I am compiling, along with some fellow mums at my kids’ school, a cookbook. Don’t ask me why, the decision was a mad rush of blood to the head and we are all repenting at leisure.
I say that… it’s actually quite fun and – thanks to some people who very visually talented (i.e. aren’t me) – the book looks great. The kids have done some illustrations and it’s all pretty adorable.
I am partly responsible for the recipes working and have been doing a bit of testing, including some really wacky alternative baking, like these chocolate courgette muffins, submitted by a parent at the school.
They sound absolutely rank but considering they have no butter and no caster sugar in them, they’re really actually very okay.
I am putting this recipe on here because I did a poll on Instagram stories to see if I should and 75% said yes. Giles really liked these.
Chocolate courgette muffins
Makes 24 (n.b. 24 is a lot – halve ingredients for 12)
300g plain flour
120g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp bicarb of soda
200g dark chocolate chips (you could also use milk)
200ml coconut oil
200ml runny honey
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
250g grated courgette (that’s about 2 courgettes)
Preheat your oven to 180C
1 Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in the biggest bowl you have, (or just swizz it round with a whisk it doesn’t matter), then put in the chocolate chips.
2 Melt the coconut oil in a pan – I actually just took a 200g jar of coconut oil and set it in some water over a very low flame and melted it like that. Then you can pour it into another medium-sized pan. Add the honey and the eggs and the vanilla extract. This makes quite the unholy-textured mixture, like golden alien spew.
3 Grate the courgette and add it to the dry ingredients. Then pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined. Do not continue stirring in horrid fascination at what a hellish, sticky slop you have created as it will make the muffins rubbery.
4 Spoon the batter into muffin cases – fill them more or less to the top because these will not rise very much.
5 Bake for 20 – 22 min.
Do you remember the grated courgette pasta with garlic, Parmesan and cream you made with your sister on recipe rifle? I still fantasise about that dish yuuuuuuum
yes! ha ha… there is an updated version on here somewhere xxx
If only my oddball daughter liked chocolate. These sound great; will make them as a virtuous snack for self/non-dairy colleague who eats eggs (don’t ask). Thanks for the recipe!
These sound great! I have had a lot of success with beetroot brownies and brown bean brownies!
yes we also have a black bean brownie recipe which is surprisingly really good!
Ooh, can we have the black bean brownie recipe too please?
yes! I’ll lob it up x
Can we buy this cookbook? In my mind, it’s a hard copy recipe rifle which I’ve been longing for for some time. Cooking from a kindle is a bit tricky it turns out.
Could you substitute coconut oil for something that’s more likely to be a cupboard/fridge staple? Butter? Olive oil? Would that still work?
Yes butter is fine x