These healthy Chocolate Lover’s Muffins are made without any butter or oil, but so tender and flavourful that you’d never be able to tell! Greek yogurt and applesauce help keep them moist, while a double dose of chocolate makes them taste super decadent. A healthy and delicious way to satisfy those chocolate cravings!
This week has unofficially become Chocolate Week here on Spoons.
And no, it has nothing to do with that one week in particular that us ladies have to deal with every month. Or maybe it does; who knows. Hormones are a crazy thing.
Either way! I have yet another delicious chocolate recipe to share with you guys today, only this time it comes in the form of muffins. Healthy chocolate lover’s muffins to be exact…
Basic? Sure. But everyone loves chocolate muffins, and as a result, everyone needs a healthy chocolate muffin recipe in their arsenal. Bonus points if it has double the chocolate.
I’m not sure if I ever told you guys this, but I use mini chocolate chips in just about 99.99% of the recipes I make… and it’s not only because they’re way cuter.
Maybe I’m a freak for noticing things like this, but I just find that the mini chips are SO much better at evenly distributing the chocolate flavour in whatever they happen to be in. Know what I mean? Like… instead of biting into a regular chocolate chip and getting hit with this huge burst of flavour, you’ve got a subtler but steadier supply of chocolate in every bite. It’s perfection.
ALSO! Mini chips stay put, which means when you sprinkle them on top of a muffin, they stay on top of the muffin, AND look so much prettier doing it…
So now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s talk about the fabulous chocolate muffins that house those mini chocolate chips, eh?
Like most of my other healthier muffins, these ones are made without any butter or oil, but they stay super soft and tender thanks to a combination of Greek yogurt, applesauce, and honey.
The muffins themselves are naturally sweetened, but they won’t be 100% refined-sugar-free unless you use chocolate chips that have been sweetened with stevia or xylitol. OR you can sub out the chocolate chips for some dark chocolate chunks because #antioxidants.
No matter which way you choose to play it, these healthy chocolate lover’s muffins are a great way to satisfy those chocolate cravings… whether they’re yours or someone else’s!
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Healthy Chocolate Lover’s Muffins
- Total Time: 27 mins
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry flour*
- 1/4 cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup (225 g) plain Greek yogurt**
- 1/2 cup (160 g) liquid honey
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) unsweetened applesauce***
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (80 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (176C) and prepare a muffin pan by lining the cavities with paper liners or greasing them with cooking spray or oil. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg until it becomes slightly frothy before whisking in the yogurt, honey, applesauce, and vanilla.
- Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing gently until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each until they’re about 3/4 of the way full. Top with additional chocolate chips, if desired.
- Bake for 17-19 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for ~10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
* You could also make these with all purpose flour or use a mix of 1/2 cup (60 g) whole wheat and 3/4 cup (90 g) all purpose. ** You could also use a vanilla Greek yogurt if you like things slightly sweeter. *** If you don’t have any applesauce on hand, you could also use an equal amount of mashed banana.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 17 mins
Looking for more healthy chocolate muffin recipes? Try one of these!
Double Chocolate Greek Yogurt Muffins
Flourless Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Chocolate Banana Minute Muffin
Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
These muffins are really good. I’ve made them a few times and recommend them to others. I often times will eat the whole batch in one or two sittings (oops). Thank you for this great recipe!
Please suggest substitution for Greek yoghurt
Just finished baking these amazing chocolately miracles. I may have already sampled one or 3 of them. Thank you so much for the recipe! 😊🍫
Hey
Is it normal that all the chocolate chips settled at the bottom of the muffin? The taste is great but i don’t know why the chocolate chips were just at the bottom.
These are amazing! I made it with only 1/3 cup of honey, used a bit more mashed banana, and added some grinded coffee 🙂 Definitely will be making again, my whole family loved it!
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed them, Laura! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know 😀
Look good. I will make some however in large tins. How long do you suggest i bake using the large muffin tins? Thanks.
