I wanted to make something festive for Christmas. So, I took my normal banana chocolate chip muffins that I make every week for snacks and dressed them up a bit. This is basically a healthy version of red velvet cake using beets to add some fun color, nice texture and extra vitamins. The result: I had something special for Christmas week for the kids to eat for snack time. Here’s what I did if you want to give it a try.

Merry Muffins: 

1. Steam 4 medium beets. I used my new Instant Pot. Cook however you prefer until tender. I cooked mine with the skins on and then they peeled right off when I took them out of the Instant Pot. In the Instant Pot, I cooked them on low pressure for 15 minutes with natural pressure release. Total time from locking on the lid to finish was about 40 minutes total.
   
   

   

    

2. Reserve the cooking liquid from the beets to add a little extra color. You can easily reduce to concentrate the color by setting the Instant Pot to sauté after you have removed the beets while you assemble your other ingredients.
3. Peel the cooked beets and purée in the food processor.
   
   

   
4. Prepare your dry ingredients. Adjust the flours to suit your tastes and dietary needs.
   • 2 cups all-purpose flour (I like King Arthur or Trader Joe’s)
   • 1 cup whole grain spelt (or whole wheat flour)
   • 3/4 cup millet
   • 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
   • 1 tsp salt
   • 2 tbls baking powder
   • 5 tbls cocoa powder
   • 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips
5. Next, add some sweetness. Choose your sweetener. Below is what I used. Substitute what you like.
   • 3/4 cups honey
   • 1/2 cup maple syrup
   • 1/4 agave
6. Get your liquids ready.
   • 2 tsp vanilla extract
   • 2 1/2 cups of milk (minus the volume of liquid from your reserved beet juice)
   • 6 egg yolks (we avoid egg whites, use 3 whole eggs if you like)
   • beet puree
   • 1/2 cup light olive oil (or other tasteless oil)
   • 3 very ripe mashed bananas
7. Mix the dry ingredients. Add the sweetener to the wet ingredients, and the combine the wet and the dry together, stirring until just combined.
8. Spoon into muffin cups. I like reusable silicone muffin cups.
9. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.
10. This recipe made about 2 dozen regular size muffins, and about 3 dozen baby muffins. These are best enjoyed fresh. For best texture, freeze if you are not planning on using them within two days.