Banana Cacao Oatmeal Cups Muffins
Many times, I find store-bought baked goods overly sweet for my taste buds (also because I don't have a sweet tooth). Typically, muffins and cookies from big-box stores are laden with processed ingredients we all want to avoid e.g. sugar, corn syrup, fructose. Even if natural and healthy bakes can now be found in specialty artisan bakeries, the bakes usually do not come cheap. $4 for a healthy muffin? Two such healthy muffins can be equivalent to a take-out meal! I will not splurge on baked goods unless there is a reason or occasion to do so.
Now, all fingers pointing towards - making (baking) my own!
It is still banana-based sweetened muffins today, with the success of these Bran Buckswheat Banana Muffins. Banana, because it is a convenient choice as we always stock up on bananas at home. You can also use apple puree or apple sauce) or sometimes dried fruits (e.g. raisins, dates) as natural sweeteners instead of using sugar or syrup.
The Banana Cacao Oat Muffins/Oatmeal Cups today are basic yet classic, just so because I love dark bitter chocolate (so much so that 85% dark works way much better on me than 72%). Instead of melting pieces of dark chocolate, I am going to use 100% raw cacao powder to up the "chocolatey" flavor in this recipe.
