Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins

Adapted from several muffin recipes in Babycakes (Erin McKenna)

• 1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
• 2/3 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp guar gum
• 1/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Prepare two muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.

Mix the banana, milk, oil, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.  Set aside.

Sift (or whisk) together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, guar gum in a separate bowl.  Set aside.

In a small bowl or cup, combine the hot water and cocoa powder until the cocoa is disolved.  Pour the cocoa into the banana mixture and mix well.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well.

Pour a little less than 1/3 cup of the muffin batter in each muffin tin.  The batter will rise slightly so don’t over fill the tins.  Bake for 20-24 minutes, just until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of one of the muffins.  If your oven is notorious for uneven baking, rotate the pans half way through.  Gluten-free flour tends to dry out in the oven very easily so check the muffins as they get close to the 20 minute mark.