We’re all pretty familiar with chocolate cake with hidden vegetables, but not zucchini this time – beets are a little more mysterious. I guarantee that all but the very pickiest of eaters won’t notice any hidden vegetables, especially since beets do hide a bit better than zucchini does.
Despite being made with whole grain spelt flour and a pile of veggies, these are definitely chocolate muffins and they don’t taste nearly as healthy as they are. The chocolate chunks help, but we all know dark chocolate is good for you, right?
If you have a sad lonely beet sitting in the fridge, shred it up and make these chocolate beet muffins, then feed the muffins to your children and laugh at fooling them into eating beets. They’ll just see chocolate on top of more chocolate and never think to look for sneaky vegetables.
Ingredients
Scroll to the bottom of the post or click “skip to recipe” above to see the recipe card with full ingredient measurements and instructions.
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) and grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla powder, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk and coconut oil until combined. Mix in the grated beet (it will turn bright pink).
Add the beet mixture to the large bowl and use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until just combined.
Measure approximately equal amounts of the batter into each muffin cup of the prepared tin, filling about three-quarters full. Top the muffins with the extra chocolate pieces.
Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for ten minutes before removing and cooling fully on a rack.
Tips and Notes
Don’t worry about peeling the beets, especially if they’re organic. The skin won’t be noticeable in the final product and it’s a bit of a time saver. This isn’t the case if you use a very large, older beet – in that case, especially if the skin is very thick, you may want to peel it.
Although dark and natural cocoa can be used interchangeably (see below), I recommend using dark for the best colour and flavour. This can be Dutch process or regular (they aren’t usually demarcated here in Holland anyway) as both baking powder and soda are used in the recipe.
There are a couple of things that will be different here for European and North American readers. I use vanilla powder and chocolate drops because extract and chips are prohibitively expensive, but note that extract can be used and in what amount in the recipe card. Chocolate chips or chunks are listed in the recipe card for the same reason.
These must be made with raw beetroot, not the type that comes pre-cooked, or any that you’ve baked/steamed/roasted. I have no idea how mashed cooked beets would do here and I don’t know the quantities in which they should be used.
If the milk is cold when the coconut oil is stirred in, the oil will solidify very quickly. You whisk it in to reduce the size of the pieces – to prevent this further, use room temperature oat milk.
Substitutions
Use any kind of cocoa you have on hand. Raw cacao can be used, but it will make for a slightly bitter muffin, and is rather more expensive than regular cocoa powder. Don’t mix up baking cocoa, which is pure cocoa, with cocoa mix for drinking – if there are added ingredients like sugar, milk powder, etc., it’s not for baking.
Light spelt flour, regular whole wheat flour, or white flour can all be substituted for the whole spelt in this recipe. I haven’t tried making these gluten-free.
Any kind of oil can be substituted for the coconut oil, but will change the texture slightly. I most often use olive oil as a sub but an oil that is liquid at room temperature will reduce the denser, hearty texture of the muffins slightly. If you prefer a lighter, slightly crumbly muffin, use a liquid oil.
Chopped dark chocolate can be used in the place of the chocolate chips/chunks, but note that regular chocolate will likely burn while baking. If you use a bar of chocolate, you may want to exclude it from topping the muffins as a result. This doesn’t apply if you’re using the baking chocolate in bar form. I top with chopped baking chocolate but mix chocolate drops into the muffins.
More Beet Recipes
Winter Salad with Beets, Orange, and Pomegranate
Beet Tart
Vegetarian Borscht
Pumpkin Salad
Double Chocolate Beetroot Cake
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Chocolate Beet Muffins
Lightly sweet vegan chocolate beet muffins with plenty of dark chocolate flavour. Even if you’re not a fan of beets, you’ll probably like these dark chocolate muffins, made with whole grain flour.
Ingredients
- 225 grams (1 1/2 cups) whole spelt flour
- 50 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
- 80 grams (1/2 cup) coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder*
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) non-dairy milk**
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) coconut oil, melted***
- 130 grams (3/4 cup) grated, raw red beet, packed
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) dark chocolate chunks or chips, plus extra for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) and grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla powder, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together the milk and coconut oil until combined. Mix in the grated beet (it will turn bright pink).
- Add the beet mixture to the large bowl and use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix until just combined.
- Measure approximately equal amounts of the batter into each muffin cup of the prepared tin, filling about three-quarters full. Top the muffins with the extra chocolate pieces.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for ten minutes before removing and cooling fully on a rack.
- Store in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze for up to a month.
Notes
* To use vanilla extract, use one teaspoon and add it to the milk mixture.
