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Oh, these muffins are loaded.
And with all good stuff too!
Like really good stuff. I still cannot believe it.
I mean, I put quinoa in a muffin.
This is a completely new concept to me. I was out hiking the other day and thought I should try putting some quinoa in a muffin with some chocolate.
Actually my first thought was, what if I caramelized the quinoa.
Honestly, I was not really sure it could be done, but I tried and it totally worked. Well, it worked in my mind, but some people may have just called it crispy quinoa. Whatever you call it, it was good, but only on its own. When I added it to the muffins, I am pretty sure the flavor was completely lost. The second time I made these (and the second round of photos, that I still despise!) I just went with plain quinoa and no one could tell the difference.
So I am not going to tell you to take the extra step of caramelizing the quinoa because it was not really a fun task and it took like twenty-five extra minutes, but sometime soon I will! Just not sure for what yet…..
But it’ll be good.
I kind of feel like lately I have shoved quite a few pretty decadent desserts at you guys. And while I have not one problem with that, I sort of felt like a healthier treat was well, overdue.
But don’t worry, I promise they don’t taste like those cardboard “healthy” muffins from the box or wherever you are getting them from.
They are just slightly sweet, crazy moist, soft and chewy in the middle and crunchy on top.
I threw in some mashed up sweet potato because these days I pretty much always have a baked sweet potato leftover in the fridge and I thought why not. I was going for healthy and nothing beats some orange veg! If you don’t have any leftover plain sweet potatoes you can easily swap in two medium bananas or some pumpkin puree. I have also tried doing half banana and half sweet potato and the results are delicious!
These are really easy to whip up. Just like any other muffin recipe, you mix the wet with the dry, but then there is the crumble. Yes, the crumble has some butter. But hey, what’s life without a little butter?
Not very fun.
Anyway, the crumble is my favorite part. Coconut, pecans, quinoa, brown sugar and a little cinnamon. It’s so good.
So good that these all got eaten before I could even get a shot of the chocolate insides before they were gone. That means just one thing, too many people in this house.
Sweet Potato, Quinoa and Dark Chocolate Coconut Crumble Crunch Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry or white whole wheat flour, may sub all-purpose
- 1 cups cooked quinoa
- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup finely mashed sweet potato, you may also use mashed banana or pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
Crumble
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 3 tablespoons cooked quinoa
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners or spray with cooking spray.
- To make the crumble. Add the brown sugar, pecans, coconut, 2 tablespoons quinoa, cinnamon and the flour to a bowl. Add the butter and using your fingers, a fork, or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients until large heavy crumbs are formed. Set aside
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, quinoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar.
- In another smaller bowl whisk together the coconut oil, mashed sweet potato, greek yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
- Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined. Stir in the dark chocolate.
- Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups and then top with equal amounts of crumble. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees and after 5 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake another 20 minutes or until the muffins have popped up are are set in the center.
- Allow to cool 5 minutes and remove from the pan to eat or cool completely!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Or these were just too good to not devour while they were hot. Yeah, that’s probably it.
Love it when healthy beautifully meets decadent! Awesome muffins, fantastic photos! Pinning ASAP!
Thank you, Shelly!
These sound wonderful! Love all the healthy add-ins, & the photos are gorgeous!
Thanks you so much, Allie!
it’s like you can read my mind, and know exactly what I’m craving. dang these look like perfection! can’t wait to try 🙂 love your creativity in all your recipes…it’s so inspiring!
ha! Thank you so much, Kelsey!! Hope you love these! 🙂
I love these healthified muffins!! You packed a ton of awesome things into them!! Great recipe, as always. 😉
Thank you so much!! I could not believe how good they turned out!
Amazing recipe! I made these last night and I substituted the potato with pumpkin and banana (half and half). It turned out amazing. These muffins are extremely moist (if you bake them until they are ‘just right’) and they were bursting with so many flavours. The crumble on top really makes these delightful. They were also really light in colour….DELICIOUS!!! Great recipe!
Thanks so much, Becca! The half and half combo is so good!
So happy you loved these! 🙂
What a wonderful recipe! I want one right now!
Greetings / Gosia
Thank you!
Gorgeous, as always. I just want to grab one through the screen!!
Thanks Aimee!
These muffins look marvelous! Love everything that you put in them! So many of my favorites all in one recipe! Excited to try them!
Thanks Maegan!!
Considering sweet potato, dark chocolate, and coconut are some of my favorite foods I am sooo in love with these muffins. Throw in some quinoa? I’m sold! These are awesome. And so are your photos! No photo bashing for you! 🙂
Thank you so much, Erin! You are so sweet!
So interesting, I’ve toasted quinoa but never tried caramelizing it. Love the sweet potato in these beautiful muffins – bet it adds some nice moistness fat-free!
Thanks so much., Jeanette! The sweet potato adds such great moistness!
It looks so delicious and I’d like to try baking some before I include it in our Thanksgiving menu. But sad to say, quinoa is not readily available in our country. Is it possible to substitute another ingredient for it? Any suggestions? Thank you so much.
Hey Rory!
I think you could try subbing couscous or rice, but the rice may be a bit big. Also, you can just swap the quinoa with flour. Should work perfectly! Hope this helps and I hope you love these!
I’m in love with that crumble topping, gorgeous muffins!
Thank you, Laura!
Crunchy, loaded muffins are the best! Especially when chocolate and coconut are involved. YUMNESS.
Thanks so much, Stephanie!
These are amazing, T! I love how loaded and plump they are.
Thanks Ashley!
This is such a creative muffin recipe. I love the quinoa! Pinned.
Thanks pinning, Jennie!