Healthy Chocolate Muffins
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Published Jan 27, 2022, Updated Jun 12, 2023
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These healthy chocolate muffins are dairy-free and made with whole wheat flour, applesauce and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. They’re fudgy, rich, perfectly moist and absolutely delicious.
Sweet treats can be healthy! I love taking my favorite sweets and putting my spin on them so I’m not left with a blood sugar spike and an upset stomach. I made a few simple swaps for an EBF-approved version of a chocolate muffin!
Why You Need to Make These Healthy Chocolate Muffins
- Healthy + chocolate in one recipe? What more could you ask for! These delicious muffins are made with upgraded ingredients so you don’t leave with a sugar high after indulging.
- They’re perfectly moist and fudgy… the best kind of chocolate muffins.
- I like eating them for breakfast, snack or dessert! Yes, chocolate for breakfast is fair game in this case!
- This is a great recipe to make with kids! They’ll love helping you pour ingredients into the bowl and mix and will obviously love the end result.
Ingredients Needed
- whole wheat pastry flour – whole wheat pastry flour works better than regular whole wheat flour if you’re looking for the light and fluffy texture that regular all-purpose flour provides, but still want the nutrients of whole wheat flour. My go-to brand is Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour. If you can’t find whole wheat pastry flour you can also use white whole wheat flour, a blend of all-purpose and regular whole wheat flour or just regular all-purpose flour.
- cocoa powder – cocoa powder makes these muffins chocolate flavored! Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa powder.
- baking soda and baking powder – helps the muffins rise.
- salt – brings all of the flavors together.
- eggs – helps bind the liquid and oil together. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature or they can make the coconut oil solidify while mixing.
- maple syrup – the natural sweetener of choice for these muffins. I haven’t tried making these with honey but that should work as well.
- unsweetened applesauce – helps reduce the amount of oil you need while still keeping the muffins super moist. Make homemade applesauce or use store-bought unsweetened applesauce.
- non-dairy milk – any dairy-free milk works for these muffins! I typically use unsweetened almond milk.
- coconut oil – helps make the muffins moist and fluffy! The oil also helps prevent the muffins from sticking to the liners.
- vanilla extract – a flavor enhancer.
- chocolate chips – add a little more chocolate to these muffins with chocolate chips! I like using Lily’s dark chocolate chips because they are low in calories and sugar.
How to Make Healthy Chocolate Muffins
Start by mixing the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk a little before adding the other wet ingredients. Then add the maple syrup, applesauce, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk again until combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix or your muffins will end up really dense… we don’t want that! Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter evenly between 12 muffin tins that are lined with paper or silicone liners. Bake in an oven preheated to 350ºF for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Tips For Success
- It’s super important to make sure you’re using room temperature milk, eggs, maple syrup and applesauce! If any of these ingredients are cool or cold, the coconut oil will solidify and create clumps. If you notice this happening, you can set the mixing bowl on the warm part of your stovetop as the oven preheats or set the mixing bowl in a larger bowl of hot water until the coconut oil melts again. You just want to make sure you don’t get the batter too hot or the eggs will start cooking. Here’s a guide for how to bring things like butter, eggs and yogurt to room temp.
- When combining your dry and wet ingredients make sure you mix until just combined and don’t over-mix, otherwise your muffins could turn out too dense or rubbery. It’s even okay if there are a few streaks of flour remaining as they’ll get mixed in when you stir in the chocolate chips.
- I highly recommend using silicone muffin liners or parchment baking cups for the best results and to prevent the muffins from sticking.
- Let the muffins cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin and then remove to let cool completely on a wire rack. Don’t leave the muffins in the muffin tin for too long because they’ll continue to bake and could dry out!
- If using paper liners, make sure to let the muffins cool completely before trying to remove the liners otherwise your muffins will likely stick. If you’re trying to speed up the process, place your muffins in the fridge to cool down quicker.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! All-purpose flour will work just fine in place of whole wheat pastry flour.
I haven’t tested a gluten-free version of these muffins, but I would imagine using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour would work just fine in place of the whole wheat pastry flour. My favorite brand is Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose flour.
Bananas would be the best substitute for the applesauce. 2 small bananas should equal 1/2 cup mashed. Pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree would also work in place of the applesauce.
I haven’t tested an egg-free version of these muffins, but let me know if you decide to experiment in the comments below! I would imagine using two flax eggs or chia eggs in place of the regular eggs would work just fine.
I highly recommend using silicone muffin liners or parchment baking cups for the best results and to avoid the muffins from sticking too much. I also recommend spraying your liners with a little cooking spray. Also, make sure to let your muffins cool completely before trying to remove the liners otherwise they could stick. If you want, you can pop the muffins in the fridge to cool for an hour or so before removing the liners.
