Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I need to shout from the rooftops how amazing these muffins are! I bought strawberries on a whim yesterday and wondered what I could make with them.I woke up this morning craving muffins and suddenly I knew those strawberries were destined for greatness. I of course like to "healthify" any recipe I find, but this recipe was already fairly healthy! I made some tweaks and the result was the most moist and flavorful muffins I have ever made. Yes, yes, I will share the recipe with you.

The one qualm I have about making healthy baked goods is that sometimes without butter or white flour you end up with this dense chewy mess. I am all for healthy, but not at the expense of taste! Don't get sad just yet. This recipe is nothing like that.  With just 1/4 cup of sugar, no butter and whole wheat and quinoa flour and it is just amazing. In case you don't want to buy a whole bag of quinoa flour you can just grind raw quinoa in a coffee grinder until it looks like flour. It was super easy and took about 20 seconds. Oh and did I mention you don't have to use a mixer? Score!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins Adapted from Martha Stewart

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour 
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or  vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a glass 2-quart measuring cup or a medium bowl, combine milk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to combine.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Add chocolate chips and fold just until combined( DO NOT OVER MIX). Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15-17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.