Easy Chocolate Muffins made from leftover juicing pulp. I also included a carrot cake version and drop biscuit method for easier cleanup! Dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan options.
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Earlier this week, I shared that I didn’t think juicing was in the cards for me.
Between the mountains of fresh produce and the piles of leftover juicing fiber, how can fresh fruit and vegetable juice fit into a frugal budget? UNTIL I found some answers. So I shared a handful of ideas and mentioned these muffins.
They are one tasty answer to all that leftover juicing pulp. If I make juice with beets in it, I end up with bright red mush. I use this in chocolate muffins because the color and flavors blend well with chocolate (props to this recipe for inspiring the idea).
If I have pulp made mostly of carrots or a blend of carrots, oranges, and apples (common for fresh juice), I make carrot cake muffins.
Here’s the Secret:
I simply tweaked my chocolate zucchini bread recipe. The leftover pulp works perfectly in place of zucchini.
Bonus Tip:
Make an easier clean up with drop biscuits instead of muffins. I love any excuse to eat muffins without washing a muffin tin.
Also:
You could argue that making chocolate muffins while juicing is counter productive. Maybe. It depends on why I’m juicing. If I’m simply trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, fresh juice makes them all taste like fruit (I’m down with that), and these muffins are loaded with homemade, real food goodness.
The drop-biscuit version is better than the muffins, in my opinion.
How People Think Homemade Muffins Look:
How They Actually Look:
Squashed by a toddler, upside down and sideways, chocolate smeared everywhere. Real life.
These Chocolate “Juicing Muffins” are:
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Vegan-friendly
- Allergy-friendly
- Healthy
- Veggie-packed
- Whole food
- Make-ahead
- Kid-approved
- Vegetarian
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #cheapskatecook and @cheapskatecook on Instagram.
Chocolate Juicing Muffins (Carrot Cake Variation)
Easy Chocolate Muffins made from leftover juicing pulp. I also included a carrot cake version and drop biscuit method for easier cleanup! Dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan options.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oil, (butter, coconut, or palm shortening work great)
- 1/4 cup applesauce, (you can use more oil instead for a richer taste and texture. Applesauce is just less expensive)
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup sugar, (or 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup)
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, (yogurt, sour cream, or the substitution in Recipe Notes all work great)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups flour, (unbleached, whole grain, or spelt all work great)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup juicing pulp made from beets and other fruits and vegetables
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips , (optional)
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the wet ingredients.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl and stir well to combine.
- Add juicing pulp, chocolate chips, and nuts. Stir well.
- Option 1 (Muffins): Generously grease a muffin tin or line it with paper liners. Grease the top of the muffin tin as well. This prevents the muffin tops from sticking to the edges. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup or ice cream scoop to drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into each muffin tin.
- Option 2 (Drop Biscuits): Grease a baking sheet. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup or ice cream scoop to drop heaping spoonfuls of batter onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each biscuit.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Notes
- I use this buttermilk substitute. Works with dairy-free milk as well!
- If you're egg-free, try a flax or chia egg.
- If you don't have enough juice pulp, you can supplement it with shredded zucchini.
- More about substituting applesauce (or pumpkin!) for oil.
- Carrot Cake Variation: Perfect if you have mostly carrot pulp. Omit cocoa powder and chocolate chips. Use maple syrup or brown sugar as the sweetener. Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the dry ingredients. If desired, reduce the amount of juice pulp by half and add 1/2 cup crushed pineapple. You can also stir in shredded coconut and raisins in place of the chocolate chips and nuts.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information
Yield 18 Serving Size 1 muffinAmount Per Serving Calories 141Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 10mgSodium 50mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 1gSugar 12gProtein 2g
Please note: The actual calories and nutrition of this dish will change depending on what ingredients you use. Nutrition information is not always accurate.
Fun photo to Pin:
What You Can Do Now:
Have you ever tried juicing? What do you do with the extra pulp?
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Which chocolate zucchini bread recipe do you use?
I don’t have it on the blog – it was just a random one I found in a cookbook and tweaked to my liking.
I made the drop version of these and they turned out great! I love not using muffin pans and I really liked the texture. I wasn’t sure if the flavors from my juice leftovers would be weird (spinach, lime, mint, apple, cucumber), but it turned out just fine!
Awesome! Yeah, we love it.
I just started juicing and have been giving the pulp to the chickens because I hadn’t found time to tweak a recipe yet. This just popped up in my feed. 😁 I’ll try it this week and my poor chickens will be so sad!
Haha, let me know how the chickens feel about their snacks taken away!
What’s the instructions if you freeze one batch that’s already made and want to reheat? And how long? Just made it but in bread form🙌
Hi Stephanie! I would simply let them/it thaw on the counter overnight!
Hi Stephanie! I would just let the frozen bread thaw in the fridge. No need to reheat!
Just made 48 of these in tiny cupcake cases. I had pure carrot pulp, and didn’t read to the end with the carrot cake tweak, so I’ve got mini choc carrot muffins with a whole 150g bag of white sugar-free choc chips (I buy random stuff all the time that I never use for its original purpose). I also added a bit more cocoa, because…chocolate. Delicious to me, testing on real, live children tomorrow.
Love it, Cate!
I also ended up making the carrot cake ones, but I added finely chopped fresh apple and to me, these tasted better. I also replaced all of the oil with apple sauce, so they were super appley. Yum!
Can these be frozen??
Yes! Just double-bag them to prevent freezer burn.