banana mocha muffins (gluten, refined sugar and oil free)

We're officially in the new decade! Did you set resolutions? I didn't set resolutions so to speak but I did reflect on what I thought worked and should be celebrated from the past decade, mistakes I learned from and what my vision is for the future.  Now, the trick is to keep that present in my mind so I don't get distracted and stuck on autopilot, right? I'm pretty good at writing things down but I need to revisit and re-soak in what I wrote so it doesn't slip away on me.  I'm also starting the first 15 days of the year with the Hail 15 Program by one of my favorites, One Hail Mary at a Time from my list of momspiration and spiritual resources of 2019. My goal is to keep God front and center in whatever happens in the coming year.

This muffin recipe is a nice bridge into the new year because it's still a little decadent but it's also on the healthier side by omitting any refined sugar and baking with gluten free flour.  The chocolate chunks are even refined sugar free thanks to Hu Kitchen Dark Chocolate Gems.  These little guys had been popping up in my Instagram feed for a while and I finally took the plunge and ordered some...so glad I did.  The tricky part is not eating the rest right out of the bag.  I use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour along with their Coconut Sugar in the recipe. I love this flour...it's so easy to convert recipes to gluten free if needed. Lastly, you probably know that I love banana breads as I was recently noticing the multiple recipes associated with banana bread in my recipe index, but bananas are truly an amazing fruit for baking.  They add moisture and sweetness to the recipe so you don't have to add a whole lot more. So, let's brew a pot of coffee and get these muffins in the oven, shall we?

Ingredients
(makes approximately 10 muffins)
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed
-2 eggs
-3/4 cup coconut sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 cup cooled, freshly brewed coffee
-2 cups gluten free flour
-2 tsp espresso powder
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup dark chocolate gems 

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin tin by spraying with non-stick cooking spray and lining with muffin papers.  In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients of flour, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl. mix together the mashed bananas, coconut sugar, vanilla and coffee.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.  Fold in 3/4 cups of the dark chocolate gems.  Fill each muffin well approximately 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.  Check to make sure that they're done by inserting a toothpick and it should come out clean.

While the muffins cool, melt the remaining 1/4 cup of dark chocolate gems and then drizzle the beautifully melted chocolate all over the top of them.  Pour your cup of coffee and enjoy!