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!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Flaxseed Cookies

I've decided to end my hiatus from blogging! I apologize to my followers for being MIA but sometimes life just gets atcha and you gotta roll with the punches! However, I am back and I ready to share some great recipes with you! Accept the above plate of cookies as my apology? The title may sound ridiculous and not appealing for a cookie but trust me, titles can be deceiving!

As most of you know, I'm all about a healthy recipe and this recipe is no different. On this Sunday afternoon, I decided I want to make something healthy but still satisfies the sweet tooth. A few weeks back, I went to this cute antique shop that baked fresh oatmeal cookies in the back. I heard good things about these cookies and bought one to try for myself. Needless to say, the cookie was delicious! Everything about the cookie screamed home! The smell reminded me of so many times I would walk around my house and smell fresh baked cookies in the oven. The cookie was soft and just enough sweetness to be considered an indulgence. Every since then, I've been inspired to make my own version of this delicious oatmeal cookie...with a healthy twist. This is the first time I've baked a cookie with whole wheat flour. Typically, I'll mix whole wheat and all-purpose flour because whole wheat flour tends to dry out baked goods but not this recipe. Also, I incorporated flax seed and some nuts to boost the nutritious value in this guilty of a pleasure called a cookie. Hey, at least this is better than a cookie that goes straight to your thighs!

The end product? Delicious and amazing cookies! didn't tell my brother the ingredients of the cookie because he refuses to eat any of my healthy baked goods. He ate the whole cookie...I think he's better off not knowing!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bran Muffins

I had some leftover pumpkin in the fridge this past week and debated what to do with it. I had that amount of pumpkin that's not enough for pumpkin bread but enough for a recipe that could replace oil/butter with pumpkin! Ultimately, I chose to jazz my up my Healthy Blueberry Muffin recipe by replacing applesauce and blueberries with pumpkin and chocolate chips. It turned out to be such a great variation to my typically blueberry and applesauce combination. I highly recommend using mini chocolate chocolate chips because the chips disperse all throughout the muffin, ensuring sweet deliciousness in every bite!

The idea to change this recipe was inspired by my dad, whom I've made my Healthy Blueberry Muffins for. He liked them but wished for chocolate chips instead of blueberries. My dad makes me laugh because he is very health conscious (if anyone can eat in moderation, it's him). However, he has such a weakness for chocolate and always say I could add a little more chocolate to my recipes. I can guarantee he will like these, especially with the addition of the mini chocolate morsels. Father's Day is on Sunday, isn't it? Breakfast for daddy: done.

Pumpkin Bread

There is nothing I love more than trying a recipe that I've scribbled on a scratch piece of paper laying on my desk. The recipe always screams, "Make Me!" but I always put it off to the side and end up forgetting about it. I became smarter and began storing these scratch pieces of paper in a folder so I can sift through it when I had an itch to bake. Needless to say, when I had the itch yesterday, I whipped out my folder and starting sifting through my recipes. Awhile back, I was searching for a healthy pumpkin bread recipe because quick breads like pumpkin bread tend to be high in sugar and fat. After a good search, I found a recipe than had just the right amount of healthiness!

This recipe calls for egg whites, plain yogurt, and pumpkin which all create a healthier version of pumpkin bread! I love pumpkin and one of the beauties of making pumpkin bread is not having to worry much about the end product being moist because pumpkin recipes tend to be moist.

I was very happy with how the bread turned out. If I could tweak this recipe slightly, I would add more spice to the bread to bump up the flavor. The recipe is good as is if you like pumpkin baked products to be more on the mild side. Next time, I plan on incorporating some pumpkin pie spice to enhance the pumpkin flavor. Each serving has 140 calories and 4 grams of fat. Not too shabby if you ask me!

Pumpkin Oat Bran Muffins

This recipe is a play off of my Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Oat Bran Muffins. With my recent obsession and likeability for pumpkin, I've created a healthy pumpkin spiced muffin. Granted it's not perfect yet; however, it is satisfying for those with a subtle flavor palette. These muffins are moist, simple to make, and easy to eat!. Also, these muffins last longer than than Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Oat Bran Muffins because I omitted the applesauce and replaced it with pumpkin puree, which has a longer shelf life. Personally, I don't mind either recipe because I freeze the muffins after baking. This way, I can have a muffing whenever I want to. 

