Irish Cocoa Muffins

I can't believe we're over halfway through March already! It seemed just yesterday that we were toasting the new year, and all of a sudden here's St. Patty's Day knocking on the door. Of course, that just means it's that much closer to Easter, my and my sister's birthdays, and summer break! For now though, St. Patty's is nigh - as the various breweries, bars and good-timey folks have been reminding us for weeks.

While I look somewhat Irish, and in some way am Irish, I don't have the stereotypical "partier" in me, and don't even drink! On the other hand, the Irish spend an average of €1,675 per household on alcohol annually (3x more than Denmark, the second-highest spenders). I barely own anything green for the holiday - I have two shirts and some nail polish, so I suit myself with that.

But that doesn't mean I can't dip my toe into the Irish world for one day a year! Growing up I had a mad fondness for Baileys in coffee and hot chocolate (yes, as a kid), and my mom still does to this day. Bailey's is a great ingredient to use for baking too, being cream based, and like it's alcoholic component, whiskey, adds a great flavour without tasting like turpentine or Pinesol. I wanted to try baking the memories of my old favourite cocoa into a muffin, complete with a marshmallow, and with a combination of melted frozen yogurt, oat flour, cocoa, coffee and whiskey I had my prize! Tender, not too sweet and with just a hint of that "something special", they're a nice late-night sweet table addition to your next craic.

Erin go Bragh!

Irish Cocoa Muffins
Makes 9
1 cup flour
1 cup oat flour
8 pkts Xylitol (or ¼ cup sugar)
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup melted vanilla frozen yogurt
2 tbsp Irish whiskey (like one of these)
½ tbsp instant coffee
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
⅓ cup canola oil
2 eggs
9 mini marshmallows (I used these vegan ones)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F
2. Whisk together frozen yogurt, whiskey, coffee, cocoa, oil and eggs in a large bowl.
3. Add the flours, xylitol, baking powder and salt and stir just to combine.
4. Portion into muffin tins.
5. Press a mini marshmallow into the centre of each cup of batter.
6. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 212.1
Total Fat: 10.2 g
Cholesterol: 43.6 mg
Sodium: 31.1 mg
Total Carbs: 24.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
Protein: 5.2 g