Fairtrade chocolate & coffee muffins
If you are looking for a FairTrade, mom approved dessert/ snack, these Double Chocolate Coffee Muffins are the way to go! I am personally not the biggest fan of over-sweetened desserts, but these muffins have the perfect amount of sweetness as the coffee shines through.
This recipe uses fairly refined sugar free ingredients so you can enjoy them for breakfast (which is exactly what I did), snack, or dessert with some ice-cream, yogurt, or fruits.
Now I’m sure most of you have heard of the term FairTrade but I won’t bore you with an in depth explanation (that will be saved for another blog post), instead I will try to dumb in down for you as to why shopping/ buying FairTrade is beneficial to both the environment and humanity: specifically farmers.
FairTrade is a certification label that exists worldwide and is aimed to promote fair trading standards and empower producers. The producers, who are farmers, have strict environmental constraints that must be followed.
These include reducing carbon emissions, obtaining water, using sustainable irrigation for enrichment of soil, minimizing use of agrochemicals, managing waste as well as the prohibition of GMO’s.
Now that we know the environmental protection aspect, fair trade also allows farmers to improve their living and working conditions by giving them the ability to make profit while farming sustainably.
So at present, you know that these Chocolate Coffee Muffins are not only delicious but also eco-friendly as they contain FairTrade certified chocolate as well as FairTrade coffee.
Check out my Instagram @sophiedeats for more sustainability infographics as well as low-effort food recipes!
Ingredients
Ingredients for muffins:
*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
*1/2 teaspoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon baking soda (if you don’t have baking soda, you can do 3x the amount of baking powder listed for this recipe to replace baking soda)
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/2 cup granulated sugar
*1/4 cup light brown sugar (this can be replaced by coconut sugar but I decided to do half brown half coconut for this recipe)
*1/4 cup coconut sugar
*1 large egg
*3/4 cup (180ml) milk (any would work: plant-based, whole milk, etc.)
*1/4 cup (60ml) strong espresso or brewed coffee, cooled
*1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) butter, melted
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (chopped)
*1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
Ingredients for crumble topping:
*2 tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
*2 tablespoons chopped pecans
*2 tablespoons chocolate chips
Method
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375F/ 190C and butter a muffin/ cupcake tray or use tin liners.
In a large bowl, sift flour and cocoa powder. Then add baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, granulated sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar and mix to combine.
In a medium bowl, whisk an egg, along with milk, coffee, melted butter and vanilla extract until combined.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and fold with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined, do not overmix, the batter should be thick and lumpy.
Fold in nuts and chocolate.
Divide mixture evenly between your muffin tin, do not fill each cup all the way as the batter will rise while baking. Mix together the coconut sugar, chopped nuts and chocolate and sprinkle on top of muffin batter.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Transfer muffin tin to the wire rack for a few minutes, then take each muffin out of tin and onto the wire rack, let cool completely for approximately 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
*Note* These muffins can be stored in an airtight container for two days or be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks or the freezer for up to six months.
Reel of the Chocolate Coffee Muffins!!