Additionally, I incorporated a bit of wheat bran to the recipe. You cannot taste it nor do you notice a difference in texture or taste but it is just another way to pack more nutrients into the muffins. The chocolate chips are optional but are highly recommended because the muffins are not sweet so the chocolate chips adds enough sweetness to balance the muffin. I typically use dark chocolate chips because it is not as sweet as semisweet chips and has a richer chocolate flavor. 

Skinny Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin

 

Yes, it’s that time of year again: pumpkin season! With the holidays right around the corner, we are bound to see pumpkin recipe after pumpkin recipe. That’s all fine and dandy for the pumpkin lovers out there but for people like myself, it gets a little boring. Lately, I’ve been intrigued by this orange ingredient (I don’t know why) and even contemplated making pumpkin spice muffins. As I was browsing for pumpkin recipe, I found one for chocolate cupcakes that substitutes pumpkin puree in place of oil and eggs from Gina's Skinny Recipes. The best part of the recipe is that I shouldn’t be able to taste the pumpkin. This was quite intriguing, especially to someone like me so I had to try it. So, if you are looking for a pumpkin flavored recipe, this is not the recipe to try! However, if you're like for a simple chocolate cupcake that is lighter in fat and calories without compromising flavor or texture, you are at the right place!

When I bought the pumpkin puree, I checked out the nutrition label to find pumpkin to be nutritional and healthy. It has no fat, few calories, and a significant amount of fiber. I was beginning to like pumpkin more by the second.

I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this recipe. The cupcakes were indeed moist, delicious, and chocolately. As much as I tried to taste the pumpkin, I could not. My family were even surprised about how well the cupcakes turned out. They were hesitant at first to try the cupcakes because they saw the can of pumpkin puree but were caught off guard by the fact it tasted like a chocolate cupcake. I made the cupcakes into with the mini cupcake tins instead of the standard size which made it okay for me to eat 2...or 3...or 4...

With the holiday season coming up, this is a great recipe to spare ya some holiday calories...and it's festive because of the addition of pumpkin. Of course, no one has to know that except for us! Check out the nutrition facts:

Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1 cupcake • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 93.8 • Fat: 2.3 g • Protein: 1.1 g • Carb: 17.5 g • Fiber: 1.4 g • Sugar: 9.9
Sodium: 281.8
(from skinnytaste.com)

Skinny Fallen Chocolate Mousse Cake

 

Yes, I said skinny! I might be a bit of a health freak but I didn't name the cake, Mrs. Field did! I've mentioned this in a previous post  but Mrs. Field's cookbook is one of my prized possession and was the greatest find at a thrift shop ever. I can guarantee a quality baked good every time I follow one of her recipes and this was no exceptions. My dad's birthday was coming up and I decided to make him a chocolate cake because he loves chocolate. However, this was not an easy task considering my dad likes to eat healthy as well - now you know where I get my health obsession from! He was the one who always tried to make me cut the fat and sugar in my baked goods. I typically rolled me eyes and shook my head like I was seriously considering his request but never took him seriously...until I started doing it on my own. It's funny how we end up more like our parents as we get older. Now he thoroughly enjoys everything I make which makes me happy. We are both the crazy health nuts in our family!

I have always been scared and frustrated with recipes that requires whipped egg whites but practice makes perfect, right? I have recently gotten this technique down and noticed that I only make cakes with whipped egg whites. Forgot those dense, butter-latent cakes! The body of this cake comes from the egg whites to give the cake volume, similar to a souffle. This recipe uses minimal flour and uses almonds to replace some of the flour that would typically be used in a cake recipe. Most of the chocolate flavor comes from the unsweetened cocoa so the amount of sugar is lower than other chocolate cake recipes. When it comes to the "sweet chocolate" this recipe called for, it really doesn't matter what type of chocolate you use. If you want a sweeter cake, milk chocolate and semisweet are good. If you like a richer, less sweet cake, dark chocolate (anything 60% and higher) are good choices.

So what is a fallen chocolate mousse cake exactly? I'm still trying to figure this out myself but I have my own theory. It's a cross between a souffle and a flourless chocolate cake. Other blogs call this hybrid a fallen souffle but I'm sticking with fallen mousse cake. Like I said earlier, the egg whites create volume in the cake like a souffle but this cake is intended to completely cool before serving, causing it to fall, like a flourless chocolate cake. When this happens, the cake condenses and the texture of the cake is comparable to a mousse, hence the name. So while this taste like a delicious chocolate cake, it is moist and reminiscent of a mousse. Although this chocolate cake requires more work than your typical one bowl chocolate cake, it is most definitely worth it!