Hooooolllllyy shiz these look AMAZING!!!!!
That is one precariously placed stack of muffins. Like the chocolate tower of Pisa. I’m impressed. I bet you’d be fantastic at Jenga. The Hubby would love these. One day I shall cook again. 🙂
Confession: they fell over right as soon as I snapped the pic. In fact, I think they were falling WHILE I was snapping it 😆
These look incredible! Thanks for sharing – I’ll be making these this week for sure!
I hope you do, Christine! I’d love to know how you liked them 🙂
It doesn’t matter what time of month it is, I’m always craving chocolate! Literally every single day.
These muffins look so perfect! I agree that mini chips do a better job distributing the chocolate. But I’d gladly eat them with big chips if I had to. I don’t discriminate when it comes to chocolate. 😉
mini = baked goods.
large/chucks = fistfuls of. keke
These look fantastic Amanda. I wish I had the ingredients – my mouth is watering!
I love the minichips! I sometimes will use my food processor to crush m&ms or other regular chips to make them more mini because they just work better. The distribution is a lot more homogeneous and therefore you can be assured to get chocolate in each bite 🙂 Yes I have thought about this.
Question for you, did you take a photography course? Read a book? I kind of want to work on my skillz but don’t know where to start. Thanks <3
Nope! No courses or books, really. The only thing I seriously sat down to read was Pinch of Yum’s “Tasty Food Photography” e-book, but other than that it’s just been years and years of practice. My best advice is to get a feel for shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, switch your camera into manual mode, and just practice taking pictures from different angles and in different lighting. Then change up the settings to see how they affect the photo.
Double chocolate muffins are always a good idea! Love how fluffy and soft these look! You’re the queen of healthy muffins. I love the mini chips, too, and totally don’t think you’re weird for noticing stuff like that. My family just pointed out that I do that and they think it would help increase their enjoyment of food if they took the time to think about it and appreciate the details instead of just scarfing it down (though I do plenty of that, too 😬). You just want the best taste experience 😉
Okay these look freakin amazing and I want them now. Ofc I can’t have them on account of the greek yogurt. But in my dreams, I have them everyday 😀
Oh, I can so imagine biting into these! And those delicious chocolate chips are a great addition.
How on earth did you manage to get photo 2 done without the 3 of them falling over? Brilliant! 😀
Confession: they fell over about 2 seconds after I took that shot. In fact, I think they were tipping while I was taking it 😆
Okay, are you reading my mind?! I am craving chocolate muffins so bad. Literally about to go to the store and get some cocoa powder. I love that you used Greek yogurt + applesauce. Pretty much my go-to subs for healthy baking!!
the perfect bite, the perfect muffins form, the perfect obsession with mini chocolate chips. = perfect recipe and saturday post. <3
Give me all the chocolate!! I am more than ok with all the chocolate recipes you’ve been making. #gimme And I do like to bake with mini chips, but when it comes to tossing a handful into my mouth I prefer the regular size!
I am the same way using mini chocolate chips – because they’re smaller, you use more for the same amount, and they spread out a LOT better! I feel like that’s also why desserts made with smaller berries (blueberries, raspberries) are more even than those with, say, cherries, unless you slice the cherries up, which is a purple mess.
Hahah! So true – I always end up slicing up my cherries and looking like I just murdered someone. Oops.
My kids are mini chip fans but I actually prefer the big chunks! Like I will do the really big chunks whenever possible 🙂 Same with ice cream, I feel like that’s a similar thing. I use mini chips though mainly when I want them cute, they really are super cute 🙂
But chunks are a totally different story! I’ll take chunks over almost anything, except when I’m trying to put them on top of muffins – I don’t want them sinking to the bottom!
love the name of the muffins 🙂 I totally agree on baking with mini chocolate chips – definitely are more evenly distributed throughout, especially in cookies. so good!