CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

Gary’s philosophy in life is that one can never get too much chocolate. Fortunately for him, chocolate has antioxidant properties. These muffins are very chocolaty but not too sweet.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pan lightly with olive oil cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, sift together:

1¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

3. In a medium bowl, whisk until frothy:

½ cup Wax Orchards Fruit Sweet

¾ cup rice milk

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stirring just until blended.

5. Fold in:

¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips

6. Fill muffin tins almost to the top with batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle of muffin comes out clean.

7. Let cool in muffin tins, and then remove to serving platter. Yields 9 muffins.