Marbled Tahini Muffins

 Here’s another great recipe from The Magic of Tahini by Dunja Gulin (see the first one here). I only made one change, which was to use miniature chocolate chips instead of cocoa nibs, to please the kids. These were fantastic! The crumb was moist and absolutely delicious. That being said, I got a completely unexpected comment from the Fox. He did not like them because, and I quote, “they taste too professional.” Say what? I hadn’t heard that one before. I wonder if the tall paper liners I used influenced his decision at all… But anyway, more for us!

¼ cup (70 g) tahini
1 ripe banana, peeled
¼ cup (60 g) virgin coconut oil, melted
1 ¼ cups coconut milk
1 ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
¼ tsp. pure almond extract (optional; omit for a nut-free version)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup white whole wheat flour
¼ tsp. vanilla powder
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. raw cocoa nibs, plus more for sprinkling (I used miniature chocolate chips)
1 Tbsp. raw cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Blend the tahini and banana together with the liquid ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a large bowl.

Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla powder, and salt into a bowl. Add the lemon zest, pour into the wet ingredients, and whisk gently until you have a smooth batter.

Spoon one-third of the mixture into a separate bowl (like the bowl that just had your dry ingredients). Fold in the cocoa nibs and cocoa powder.

Divide the plain muffin batter between 10-12 lined muffin cups. Put a spoonful of the cocoa mixture on top of that and, with the help of a chopstick or skewer, mix a little to get a marbled pattern. Sprinkle with the extra cocoa nibs.

Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the muffin pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.