Decadent Maca Cacao Muffin Shells ( Maca used as flour)

Maca Cacao Muffin Shells with a Maca-Mesquite candy coating

 

 

One of the main reasons why I love this recipe so much is because I came up with a crazy idea of using Maca powder as the flour substitute for these baked muffins. The recipe originally calls for Almond flour, but I didn't have any at home! For a few minutes I got to thinking what is in the house that is a powder, edible, and healthy? I saw the bag of Maca powder in the closet! I got so excited at this point haha. Why not try it out?! Powder vs. flour? Hm. Close, I thought. I realized the muffins would have a strong Maca flavor, which sounded good to me because I love the earthy flavor of Maca. But what about for other people? I decided to try it out and see how it comes out and make changes from there.

These were incredible! Soft and dense in texture. The Maca was not strong. You can taste the Chocolate and the Maca, and had a perfect hint of sweetness.

 

My family and I are big fans of this one!

UPDATE*Make sure to buy regular Maca Powder. Maca Extract Powder should not be used for this recipe because the Maca Extract Powder is very concentrated for medicinal doses.

 

I used a basic healthy recipe to make the muffins with my own little changes (from Runningtothekitchen.com)

 

Recipe for the muffin:

-3/4 cups Maca Powder (used as flour) *see note below

-1/4 cup blend of Carob Powder and Cacao Powder

-1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

-1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

-3 eggs

-3 tablespoons melted Coconut Oil (I used Refined Coconut Oil to avoid the Coconut flavor, but this is more processed and less healthy)

-1 tablespoon raw Honey

-2 tablespoons Maple Syrup

-1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

 

*Using Maca powder instead of regular flour will be more $. However, keep in mind your gut will not have to suffer digestion issues or irritation from gluten. Maca is considered a superfood, an adaptogenic (helps your body handle stress), helps improve libido, balances hormones, it is rich in B-Vitamins, and has a vast array of nutrients.

 

You can eat your muffin, and really love it.

 

Directions: Visit the following link to view the directions:  http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/2012/12/chocolate-donuts-with-coconut-vanilla-bean-icing/

 

You need strong arms! Mixing gets a little tough :)

 

Here are my changes:

-I used Maca powder instead of Almond flour

-I placed the mixture into small cooking bowls to shape it into a muffin instead of a donut.

-When you fold in the beat egg whites it makes it easier to finish mixing everything.

-Lightly grease your baking molds. I used Coconut Oil.

 

 



 

Once the muffins were ready and cooled, I came up with a Maca-Mesquite Candy coating. It was not what I originally had in mind. I wanted to create a white coating with chocolate designs through it to make it really pretty and elegant, but I haven't yet figured out a white silky smooth coating yet that would be dairy-free. Still working on that.

I thought of settling for a cream colored coating by using Maca and Mesquite powder. It turned out gorgeous I think! Both powders have a slight natural sweetness so you don't need to add a lot of sweetner to it.

 

Recipe for Maca Mesquite Candy Coating:

The muffins will need to be very cold and almost firm for the coating to harden around the muffins. After the muffins were cooled down after the baking, I put the muffins in the freezer for about a half hour

-6 tablespoons melted Refined Coconut Oil

-2 1/2 teaspoons Maca powder
-2 teaspoons Mesquite powder
-3 drops liquid Stevia extract



In a bowl, mix everything well with a spoon . Let it cool down so it thickens a little bit. Proceed to gently immerse the semi-frozen muffins into the candy coating turning them a few times so they get nicely coated. Or use the candy coating any creative way you'd like to.  

 

 

You can drizzle a little bit of the candy coating on the muffins to make them lighter in calories :)