Me? Post about something chocolate? Well, I had won that NuNaturals prize with the chocolate kind of stevia syrup in it and I wanted to give it another go since the last time I used a little of it and didn’t get a lot of flavor. The sugary flavored sauce is really sweet when you are just tasting it, but I didn’t want to necessarily taste it in my goodies. And I wanted another flavor to be the real star not necessarily the chocolate. No need to start craving that dumb sweet-goodness again! Here is my vegan and gluten-free Orange Chocolate Mini Muffins.

After the raspberry cookies that I used the chocolate syrup in and didn’t really taste it, I knew I needed to conquer that little mishap. I don’t usually bake with fruit, which seems odd since I made two different cookies with fruit in them and a strawberry cream cheese bread this summer, but one fruit that I have never actually thought about baking with is oranges. I don’t even remember the last time had purchased or eaten an orange prior to making this recipe. But I was trying to think of a recipe to use this NuStevia Cocoa Syrup and thought about those chocolate oranges and decided that would be a cool thing to remake into a mini muffin.

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Start my turning oven to 400 degrees then mix all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Make a well in the center then set bowl aside, In a medium bowl pour the liquid syrup, milk, and the zest of two oranges and the juice of one orange. Mix that really well then pour into the dry mix. Mix the two really well, then spoon into the non-stick sprayed muffin tins about 3/4 way full. Bake only 8 minutes – mini’s don’t need as much time. Let cool a little then use a fork to get them out. Spray the tins again for the last of the batter. Once cooled enough to eat, enjoy! I keep my little muffins in the fridge and take them for breakfasts; this makes them more dense, which is perfect for me since it takes a little longer to eat them and I won’t be popping them like candy.

Orange Chocolate Mini Muffins, 38 servings

1 C Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
1/2 C Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour
1/4 C Bob’s Red Mill Flax Meal
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 C NuNaturals NuStevia Cocoa Syrup
1/2 C Silk Light Vanilla Almond Milk
2 Oranges, both zested and only one juiced

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl add flours, flax, and baking soda and powder. Mix and make a well in the middle.
3. In a medium bowl add liquid stevia, almond milk and orange zest and juice and mix.
4. Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix.
5. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray then pour in mixture about 3/4 full.
6. Bake 8 minutes.
7. Let cool a little then use a fork to pry out, then do last batch.
8. Enjoy!

Stats
Calories: 22
Total Fat: .4g
Sodium: 2mg
Carbs: 5g
Protein: 1g