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 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.

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

I know I just posted Healthy Blueberry Muffins but I have another recipe to share! While those muffins are great, I understand sometimes we all just want a muffin that does not "taste" or look healthy. Here is a version that is fairly healthy but does not look or taste like a "healthy" muffin. This recipe uses buttermilk and oil to keep the muffins moist. To make it healthier, I substituted half of the amount of oil with applesauce so the muffin does not lose any moisture. For another kick of flavor, I added orange zest. This made the muffins brighter in flavor and gives the blueberry muffin a minor makeover. Feel free to leave the zest out but I would give it a try first. If you want the fuller fat version of this muffin, use 1/2 cup of vegetable oil as opposed to 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup applesauce. That's the great thing about baking, I can make anything the way I want it to be. What's great about recipes, especially muffin recipes, are their versatility. Depending on what kind of blueberry muffin I want, I can make it!

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

 

During my recent trip to the grocery store, I saw blueberries on sale. I grabbed two pints without hesitation, one for munching and one for baking. I didn't know what I wanted to do with the blueberries but I was certain I could find something! I opted to make blueberry muffins because it is one of my sister's favorite things to eat. While I've made Blueberry Crumb Cake before, I wanted to make a yes, healthy recipe. Instead of using my oat bran muffin recipe and incorporating blueberries, I decided to research a different recipe. It's good to change things up every once in awhile, right? I proceeded to Google 'healthy blueberry muffins' in the search engine and clicked on the first recipe that came up. Thank goodness I did because it turned out to be an excellent recipe. The main ingredient in the recipe was wheat bran so the muffins provide a great deal of nutrients and fiber. One of the first steps was to soak the wheat bran in milk to give the muffins bulk and it helped release the nutrients in the wheat bran.

The muffins turned out great! The muffins had the taste and texture of a muffin, crisp on the top but moist on the inside. Honestly, I wouldn't notice this was a healthy muffin. What I enjoyed most about the muffin was the taste. The muffins had just enough sweetness from the brown sugar. Also, the brown sugar brought out the molasses flavor, which gave the muffins a distinctive and addictive taste. I contemplated the familiarity of the taste for hours. I've eaten a muffin with this taste but I couldn't think of when and where I had the muffin. Finally, I remembered a few months back, my dad bought a muffin from a local bakery and told me to try it to see if I could recreate it. I believe this recipe is very close to what my dad wanted. I guess I should save him one for when I see him this weekend...if I don't eat them all beforehand! This muffin gives my oat bran muffin some competition. I'm already thinking of the variations I can make with this recipe. But bringing it back to this recipe, give it a try. While it is a healthy muffin, you won't notice a difference. I promise!

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. 

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!

 

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?

Oatmeal Banana Streusel Muffins

I know, the title is a mouthful! You're probably thinking, "does this actually work?" Yes, it does! I like to think of this as a perfect grab and go breakfast. Usually breakfast muffins are full of bran and bland but this muffin is tasty and satisfying. The bananas keeps the muffins moist and the oatmeal gives it nice texture. To make this healthier than it already is, you can switch the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I made a streusel to put on top of the muffins but of course you can omit the streusel if you want a truly healthy muffin. However, the streusel adds more texture and sweetness to the muffin and is still a fairly healthy muffin with the streusel on top. If you want to mix it up, you can make half with the streusel and half without. I did this because I like the healthier version with no streusel but the rest of my family thinks like the extra calories.

Store bought muffins tend to be overly sweet, moist, and delicious that we often neglect the fact that they are high in fat and calories. Muffins have gained the reputation of being cakes in a muffin tin but these muffins have the taste of cake but just not the fat or the calories.

Coffee Cake Muffins

I love muffins. I think they are delicious and convenient whether it is for a breakfast to go, an afternoon snack, or an after dinner dessert. Let's face the facts, muffins you get at the store or from a local bakery aren't the most healthiest things in the world. Just to give you an idea of how unhealthy muffins could be, let's take a look at some non-store bought muffins that are worth eating.

Costco's chocolate chocolate chip muffins
690 calories
58% total fat
55% total saturated fat

Dunkin Donuts' chocolate chip muffin
630 calories
35% total fat
30% saturated fat

Sprouts' chocolate chip muffin
430 calories
40% total fat (app)
35% saturated fat (app)

35-55% of you daily fat intake is dedicated to eating one muffin! If half of fat intake came from one thing I ate, I would either not eat for the rest of the day or not eat it all. It seems extreme but that is way too much fat for a single item to have. I think making muffins at home is the way to go. First, you can control how big or small you want your muffin to be. A Costco muffin is huge and many people can't finish one but if it is there, people will eat. If you make miniature sized muffins at home, you will think twice before you decide to pop one or two more in your mouth. Also, you can substitute healthier ingredients. For example, you can use yogurt, applesauce, and oil as healthier alternatives to butter. You can also use whole wheat flour, add bran or flax to your muffins as well. This way you can enjoy a muffin without feeling guilty!

The recipe I am sharing with you today, I will admit, is not a healthy muffin recipe. However, I made mini muffins to make up for the heaviness of the muffin. Even if you make the standard sized muffin, it is still healthier for you than if you were to buy store bought. I am sharing a recipe for coffee cake muffins that I found on Brown Eyed Baker's blog. It is great for the on to go breakfast! I have tried many muffin recipes and haven't liked any of them which has led me to buying store bought muffins but this recipe is great that it actually tastes like a muffin. The outside of the muffin has a nice crunch and the inside is moist and delicious just like a muffin should be. I would make muffins more often if they all turned out this great!