How to Store Healthy Chocolate Muffins
After allowing the muffins to cool completely, store them in an airtight container for 3-4 days at room temperature or for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. For longer storage, you can freeze these muffins for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container or bag. I like to use my Stasher bags for easy storage. To defrost, place muffins in the fridge overnight, at room temperature or defrost in the microwave.
More Muffin Recipes to Try
- Blueberry Yogurt Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Almond Flour Muffins
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Strawberry Protein Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Yogurt Muffins
- Zucchini Muffins
- Oat Bran Muffins
- Flourless Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Banana Blender Muffins
Be sure to check out all of my muffin recipes and the full collection of breakfast recipes here on EBF!
Healthy Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup maple syrup, at room temperature
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk , or any non-dairy milk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 12 paper or silicone liners in your muffin tin.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk. Add maple syrup, applesauce, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until just combined. Don’t overmix! Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour batter evenly between 12 muffin tins. I used ¼ cup to measure the batter.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool in the tin for about 5 minutes or so, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The recipe sounds delicious. I don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, can I use white whole wheat flour instead?
Definitely!! That should work just fine. Let me know how these muffins turn out for you, Darlene. 🙂
I want to try these. I can’t have wheat flour. Can I use gf flour?
Thank you
Becky
I want to make these muffins. I don’t like coconut oil, can I substitute it with olive or avocado oil?
Totally! I think either of those options will work great. Let me know if you try it.
Could I substitute chocolate protein powder rather than cocoa powder?
Thank you, as always Brittany 🙂
What would you suggest as a substitute for applesauce?
These are INSANELY good. They’re so moist and taste like dessert without having too “desserty” ingredients. I made with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour and they came out perfectly! We always have a match of one kind of EBF muffins or another on our counter as grab and go snacks and these have definitely made the rotation!!
Ah yay! This makes me so happy to hear. Thanks for trying out these muffins, Sara! And thank you for the review. I really appreciate it!
The perfect solution for the sweets I have been craving! Moist and delicious as well as nutritious! I recommend reheating the leftovers to melt the chocolate chips a little more.
So pumped to hear you enjoyed these muffins. Thanks for the review, Alison. It means so much to me!
Hi there! Just made these muffins with my daughters this afternoon. We had all the ingredients so we went for it and ended up having lots of fun and a batch of very yummy muffins. Kids loved them (4.5 and almost 2 years old)! Thank you so much for this recipe! Sending the very best wishes from the Czech Rep! xx
Woo!! That makes me so happy to hear, Ellie. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. It means the world to me!
Hi Brittany, these are yummy!! I definitely want to make these again.
What is the best storage? Airtight? Fridge? A couple of mine went by and I was so sad!!
But I’m not discouraged – I’ll make more. 🙂
Hi, Mary! I’m so glad you liked these muffins! I recommend allowing the muffins to cool completely and then storing them in an airtight container. They should be okay for 3-4 days at room temperature but you can store them in the fridge and they’ll last about a week. For longer storage, you can freeze these muffins for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container or bag. I hope that helps!
excellent post thank you for sharing
I made these using Pamela’s gluten free baking mix and they are to die for!!! Wow, rich chocolate but not the rich calories! Having two myself before the kids get home! Ha! Thank you EBF!
Woo! Love to hear that, Jennifer! Thanks for sharing and leaving a review, it means the world to me.
These are delicious!! Not too sweet, which is perfect. I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour with amazing results. These muffins are soft, moist, and fluffy inside. I also used honey instead of maple syrup since we were running low on the syrup. Thanks for another amazing recipe! All of your muffin recipes that I’ve tried have turned out great 🙂
Ah YAY! I am so excited that you are loving this recipe, Cloey. Thank you so much for coming back and sharing your review + star rating, I so appreciate it.
I absolutely LOVE these and so does my whole family! They taste like such a treat. I’m gluten free so I replaced the whole wheat flour with 2 cups of oat flour and they still turned out perfectly!
YUM! I am so excited to hear that this recipe worked out and are a hit, Emma. It’s great to know they also work well with the oat flour. Thank you for sharing your review + star rating, I so appreciate it!
Sooooooo good!!!! Perfect balance of sweet and I absolutely LOVE how they aren’t too sweet.Jsut the right touch! I used honey since that’s what I had on hand and no oil. These will be my new go to healthy chocolate muffins 😋 These came out soft and moist. My oven took 10-15 minutes to bake though. Ovens do vary! Make this recipe y’all!!!!!
AHH this is great, Ashley. I am so excited to hear that you are loving this recipe and that it is a hit. Thank you so much for coming back and sharing your review + star rating, it means so much to me!
Hi. Thank you for the recipe.
Can you suggest an alternative for the coconut oil. Will regular butter be ok?
Or can i subsitute it with banana or apple sauce
Hi Anum – You can use olive or avocado oil to replace the coconut oil. Enjoy!