These beetroot and chocolate cupcakes went down a storm at a bring-and-share lunch on Saturday. I found the recipe on the Ooffoo website after posting up my spinach and aubergine lasagne last month. The funny thing is that the muffin recipe was posted by Mrs Green, a name you may recognise from comments on my blog, whose My Zero Waste blog chronicles her families commitment to recycling and reducing their household waste. Discovering one of Mrs Green’s recipes was like bumping into an old friend and since the last of my allotment beets were also looking ‘sad‘ in the bottom of the fridge I decided to give the muffins a try. My beets had been destined for soup but to be honest I was quite relieved to find an alternative – I can’t can’t quite get my head, or stomach, round the idea of hot purple slurp. They certainly won’t be left languishing so long next time and this recipe would be ideal for using up those larger, tougher beetroots that often end up on the compost heap.
The original recipe is no longer available on line and I’d adjusted the quantities anyway around the amount of beetroot I had and got 12 cupcakes and a 9” cake out of this much mixture. I used a melted a bar of dark chocolate instead of cocoa and reduced the quantity of sugar a little. You’ll not be disappointed with these muffins; they’re beautifully moist and light and a rich chocolatey brown colour which retains the purple hue of the beetroot. And Mrs Green adds ‘here is a great snack for kids. Full of the chocolatey sweet taste they want, but with some cunning raisins and beetroot added so that you can help them achieve their 5-a-day quota!’ 
To make beetroot and chocolate cupcakes
300g self raising flour
100g bar of dark chocolate or cocoa powder
280g caster sugar
110g raisins
3 eggs
300ml oil
375g blended cooked beetroot (about 6-10 beets depending on size)
-
- Pre heat oven to 190°c
- Cook the beetroot until soft and then blend with a hand mixer
- Sift the flour (and cocoa powder if using) into a bowl and add the sugar and raisins. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs into the oil. Add the cooked beetroot and mix well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix everything together lightly.
- Spoon the mix into muffin cases or cake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until brown and risen.
ps. …about that 9” cake. I was going to embark on my maiden freezing of baked goods but having given all the cupcakes away it was the least I could do to let George have the cake! 
Update – I posted this recipe again in 2018 using less sugar – click here if you’d prefer to see that post
They look delicious and fluffy, no wonder they all went.
Looks delish !
and a great way of sneakin’ some goodness in there !
Oh my goodness! I have been scrolling through all of your wonderful posts, and now my mouth is watering! Wow!!!!! I need to catch up on your blog!
Your recipe takes me back to the war time when sugar was in very short supply. My mother used beetroot in small cakes to replace the sugar. Regards, Do
Chocolate AND beetroot together !!! I/We are not convinced on that one. One day I might…….
but then maybe
A friend of my requested a beetroot recipe recipe and i was going to make HFW beetroot and chocolate cake, but I may change my mind and make these as they are portable. They look deep and delicious. I will also check out Mrs Greens blog, sounds good to me. Thanks.
Oh I had to come back and say ‘so glad you didn’t make soup’. I really don’t like beetroot soup.
Those look good, and healthy too! I’m not really a beetroot fan but if there’s chocolate in them….!
Ann – they were, they did :o)
Miss M – i reckon it would work with carrots and courgette too!
April – water away :o) and nice to see you again. Bilbo’s getting around isn’t he
Don – what a lovely memory. Perhaps I’ll try even less sugar next time or soak and blend some dates into it
Rufus – you wouldn’t know the beetroot is there. I understand your reluctance since you don’t really like beetroot anyway!
MC – these would be my recipe of choice now too. I made a beetroot and chocolate fudge cake for G’s birthday (before blogging) and it was delicious but had 4 bars of chocolate in. Too rich, these are definitely better! And I’m sooooo glad I didn’t waste my beautiful beets on soup too :o)
Nic – yep they’re definitely both. I’ve just made your chocolate christmas puddings, they’re delicious and I’m trying hard not to pilfer any before my family come over later!
I like beetroot but not in vinegar. As for the chocolate puddings, they sound
interesting. I can almost taste them
oh well that’s good – no trace of vinegar in the muffins ;o)
oh that looks so good – I had chocolate and beetroot cake on holiday and it was delicious so I must make some soon – made it once many years ago but need to revisit and I love the colour of your recipe
I love the idea of using beets in a muffin. It’s one way of getting more veggies. I must try these.
i do banana and zucchini chocolate cake/muffins, which my kids dont realise are full of fruit and vegetables, but now that zucchini is not in season, i am going to try this (today!)
and i can guarantee its success! wonderful recipe
banana and zucchini sounds like a lovely moist combo. I’m so glad your baking turned out well too :o)
You’ve been very busy cooking up all that wonderful Cretan food – my sweet tooth loves Backlava, my green tooth loves green beans in tomato sauce and my skinny tooth can never tires of Greek salad.
oooh – these were delicious! Nice and moist – and not overly sweet. Very chocolatey! THANKS!
a pleasure Janet – you can see why I was inspired to write about them :o)
Just made a batch and gosh they are lovely. In taste similar to mud cake. Not too sweet which is plus. Thank you for the great recipe not only great on taste but also such a pleasure for the eye.
hooray, pleased to hear you enjoyed them Salem :o)
This was the first and last time I made them – not because I didn’t like them but because they’re just toooooo more-ish! Hard to stop at just one…
thanks for the recipe, making them tonight after my last beetroot caked went wrong (chef error!)
just noticed your comment about not wanting to make hot red slurp…..i had a happy accident left over soup. beet and cauliflower with plenty of cracked pepper and some salt……thats it, no recipe..just to taste……absolutely exceeded all expectations….give it a try
well funnily enough I have just those ingredients in the house…
it’s warming up here now so perhaps when the snow comes in again next winter (as it’s bound to) I will finally give beetroot soup a try.
Hope you didn’t have any chef errors with your muffins {wink}
thanks for commenting, Nic
Hello
Thank you for the Beetroot Muffin recipe – over the past 2 years I have made Beetroot Chocolate cakes, fudge and muffins from lots of sources and this one is much my favourite.
Its on the ‘permanent’ list !
I love baking with garden veg.
with kindest regards
smashing Sue, always lovely to hear feedback.
Happy cake making and munching :o)
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