Oops, only one bite left!

Sweet and Satisfying...Apple Bran Muffins

Yes, I am going to continue my healthy muffin obsession. I just cannot get over how amazing and versatile muffins can be. Also, I have been having so much fun finding and creating new and healthy recipes. While I used oat bran a lot in my recent muffin recipes, I tried something different this time...wheat bran! Not only do these muffins taste delicious, they are very satisfying and filling. After one muffin, I felt full for hours. The wheat bran adds a tons of nutritional value, especially fiber. We all know what fiber does, don't we? Besides the obvious reason, fiber expands after it is ingested so it makes you full faster and longer.

What else makes these muffins amazing? Apple bran muffins are sweetened using honey and molasses. That's right, no granulated sugar! These muffins are more sweet and moist than your typical dry, bran muffin. The best part about these muffins...there's no fat (unless you add chocolate or other add-ins). I used muffin liners and the batter stuck to the wrapper because the recipe has no fat to peel the muffin off the paper. Once you eat one, you will not believe how delicious healthy and satisfying these muffins are. Enough said, give these a try!

 

Yelatin...do you mean gelatin?

Is that a typo? Do I mean gelatin? Nope.

Yelatin is a combination of jello (which contains gelatin) and yogurt. Ergo, yelatin! I came across a new blog last night, GreenLiteBites. It is an addictive blog for someone like me with a crazy healthy eating obsession. I am eager to try many recipes but one of the simplest and most attractive recipes to me was yelatin. Like I said earlier, it is essentially jello with the addition of yogurt. The yogurt gives an complexity to jello by incorporating a creaminess to the jello. After I found this recipe, I ran to my pantry to grab some yogurt and whipped up a batch immediately. I had to wait for it to setup but it was worth the wait.

The end product is a satisfying dessert or snack. I added extra gelatin to give the yelatin a firmer texture (I prefer firmer gelatin products). This is a dessert without the guilt. I made four servings from a box of jello, each coming out to be a measly 60 calories. I must say that's not too bad for a dessert. If you want to reduce the calories to 35-50, use sugar-free jello. I prefer full-sugar jello but if you have dietary restrictions or do not mind the taste of sugarless jello, you can save a few calories. The only thing missing was a dollop of whip cream on the top! It's not necessary but it would have made the dessert a little more elegant and tastier.

Raspberry yelatin!

Decadent and Healthy? Low-Fat Fudge Chocolate Chip Muffins

 A few months ago, I wrote a Y-U-M-Blurb on Wildflower's Low-Fat Chocolate Muffin and how absolutely tasty, moist, and flavorful a healthy muffin can be. Also, my dad told me about a muffin he had in Portland that was low fat and delicious as well. Both incidents inspired me to pursue a version of my own. Although this version is not insanely moist as Wildflower's, it is still a satisfying and guilt-free chocolate muffin. This recipe is from Bethenny Frankel, a natural food chef. Although she doesn't have a big recipe repertoire on her website, this recipe caught my eye as something healthy and delicious. I like this recipe because each ingredient is intentional and really packs flavor into the muffin without adding an excessive amount of calories. Frankel's recipe calls for oat flour which I didn't have so I experimented with a combination of white flour, wheat flour, and oat bran. On a side note, use oat flour if you don't want the texture of the oat bran in your muffins. I like the texture of oat bran (which you probably already knew) so I didn't mind but if you do, simply grind the oat bran with a food process until it is the same consistency as flour.

How do these muffins differ from Wildflower's? Wildflower's muffins were moist and flavorful but didn't have a strong chocolate flavor. These muffins were chocolately and had a great balance of chocolate and sweetness which is just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth without, like I said earlier, adding on more calories. Seriously, you would eat one of these muffins and not know that it ranged somewhere between 140-190 calories and 5% of your total fat intake. The muffins essentially have no fat in them except for the chocolate chips so it is important to not overbake to ensure moist muffins I cooked mine slightly under because of the carry over baking that occurs. Not bad for a healthy muffin, right?

These muffins and muffins in general are great because it's a quick breakfast or snack on the go. Additionally, muffins freeze really well. I made a big batch of these muffins and froze them individual to give me the option to grab one and go in the morning for a quick breakfast or a snack at work.

