Secret Ingredient Muffins.

I struggle with what sort of snacks to put in the Farmchildren's lunchboxes sometimes.  By the time I have navigated the no nuts, no junk food rules enforced by the school and child care centre I often find that not many of my recipes suit.  And there is only so much fruit they can eat.  This muffin recipe is super sneaky because the result looks like plain old chocolate muffins but they are actually very healthy.  I love a deceptive kid's snack recipe.  They always make me happy.

The secret healthy ingredient in these muffins is below.

Kidney Beans

Yep - kidney beans.  Now if I gave my kids plain old kidney beans in their lunch there is no way on this earth they would eat them.  (And if your kids do, good luck to you, you have reached ultimate uber Mum status!)  But in these muffins the beans go down no problem whatsoever.

The trick is in the making.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 100ml of canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 400g tin of kidney beans
• 1 cup SR flour
• 1/2 cup of cocoa
• 1/2 cup of milk

First of all drain those beans.  Then you need to get them all mushed up.  I put them in a jug and puree the living daylights out of them with my stick blender.  If you wanted to go old school you could get out the potato masher and go hell for leather.  Alternatively a mini food processor would do the trick.  Beware leaving any beans whole.  Once kids discover the beans are there, they never forget.

The beans should look like this.

Pureed beans

Then sift the flour and cocoa and add the brown sugar.  Mix all of these dry ingredients together.  Add the other ingredients and stir all together until you get a lumpy batter.

Like this.

Lumpy Batter

Then pop the batter evenly into 12 patty pans in a muffin tin.  Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 12-15 minutes.

Yum.  And with a hidden serve of beans....

Deceptive Chocolate Muffins