Happy Good Friday! I hope you all have fun plans for Easter. And if you need a recipe to bring along to a brunch or event – I have one for you. No matter that they’re healthy; no one will know, I PROMISE!
Having finally mastered what I consider the best protein muffin EVER (wow, apparently I lost my modesty this morning…sorry about that…!) with my lemon poppyseed protein muffins, a brilliant reader asked about other flavours.
Well, gosh darn, that just got me on a whole new train of thought…hmm…what flavours could we play around with?
The first one I had to tackle was, of course, chocolate.
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So the challenge?
- Keep the stats around the same – approx. 100 cals per muffin, with 8g of protein each and no more than 10-12g carbs
- Have it taste AMAZING
So just two challenges, but both tall orders!
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Well, don’t fret, because the chocolate protein muffin is here. And it clocks in at 113 cals, 12.2g carbs and 8.1g of protein. You’re welcome!
PS If you’re watching calories and REALLY want these to be under 100 cals, just omit the chocolate chips.
So…what flavour should we do next? I’m thinking apple maple walnut…or banana nut?
Tell me! I’m all ears :).
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Double Chocolate Protein Muffins (based on these)
INGREDIENTS (makes 8):
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup flour
1 scoop protein powder **NOTE:- I use a protein powder that provides about 24g protein per scoop
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 packets stevia (I use NuNaturals) – or to taste (approx. 1-2 tsp)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp chocolate chips
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
6 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Stir well.
3. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients together till well blended.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing until JUST combined (overmixing will lead to tough muffins).
*NOTE: You can put 1 tbsp chocolate chips into the batter and save the last to sprinkle on top of the wet batter just before the muffins go in the oven. That makes them extra yummy when they’re done, I promise ;).
5. Bake 25 mins or until lightly golden and springy to the touch. You can double this recipe for jumbo size muffins.
6. Enjoy!
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Nutrition information per muffin (if recipe makes 8):
Nutritional information courtesy of caloriecount.about.com
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These look awesome and I love using coconut flour! I am out of it, but need to get more once I move and settle!
I say apple ones next!
Happy Friday! ❤
Apple ones – I’m on it! Happy Good Friday love 🙂
These look super! I am excited to try em next time I make muffins! I have made some delicious muffins with coconut flour but I honestly find that I cannot tolerate too much coconut..it gets my tummy out of sorts…do you find this ever? Also, what type of protein powder do you like to use? I recently purchased Garden of Life Vanilla Raw Brown Rice Protein that I like pretty well. Have a fabulous day!!
Thanks so much Liz! If you can’t handle coconut, use almond flour :). It’ll add about 40 calories and 3g protein to the whole recipe, which will only be about 5 cals/0.4g protein per muffin, so it’s very similar statistically too!
I use whey protein powder, Kaizen Naturals Vanilla Ice Cream is my favourite as it’s sweetened with stevia and there aren’t any scary ingredients in it :). But I know a lot of people have difficulty digesting whey, so I would recommend SunWarrior Vanilla protein powder – I’ve heard really good things about it. They don’t sell it in stores up here in Canada, so next time I’m over the border I’m going to grab a bag and give it a go!
love chocolate muffins. yuuuuum!
Chocolate muffins make my life :). xx
YUM! I love the use of protein powder. And I’ve never used cottage cheese in baking, what a brilliant idea!!! They look delicious!
Thanks Annie! If you don’t have cottage cheese you can use Greek yogurt for the whole recipe, but cottage cheese is just that bit extra rich in protein :).
GAH! These look amazing!!! I can’t wait to try them out!!!!!!! And SO easy to make GF! Awesome 🙂
And for the next flavour I totally vote Maple Walnut! 😀
Ooh maple walnut sounds so good, I can’t wait to get experimental with these flavours!
Looking gorgeous Anna – anything with chocolate gets a huge thumbs up in this house – this one is officially pinned! Happy Good Friday!
Oh that made my day, thanks Shira! You too!
Yay! I asked about other flavours and my prayer is answered!