Easy to make,
easy to store,
easy to eat,
sweet,
decadent,
and delicious!

I can't ask for anything more!

Oat Crazy: Zucchini Oat Bran Muffins

Yes, I'm on an oat bran craze...and a healthy craze. I have finally baked enough to understand what is needed in order to make a successful bake good. So my newest obsession is making recipes tasty and healthy at the same time. This recipe is similar to my oat bran muffins but I incorporated oat bran into a zucchini muffin recipe instead of a incorporating zucchini in an oat bran muffin recipe...if that makes sense. I used a calorie counter website and after calculating, each muffin is 134 calories! How did I do it? I used a minimal amount of fat (oil) and replaced most of it with applesauce which will keep the muffins moist. Also, I incorporated oat bran to give you additional nutrition like fiber. While the zucchini provides moisture and flavor to the muffins, the cinnamon makes the muffins tasty and a little addictive. I love this recipe because not only is the calorie count low, the muffins didn't taste healthy. My sister asked me what I put in the muffins to make them healthy because they didn't taste "healthy" to her. That only means one word: success!

Next time, I will modify is the amount of sugar because it is too high for a healthy muffin like this. I might also play with the baking powder proportion because I felt like the muffins could be fluffier. Also, my zucchini was not fine enough. I didn't mind because I like the chunks throughout the batter but I think I will make it finer just to compare.

Healthy Sweet Treat: Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Oat Bran Muffin

I go through phases of baking healthy items and baking not so healthy items. For example, I was into cinnamon rolls and pound cake a few weeks ago but I have opted for a healthier option today. I have been looking how to optimize grains and different healthy foods into my daily nutrition. These muffins are an excellent choice. Want to know why?

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Another Version)

Chocolate chip cookies are probably one of the greatest inventions ever. I don't know what can be better than a delectable cookie with the pop of sweetness from the chocolate chips. What is great about the chocolate chip cookie is that it is very versatile. You can have different add accessories to your chocolate chip cookies like nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, etc.

For this chocolate chip cookie, I decided to take the healthy route. When you throw in whole wheat flour, oatmeal, and small amount of butter, you just feel better when you eat the cookie. Okay, the difference may not be that significant but there is a difference.

I do volunteer work with underprivileged children and I helped compile a book of healthy recipes the children can make at home with their families. I didn't have many on top of my head so I did some research online and came across EatingWell and found a gold mine of tasty and healthy recipes. It was here that I found this recipe which are titled Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies. I don't know Bev but she made some great cookies. Take a look at the nutritional information:


Per cookie: 99 calories; 5 g fat ( 2 g sat , 2 g mono ); 11 mg cholesterol; 12 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 1 g fiber; 64 mg sodium; 55 mg potassium

From a calories perspectives, you cannot get much lower than 99 calories for a cookie. The fat is relatively high for the calorie of the cookie but you can experiment with the amount of butter and substituting applesauce or buttermilk to reduce the fat.  Even with 5 grams of fat, it is not as bad as other cookies...just sayin'!

Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookie

During my usually browsing of baking blogs, I found this carrot cake breakfast cookie recipe from Cookie Madness. Just by looking at the name of these cookies, most people would be intrigued about what exactly this baking morsel is. Well, the name itself describes what the cookie is. It is a cookie with a cake-like texture, carrots, and the healthiness and heartiness of a complete breakfast.

I followed the recipe and added orange zest and although it gave the cookies an extra zip, I don't know if I will add it in the next cookies. It's not that it's bad, it was just slightly too much fragrance for my taste. I would suggest trying the cookies with the zest first before deciding to omit it. I think these cookies are pretty healthy and is a good option if you are health conscious. I think it uses a minimal amount of oil and sugar to make a delicious cookie!

Super Healthy Brown Sugar Cookies

I've been making quite a few cookies lately but never remember to grab my camera and take snapshots of each stage of the baking process. Well, you're in luck today because I remembered! Anyways, I found this recipe yesterday and was anxious to try it out. They are called brown sugar crackles. They have a vibrant brown sugar and vanilla flavor, with my ideal cookie texture: crunchy outer layer with a soft and chewy center. Also, these cookies are healthy with the addition of whole-wheat flour and using part butter and part oil. Each cookie has only 77 calories! What more could you ask for in a cookie? You can eat one...two...or three of these without feeling the guilt! That's my kind of cookie!