Can't Be Beet Semi-Sinless Double Chocolate Muffins

They're only semi-sinless because there's no way that much chocolatey goodness could be utterly sinless! Actually, its because of the chocolate chips, no matter how you switch a recipe around, chocolate chips will always add a little sin. I firmly believe a world without the sins of chocolate wouldn't be much of world at all, though. So eat on my chocolate lovers!

These muffins are moist, chocolately and taste plenty sweet even though they only contain 1/4 cup sugar.

These muffins use beets as both a sugar and fat subtitute. I find many people have caught on to using fruits and vegs to replace some or all fats in baked recipes but that most don't seem to realise that you can also use it to substitute for sugars. Sometimes you have to add a little extra flour or other dry ingredient in order to make up for the missing sugar, but overall it works out great.

Ingredients

• Approximately 4 small beets
• 1 small apple, peel, cored, and sliced
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• approx. 1/2 cup warm coffee
• 2 TBSP natural peanut butter (could also use margarine or butter, I like the added protein from the peanut butter)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup loose brown sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or milk
• 1 cup + 2 TBSP white flour (if you've used yogurt and peanut butter you don't need the extra 2 TBSP, if you've used milk and margarine, you do)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup chocolate chips

First you want to roast your beets. Just place them unskinned in a covered pan in the oven at 425 for about 1/2 hour (until the get fairly soft and easily pierced through with a  fork).

Let cool covered. Turn oven down to 375 and prepare a 12 muffin pan

Once cooled you'll be able to just peel the skin from them. Put them in the blender along with the apple and puree until smooth but not runny. If you require a little more moisture, add a drop of apple juice or water.

Meanwhile, put your cocoa in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the coffee, adding a bit at a time, until you get a  pasty mixture resembling melted chocolate chips.

Beat together your beet puree, peanut butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.Continue to beat until fully creamed and fluffy. Beat in the cocoa mixture.

In a seperate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients.

Make a well in your creamed beet/cocoa mixture, dump in the dry ingredients; fold in until fully incorporated' do not overstir (overstirring is deadly when you are substituting fruit/veg for fat or using whole grain flours).

Throw in your chocolate chips and stir them in gently. Throw in a handful more for good measure and to keep you from snacking on them.

Drop by spoonful into your muffin tin and bake 25 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in pan then remove to wire rack to cool.

When fresh from the oven and piping hot you can still taste the beet just a teensy bit, but once cooled it's not noticable at all.

Approximate Nutrition Values (judged using Nutrition Data sources)
per muffin (peanut butter and yogurt used)

Calories: 133

Fat: 3 g

        Sat. Fat: 1 g

        Trans Fat: 0
Cholesterol: 35.5 mg
Sodium: 28.5 mg
Fibre: 2.75 g
Sugars: 5.5g
Protein: 5.5 g