Vegan chocolate sandwich muffins

Yesterday we had the pleasure of having Eden's best pal come over for a little garden visit - Everleigh turned one on Monday and birthday girls need birthday cake. I tried a new recipe for the first time which I'm actually really pleased with - it wasn't the healthiest of bakes I've made as I was low on ingredients but it was certainly a worthy treat. It's super easy too!



If you'd like to make these, you will need:

For the muffins (makes 12)
280g self raising flour
4 tbsp cacao/cocoa powder
1 tap baking powder
160g caster sugar
300ml plant milk (I used soya)
130ml rapeseed oil

For the icing:
50g vegan butter
100g icing sugar
1 tbsp cacao/cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For the jam:
150g frozen raspberries
1 tsp agave/maple syrup
2 tbsp chia seeds

Start by preheating the oven to 180 degrees and greasing a muffin tray (if silicone) or lining with cases. Then sift the flour, sugar, cacao and baking powder into a large bowl and mix well. Then add the plant milk and oil and stir well until the mix is smooth and fully combined. Then divide into the muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes  until well risen (I check them using a skewer in the centre - if it comes out clean they're done!) Leave to cool.

While the muffins cook, make the jam. Add the frozen berries and syrup to a pan and heat gently until they have softened and are releasing some of their liquid. Then stir in the chia seeds well, cook for 2 more minutes and set aside to cool. During this time the chia seeds will absorb the liquid and thicken up into a jam.

Make the buttercream by adding butter and vanilla essence into a bowl, sifting in the icing sugar and cacao powder, and beating together well until really fluffy and creamy. (This would be much easier with an electric whisk!) Then cover and pop into the fridge for an hour or so to firm up.

When everything is completely cool, you can assemble the muffins. Carefully cut the tops of the muffins off using a serrated knife and set aside. Spread some jam onto each muffin (not too much!) and after this, add a scoop of buttercream. Then gently place the tops back on the muffins and you are finished! I store mine in the fridge in a sealed container until ready to serve.

Will you be trying this recipe?