Banana Carrot Dark Chocolate Muffins

Makes 6 jumbo muffins.

Ingredients:

1¾ cup organic unbleached white flour
⅓ cup organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons slightly rounded baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon finely ground sea salt
¾ cup chopped organic sweetened dark chocolate
3 small fresh organic carrots
2 tablespoons organic honey
½ teaspoon organic cinnamon
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup safflower oil
1½ large ripe bananas
1 large organic free-range egg
⅔ cup organic milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
3. Put the dark chocolate into a food processor until it’s a chunky powder. Add it to the flour mixture and set aside.
4. Wash, peel and cut the carrots into 1-2” chunks. Boil them until they’re soft (about 10 minutes). Put them into a food processor.
5. Add the honey, cinnamon, vanilla and oil to the carrots in the food processor. Purée it until it’s the consistency of coarse applesauce. Add the bananas to the carrot purée in the food processor, and purée them until it’s the consistency of smooth baby food.
6. In a separate bowl, blend the egg with the carrot-banana purée. Add the milk and whisk together gently.
7. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
8. Pour the liquid mixture into the well of the dry ingredients. Stir them together gently until the batter is just moist and lumpy. Don’t over stir the batter.
9. Grease and flour a muffin pan. Fill the holes in the muffin pan all the way (or higher for big muffin tops).
10. Bake for 16 minutes. While they’re still in the oven, sprinkle some chopped dark chocolate on top of each muffin.
11. Continue baking the muffins for a few more minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Start inserting a toothpick into the muffins at 18 minutes, but don’t overcook them. (Note: if the muffin tops start browning too quickly, cover the muffins loosely with tinfoil.)
12. Serve the muffins warm with a dusting of sifted powdered sugar on top.

Shortcut: use carrot purée baby food instead of preparing it from scratch.