This is a lower calorie version of this original recipe. See notes below.
INGREDIENTS
- 140 grams all purpose flour (or 140 grams of Kodiak Cakes Buttermilk protein pancake mix)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 40 g of sifted cocoa powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup sugar substitute (I use Splenda)
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I do not like Mott’s as it is too green apple-ish. Aldi has a great option!)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk alternative)
- 95 g chocolate chips, divided (I used 75g of chocolate chips and 20g of chocolate chunks)
- 1/2 tbsp turbinado sugar, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place 6 liners in muffin tin, alternating cups to leave a cup between each muffin if possible.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
- Add salt, sugar substitute, unsweetened applesauce, vanilla, and almond milk (or other milk alternative) to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Try not to overmix.
- Stir in 75g of chocolate chips.
- Fill 6 lined muffin tins with mixture, overfilling to achieve a bakery-style muffin.
- Dot top with remaining 20g of chocolate chips (I love using semi-sweet chocolate chunks on top).
- Sprinkle turbinado sugar over muffins before placing in pre-heated oven. This is optional, but we enjoy the crunchy texture on top.
- Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until set.
NOTES
Depending on your texture preferences, you may enjoy these even more than the original recipe!
At only 213 calories per muffin, these definitely hit the spot when watching the blasted scale. If you want to save a few more calories, using Kodiak Cake mix instead of AP flour slightly lowers the calories to about 201 calories per muffin. It also provides some extra protein and gives the muffins a little more lift, so you feel like you are getting a much larger muffin. My kids prefer the Kodiak Cake version the most.
Calorie breakdown:
| Ingredients | Calories |
| 140g AP flour | 510 |
| 1 tsp baking powder | 5 |
| 1/4 tsp baking soda | 0 |
| 40g sifted cocoa powder | 92 |
| pinch of salt | 0 |
| 1/2 cup splenda | 3 |
| 1 cup unsweetened applesauce | 100 |
| 1 tsp vanilla extract | 0 |
| 1/2 cup almond milk | 21 |
| 75g chocolate chips | 410 |
| 20g chococolate chunks | 109 |
| 1/2 tbsp turbinado sugar | 30 |
| Total: | 1280 |
| Per muffin: | 213.3333333 |
Enjoy, kiddos! I love you so very much. Thank you for all the support you’ve been giving me lately as I strive towards better health. The greatest gift I’ve been given is watching you all grow into the beautiful adults that you are, and I want to make sure that I’m around for many years to come. You have so much living and growing ahead of you, and I can’t wait for all the memories we have yet to make together! I am so very proud of each and every one of you.
Health & Happiness 