Green Tomato Brownie Muffins with Chickpea Almond Frosting

Or doughnuts! I finally jumped on the bandwagon after months of pining and bought myself a doughnut pan. While I had tons of ideas as to what I wanted to make first, the green tomatoes taking up valuable table space in the kitchen made the final decision. I figured that anything that could be "muffinized" could be adapted to the doughnut pan, and how can you say no to chocolate? I had a vintage green tomato spice cake recipe from one of the cookbooks my grandma gave me I wanted to see if I could modify it to be both denser and in a chocolate flavour rather than the typical allspice, cinnamon and ginger. A slew of changes made their way in - silken tofu for the eggs, a dash of stevia and agave nectar from my stash of Nature's Agave, a handful of chocolate and California Walnuts, barley flour and of course cocoa.

So, when you think about it, this is completely unlike the original. But hey, that's how I roll... er, bake.

At any rate, I only had 6 spaces in my doughnut pan and way more batter than that, so I made the rest into muffins. They took an hour to bake, and when they came out I was sad to see that they had sunk in the middle despite testing "done". However, they say nothing happens without a reason! Instead of binning the lot (the doughnuts to their credit also didn't rise much, they just look pretty on the bottom), I took it as an opportunity to add frosting. When in doubt, cover it up, right?

The muffins and doughnuts are moist, tender and a treat that is both decadent and not guilt-inducing. Even the frosting's not a huge nutrition crime - it follows the same principle as this one, but with chickpeas and almond butter instead. Smeared into the hollows of the brownie-muffins, it's an awesome way to "pretty up" their appearance.



Green Tomato Brownie Muffins
Makes 18 muffins (or 24 doughnuts)
150 g low-fat silken tofu
4 cups chopped green tomatoes
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp stevia extract
1 cup flour
1 cup barley flour (or spelt flour)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 1/2 tbsp (1 oz) chopped bittersweet chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 375F, line muffin cups with paper liners or grease 24 spaces in a doughnut pan.
2. In a food processor, puree the tofu, tomatoes, agave nectar and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
3. Cream the shortening, brown sugar and stevia until well blended.
4. Add the pureed mixture and beat in well.
5. Mix in the flours, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.
6. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate.
7. Bake 1 hour (for muffins) or 35 minutes (for doughnuts).

Amount Per (Muffin) Serving
Calories: 174.0
Total Fat: 8.6 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 14.3 mg
Total Carbs: 22.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g
Protein: 3.3 g


Amount Per (Doughnut) Serving

Calories: 130.4

Total Fat: 6.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 10.7 mg
Total Carbs: 17.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.9 g
Protein: 2.5 g

Chickpea Almond Frosting
Makes about 1 1/4 cups
3/4 cup well cooked chickpeas
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened almond butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
pinch salt

1. Place chickpeas, brown sugar, almond butter and vanilla in a food processor and puree.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar and cornstarch, and add the salt. 
3. Run the processor until completely smooth.
4. Scrape into a bowl and chill. 
5. Beat again before spreading. 

Amount Per Serving (about 1 tbsp + 2 tsp)
Calories: 34.4
Total Fat: 0.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 45.5 mg
Total Carbs: 8.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.7 g
Protein: 0.2 g