3 TBS water
• 1 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. Whip 1 TBS apple cider vinegar into 1 cup almond milk to make vegan "buttermilk". Also, whip or blend 1 TBS of ground flax seeds into 3 TBS water to make a flax "egg". Let both mixtures sit for 10 minutes.
2. Roughly chop almonds in food processor.
3. While those are sitting, preheat oven to 400°. If you're using coconut oil and it's solid, put it into an oven-safe container (like a Pyrex measuring cup) then place it in the oven so that the oil will melt while the oven heats up.
4. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Stir in chia seeds, ½ cup chopped almonds, and chocolate chips.
6. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the almond "buttermilk", oil, flax "egg", and almond extract.
7. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until combined.
8. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle each with 1½ to 2 teaspoons chopped almonds and a pinch of kosher sea salt, if desired.
9. Bake until muffins spring back when lightly pressed, about 18 minutes. Let cool in pan.
10. Serve immediately or keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Storage note: muffins can be transferred to plastic storage bags and frozen for up to one month.

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Have you ever added chia seeds to a muffin before? What else do you like chia seeds in?

Olivia Lane Lovejoy is a Green Living Educator trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. 

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