** I use oat milk. Any kind of milk will work here.
*** You can substitute an oil that is liquid at room temperature, like olive oil, but the muffins will be less cake-like.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 232Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 220mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 4gSugar: 15gProtein: 5g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
Newsletter
This post was originally published in March 2017. It has been updated with changes to the text and new step-by-step photos as of January 2020, with no changes to the recipe.
Aimee Mars says
Yes! Another way to sneak veggies into my kids. I love this recipe and I love beets so this sounds like a heavenly mixture.
cakespy says
Deep, dark, and delicious! These muffins look perfect.
Julia says
I love the photos – amazing! They look so rich like paintings! And you are right chocolate and beets is an awesome combination. I am surprised it's not as popular as it should be!
Marie says
I can relate so much to your "schokolade" mistake. I'm living in Spain (from Canada) and often write stuff in Spanish… even when i reread my posts I sometimes don't even realise it… Your muffins are looking divine! I love that you add the beets in there! Nothing like a good chocolate muffin! Great post!
Shantae Daniels says
What is oat or nut milk? Or what's a good substitute?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Shantae! It's just non dairy milk, like almond or soy milk. You can use regular dairy milk too if you don't have any sensitivities to it 🙂
Alexandra Daum says
Thank you! We love them 🙂
Alexandra Daum says
Hah, exactly! My boyfriend doesn't really like beets at all and he's demolished these muffins every time I've made them.
Alexandra Daum says
Thanks Julia, that's so sweet! Exactly! Beets are so versatile as a sweet vegetable, and I think they're so beautiful.
Alexandra Daum says
All the time, my goodness! I've gotten to the point that when I talk to my (Canadian) boyfriend I forget some words in english and only remember the German! Thank you 🙂
Erika says
AHHH YUM BOOKMARKING THESE SO HARD. My boyfriend is from Australia and has strangely very fond memories of a chocolate beetroot cake his mom used to make, so I want to try these for him!! That last photo is PURE MONEY $$
Alexandra Daum says
Hah, thanks Erika!
Gabrielle says
What tin containers did you use?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Gabrielle, if you mean the muffin tin, it's just a standard one. You can see it in the third photo.
Vanessa says
I am gluten free – is there a particular type of gf flour that could be substituted in this recipe?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Vanessa, I haven’t tried to make these gluten free, so I can’t give a definite answer. I’m sure a standard GF blend would work, and I imagine buckwheat would as well, but I’m not 100% on that.
Jill says
These are so moist!! I love them and can’t wait to have my grandkids try them this weekend! Thank you so much for sharing!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
So happy to hear that, and I hope your grandkids loved them! Thanks Jill 🙂
Frances says
Made these today, substituted in white flour and regular cocoa. They also worked great in the donut tin. Delicious. I just need a good icing recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Lavinia says
Hi there, these look delicious. Is it possible to make this with canned coconut milk?
Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Absolutely! If anything it’ll make them even richer and extra nice : )
Lou says
There is an ** next to coconut oil but nothing in the notes. Is it ok to leave the coconut oil out? Or will this ruin the recipe? But looks delicious and will attempt either way!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Lou! This must be something that was missed when I switched recipe cards recently. It’s that you can sub another oil (I usually choose olive) instead of coconut, but they’ll be a bit less cake-like then. I’ve updated the card to reflect that, thank you!
Dan says
Hey – really grateful for you taking the time to post this and your other recipes – thanks : )
Leen says
Hi there! I had to try out your recipe and the cupcakes are in the oven right now!! Smells good, but they are showing a very high dome! What could go wrong? Temperature at 190 C as what you’ve said.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Leen, I’m not sure a high dome is a bad thing? Did they go over the edges of your tin?
Laura says
Made these using homemade oat milk and the leftover pulp as a substitute for some of the flour, and they’re delicious! also added coffee and a tonka bean for flavour. I do wish I had had dark cocoa powder as you recommend, because that must be even nicer 🙂
Thank you for the recipe and the tip on not peeling the beets, I’ve been eating the rest of what I’ve grated raw and wondering why I ever bothered taking the skin off beetroots haha
Cheryl says
can you use cooked beets? I have some precooked peeled beets from Costco.
Alexandra says
I haven’t tried with cooked beets as they’d add quite a bit more liquid and can’t be grated. If you want to use them, I’d recommend pureeing the beets and reducing the milk by about 1/4 cup.
Nienke says
This recipe looks amazing! Can I use these quantities and bake the mixture in a loaf tin? What would you recommend in terms of oven temperature and baking time?
Alexandra says
I think so, but I’ve never tried it – I’d say 180C (350F) and 45-55 minutes. Definitely do a toothpick test to make sure it’s done though (sorry it’s a big range, just because I haven’t tested). But it should work!
Cecile says
So I made it and feel it is no sweet enough
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Cecile, these are muffins, not cupcakes, so they’re not meant to be so sweet. You could try adding more sugar.