These Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins are not only delicious but perfect for an on-the-go breakfast or a healthy dessert! The batter is without any refined sugar, and you’ll never guess what flour I used!

I know I cook up a storm, but baking has never been my “thing” exactly. Sure, I can whip up someone else’s recipe no problem, but I don’t necessarily understand all the chemistry of it to create something on my own. And the gluten-free thing! I mean, being vegan you have plenty of options for egg and dairy substitutions (though finding the right “egg” isn’t always easy), but it’s the gluten-free, especially if you’re going all the way and doing grain-free, that really can make baking hard. All that to say, I’ve been working on this recipe for quite some time, and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out!

I said you’d never guess which flour I used, but that may have been a bit of an exaggeration. Nowadays plenty of us are either gluten-free, paleo, keto, you name it, that almond flour is actually pretty common. Oh oops, I guess I just gave it away, LOL! The thing I love the most about using almond flour is not only are we ditching the gluten and grains, but we also get the added protein and fiber from the almonds!

So if you weren’t surprised about the flour, here’s the real whopper. Would you believe this recipe all started with jalepeños!? The batter for this evolved from an old recipe I used to make (before going vegan) for some Grain-Free Jalepeño “Corn” Muffins. I’ve changed this recipe repeatedly over the years to get it just right with vegan substitutes. Then one day (I’m not sure why or how this part all started) I decided I wanted to use the same or similar batter to try and make breakfast muffins, using either “faux” bacon or sausages. That recipe I’ve spent months on. I got the batter perfect (as you can tell because it’s actually the same here only with chocolate chips) and it is delicious with bits of Field Roast Apple Maple Breakfast Sausages for a sweet and savory breakfast muffin. The only problem was, those sausages aren’t gluten-free. I can eat them, my kids can eat them, but my husband can’t eat them, and chances are neither can you since this is a not only a vegan but a gluten-free recipe site.

The maple in these muffins, along with the sausages, and with some tempeh bacon which I tried in them as well, didn’t give these a classic muffin flavor as you get with the chocolate chips. To me, they tasted like pancakes, but only they were less messy and eatable with one hand — sans the fork! Which was awesome! That made me decide to do a day of Muffin Madness and try the batter with just about any add-ins for a pancake I could think of!

What I discovered when doing my muffin taste test, was that, without the faux breakfast meat inside, these didn’t really taste like pancakes, but like more of a perfect, classic muffin. What else did I discover?! None of that mattered anymore, pancake muffins were so yesterday because this batter with the chocolate chips was ON POINT!

So there you go, that is how this recipe all started with some jalepeños. Believe it or not, but it’s 100 percent a true story. Now that I’ve gone on and on about how I came up with these, shall I tell you how to make them? They’re pretty simple really.

Like so many baking recipes you need to first mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, before adding the two together. Add the almond flour, salt, and baking powder to a medium mixing bowl and set it aside.

With the wet ingredients, you first need to start with the aquafaba. It is important it gets whipped up separately all on its own before adding any additional ingredients. Have you used aquafaba before? Its the magical juice that we get from cooking beans! All you need to do is drain a half of cup of it from a can of garbanzo beans. What I do is, every time I use garbanzo beans for something I pour the liquid into an ice tray and keep the aquafaba frozen until I need some. Then I’ll just microwave the appropriate amount of cubes before using.

Pour the aquafaba into a large mixing bowl and mix on high with an electric mixer until bubbly and frothy. Then you can add your remaining wet ingredients, which are maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and almond milk. Now you can mix in the dry ingredients as well.

Your next step will be to stir in the chocolate chips, and the batter is ready! You do NOT want to use muffin liners for this recipe; they are hard to peel away from the muffins once cooked. Instead, grease a muffin tin well and spoon the batter right in. I say spoon and not pour because, like many gluten-free recipes, the batter will be thicker than a traditional muffin mix. Fill six muffin cups about three-fourths of the way full. These don’t rise super high, but if you fill them all the way up they may not cook evenly, leaving you a mushy middle and a crispy outside. If you distribute the batter evenly between six cups, they should cook perfectly. In my oven, preheated to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 minutes is the magic number. I know not all ovens cook quite the same, however, so you may check them after 35 minutes.

Once these have baked, you want to let them set to cool before removing from the muffin tin. Before pulling them out, run a knife along the edges of each muffin. Then they should come out perfectly.

Perhaps one day I’ll work on those breakfast muffins again. I need to find or create the perfect faux meat for the recipe which is in fact gluten-free. I’m pretty certain the Jalepeño “Corn” Muffins will be coming your way one day as well because those I’ll never stop making, I eat them no matter how they come out. As for now, maybe it’s because I’m just a sucker for chocolate, but I’m really excited about these, and it has been a little while since I’ve added something sweet to the blog. So I do hope you enjoy, and please, don’t forget to share!

If you love these muffins as I do, please leave a comment below, and remember to take a pic and tag me on Instagram, @veggieattiffanis!

Print Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins These Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins are perfect for an on-the-go breakfast or a healthy dessert! Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 40 minutes Total Time 50 minutes Servings 6 muffins Author Tiffani Wells Ingredients 1 cup almond flour

1/2 cup aquafaba *drain 1/2 cup liquid from 1 can of garbanzo beans

1/2 tsp **baking powder

1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

3 Tbsp unsweetened/unflavored almond milk or non-dairy milk of choice

1 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips For soy-free try Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels or Semi-Sweet Mini Chips Instructions Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a medium mixing bowl, add the almond flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir well and set aside.

In a separate, large mixing bowl, add the aquafaba and mix on high, using an electric mixer, until white and foamy.

Mix the remaining liquid ingredients to the aquafaba. Once combined, mix in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the muffin batter into 6 well-greased cups of a muffin pan, fill each about 3/4 full. DO NOT use paper muffin liners; they are hard to peel off the muffins once cooked. Place muffins on the center rack of your preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes (40 minutes is the perfect time for my oven, but you can check after 35 to be safe).

Let muffins cool. Before removing from tin, run a knife around the outside of each one. Enjoy! Notes *If you had to open a new can of beans to make this recipe, no need to let them go to waste! Why not make some hummus? Here on the blog, I have an Artichoke Hummus with Roasted Garlic , a Maple Cinnamon Dessert Hummus , as well as a BBQ Hummus Dip using cannellini beans which also work. **I use normal baking powder, which does contain cornstarch. To make these truly grain-free you can buy special grain-free baking powder, or make your own.

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