Next flavour maybe raspberry white chocolate? That used to be my favourite ‘naughty’ treat from Starbucks. 🙂
You’re welcome! I just made up two more flavours this afternoon – apple and banana, as I said in the post – but I promise I will give your request a go next. Though I’m not sure about the white chocolate part – it’s hard to make that naturally sweetened as white choc is pretty much just sugar! But I promise I’ll give it my best shot :).
Yum, these look delicious! 🙂 I’ve been on the lookout for some chocolate protein muffins so this is perfect. I love that they have 8 g of protein and are pretty low in calories. Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Have an awesome weekend and God bless!
You also Shannon! I know, even if you’re not watching your calories, I always think it’s best not to overload yourself with calories in your snacking. Plus I love that these give you the most bang (protein) for your buck (cals) haha. But you can always double the size of each muffin – make 4 instead of 8 – and enjoy jumbo size 200 cal muffins!
You’re going to laugh at me, but I read this recipe last night on my Google Reader, went to sleep, then woke up THINKING OF THEM!! Does that scream hungry to you or what?! Hahahaha
Regardless, I think we can assume that I think these look delicioso! Do you think I could sub the regular flour with a GF all purpose?
By the way– I’m pinning these 😀
Hahaha I’m not laughing at you, I’m so touched, I’m glad they stuck with you! I have some other readers who have successfully made them GF but they have yet to share with me their process. What I would advise is using coconut flour for all flour, or subbing in almond flour for the other half. But you will then need some kind of binder – maybe tapioca starch? Maybe just some arrowroot? I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried it myself yet…I will make a note to do that experiment next so I can better advise! And if you do it in the meantime please share! xxx
these look delish and like a perfect use for all the coconut flour I have on hand!
Yay, I love when there’s coconut flour on hand! So much fibre, protein and yumminess in one flour 🙂
Hey perfection! Low calorie is exactly what I need! Thanks!
No problem, glad you like them! More flavour varieties coming soon 🙂
This sounds delcious! 🙂 I can’t wait to try! Are there any substitutions that I can make for the cottage cheese/yogurt? (Lactose intolerant) 🙂
Thanks Brette! Absolutely – you’ll lose some of the protein power (but you’ll still get some from the powder :)). Just use coconut milk yogurt instead. Of course, if you can handle soy then using soy yogurt will keep some extra protein in there too!
I can’t wait to try these. Pumpkin protein muffins would be great.
That’s a great idea! I will have to keep protein in my mind, especially for when fall gets nearer :). Thank you!
Oh yum, I can’t wait to try these! My only question is, how much is one scoop of protein powder? My brand doesn’t have a scooper, so I don’t know how much to use. Is it a tablespoon, half a cup etc… thanks again for a great recipe 🙂
You’re most welcome! One scoop is 5 tbsp 🙂
In these recipes, are you using plain or vanilla flavored protein powder?
I use vanilla but you can use either. There’s enough sweetness or flavor in the recipe to use plain.
Any suggestions on how to make these high carb& high calorie? I am desperately in need of a good recipe for my two kids! I’d appreciate any ideas, especially how much and what kind of sugar to substitute for the Stevia.
Hi Christine! I would definitely recommend doubling the recipe as these make fairly small muffins. That’ll double the calories to start! Then I would use all regular or whole wheat/spelt flour instead of coconut – relative to other flours coconut is lower in c carbs/higher in protein. For a sweetener I recommend agave. It makes things light and fluffy so works really well in muffins/cakes but unfortunately I haven’t tested using a liquid sweetener so you would have to adjust the dry ingredients (increase them) to account for the agave – which would of course increase the carbs too! If you make them definitely let me know what you substitute and how much you use!
Can you recommend a substitute for coconut flour? Thanks!
Definitely! If you’re looking for gluten free, I would highly recommend almond flour. It works great in baked goods. Otherwise you could use anything – spelt, whole wheat, all-purpose…now, I have made these with the almond flour and spelt before but no others (besides coconut of course!). However other gluten-free options to try include quinoa flour and certified g-f oats ground into a flour. Both could work great, but I haven’t tried them. Let me know what you end up using and how they work out!