I was out to dinner with some girlfriends the other night, when I got into a foodie discussion with a friend of mine who happens to be a doctor (and is very fit and healthy….go figure). She was telling me about these delicious healthy muffins that she makes that are full of coconut sugar and almond flour. So, my thoughts instantly went to ‘my muffins are all full of fatty-fat and real empty-calorie sugary deliciousness, so I guess that could be why I am 30 lbs heavier than her.’ Or something like that. Maybe I should at least attempt to healthify some muffins for my kids to eat for breakfast. Well, coconut and almond are out of the question in our house, due to severe allergies, so here is my non-trendy ingredient attempt at some pretty yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. I put the recipe into MyFitnessPal, and they came out to 220 calories each, with the generous amount of chocolate chips. You could reduce the amount of chips or leave them out completely for a much lower calorie count. These babies also contain approximately 4 grams each of fiber and protein.
Place the dry ingredients in a bowl, or have some adorable children do that for you:
It will look like this, if everything gets into the bowl:
Then, mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl or large measuring cup and mix wet into dry. Fold in the chocolate chips, if you are living dangerously.
Then spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups, top with a light sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar and a few additional chips, if you are really into pushing the health food envelope. My motto is “Everything is better when covered in chocolate, especially diet food.” This might be why all of my diets have failed, but nonetheless, they will look like this:
Time to pop them in the 375 degree oven. Mine was 350 convection, so either way….this is the end result:
Who doesn’t love a pumpkin muffin? My kids actually ate them willingly!
Healthy-ish Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour)
- 1 cup oat flour (I blitzed some old fashioned oats in a food processor until very finely ground)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (yes, I know this isn't healthy)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I love Trader Joe's spice blend!)
- 1 cup pure pumpkin purée (Libby's is fine)
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips + extra for the tops, if desired
- cinnamon sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, combine the pumpkin, yogurt, applesauce, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
- Stir this wet mixture into the dry mixture.
- Before the mixture completely comes together, stir in the melted butter. ("A little butter never hurt anyone"- my diet motto #2....See, this blog is cathartic and self-illuminating).
- Stir a few more times, just until everything is combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop batter carefully into the muffin liners, almost all the way up to the top.
- Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar, and top each muffin with a few additional chocolate chips.
- Bake for 19-21 minutes. Mine took exactly 20 mins.
- Enjoy without too much guilt.
These look delicious!! Can’t wait to make them 🙂