Secretly Healthy Chocolate Muffins

Happy 2014! It's time to get back into the blogging swing of things. What better way to start the year than with a recipe that promotes healthy and mindful eating. The greatest thing about this recipe is that while it has the taste of a regular chocolate muffin, it is actually packed with nutrition to make this sweet treat into a nutrition powerhouse. These muffins are also low fat and make for an easy grab-and-go breakfast.

The only hint you get that these muffins are healthy is the texture. It is not as smooth as your typically muffin but that is because this recipe uses wheat bran, which has a rustic but soft texture. This is not a bad thing! In fact, it gives the muffin a textural contrast.

The batter is slightly sweet but can be easily modified by altering the amount of chocolate chips. For me, 1/2 cup of chocolate chips of dark chocolate chips was just enough to give me bursts of sweetness as a I devoured my muffin!

Happy baking!

Secretly Healthy Chocolate Muffins
by Y-U-M-M-Y

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup prunes, finely chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa
dash cinnamon
dash salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or as much as desired)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line standard muffin tin. 
2. Combine wheat bran and milk in a small bowl. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, brown sugar, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla extract, and prunes until well mixed.
4. Combine all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
5. Add wheat bran mixture to wet ingredients. Incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredient mixture in thirds, mixing until just combined after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter evenly into into muffin tin.
7. Bake for 17-20 minutes or when a toothpick comes out just clean.