Double Chocolate Kale Muffins

In a double bonus move on this blustery Tuesday, I’m sharing an extra Secret Recipe Club post today!  For those yet unfamiliar with SRC, it is a fun group in which participating bloggers secretly create a dish from their assigned blogger’s site.  If is a fun way to meet new friends and try all sorts of interesting new recipes!

One of my favorite parts of SRC is searching through the blog hop and guessing which post was made by another blogger and inspired by one of my recipes.  Sadly, on yesterday’s reveal, Kelsey of K & K Test Kitchen was orphaned!  When I saw the post asking for volunteers to bake up something from Kelsey’s blog, I was more than happy to oblige.  And when I started looking around the blog, I was thrilled!

K & K Test Kitchen is a blog by Kelsey & Kim, and wonderful mother-daughter duo who both love to cook.  So many of recipes are ones that I would cook for my family, but the one that really stuck out to me was the recipe for Double Chocolate Kale Muffins, because, let’s face it, I LOVE sticking vegetables into baked goods!

I tried one of these muffins fresh from the oven and it was AMAZING!  It had just the right amount of chocolaty sweetness without going too far down the cupcake road.  I can’t wait to give these to my boys for snack this afternoon—they’re going to love them (and be eating kale-super bonus!)

Recipe Notes:

*You can’t taste or even see the kale at all.  Really.

*I cut down the sugar and chocolate chips a bit from the original recipe, because that’s how I roll.  If you like a sweeter muffin, go ahead and up that sugar.

*I also used part whole wheat flour because I’m big into whole grains.  Feel free to use only all purpose flour or mix it up with some ground flax or wheat germ.

Double Chocolate Kale Muffins

Adapted from K & K Test Kitchen

2 cups kale, chopped, large stems removed

1 cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup all purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 egg

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

¼ cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Wash the kale and chop into small pieces, taking care to discard the large woody stalks.  Place the kale into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the kale is wilted.  Note: if you don’t have a steamer basket or if yours is dysfunctional (note to self – put steamer basket in the rummage sale pile), bring 1 – 1 ½ inches of water to a boil in a small pot, add the kale and cover this will steam/boil the kale.

Drain the kale (if using the second method) and set aside until it is cool enough to handle.  Place the kale into the bowl of a mini food processor along with 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid (or water or buttermilk) and pulse until the kale has been broken down into very small pieces. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Fold in the kale, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about three quarters full of batter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy warm from the oven or microwaved for 15 seconds before eating.

Makes 12-14 muffins