Healthy Chocolate Muffins
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My healthy chocolate muffins are moist, fluffy, and loaded with chocolate flavor. They don’t need any oil or butter, and I love how fudgy they are!
Out of all the healthy muffin recipes out there, these chocolate muffins are my #1 favorite. They legit taste like brownies but are made with wholesome, good-for-you ingredients.
It did take a fair bit of recipe testing to get it right. I initially experimented using whole-wheat flour, but didn’t love the slightly dense center. So, I took inspiration from my healthy oatmeal muffins and tweaked the batter to be less oat-y, more fluffy, and, of course, packed with chocolate flavor.
The result? Bakery-style chocolate muffins that look and taste indulgent, but skip the refined sugar, oil, and butter altogether. My sister and niece both LOVED them, which is huge- my niece seems to be allergic to the word “healthy”.
Table of Contents
Why make my healthy chocolate muffins
- Perfect texture and flavor. They’re moist and fudgy in the center, with a subtle bite and the tender crumb, like all good muffins should be.
- Versatile. They make a healthy breakfast, snack, or late-night treat!
- Quick and easy. Just add all the ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth, then portion and bake. It’ll take you longer to wash the blender than it will to make the muffins.
- Works with tons of diets. Without even trying, these muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and loaded with fiber from the oats and flax seeds.
Key Ingredients
I’m including some notes on the main ones (not every ingredient), along with substitutions. For the complete list, jump to the printable recipe below.
- Old-fashioned Oats (rolled oats). Oats replace the need for any flour, as we’ll be blending them to make oat flour. If you already have oat flour, that is great! I regularly make these with gluten-free oats (Bob’s Red Mill is my go-to) as my nephew is celiac. None of us can taste the difference!
- Flax egg OR egg. My original recipe calls for a flax egg, as I wanted these muffins to be egg-free. I’ve since re-tested them using whole eggs, so if you don’t have an allergy or aren’t vegan, you can use that.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder. Be sure your cocoa powder is 100% unsweetened and Dutch-processed. For richer muffins, I sometimes swap this out for dark cocoa powder (shoutout to Hershey’s special dark).
- Baking soda. To leaven the muffins and give them some rise!
- Maple syrup. To sweeten the muffins. Don’t worry; you won’t be able to taste the maple flavor. I also had success with honey and agave.
- Chocolate chips. I like semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark, milk, or even white chocolate chips work.
How to make healthy chocolate muffins
Step 1- Make the flax egg. In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed with three tablespoons of water. Let it sit for 10 minutes for a gel to form.
Step 2- Make the batter. In a high-speed blender or food processor, combine all ingredients, including the flax egg, but minus the chocolate chips. Blend to combine, then gently stir in the chocolate chips.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter into the muffin liners. Top with extra chocolate chips and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Step 4- Cool. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe variations
- Skip the blender. You only need the blender if you don’t have oat flour. If you do, you can skip this and just mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Use regular flour instead. As mentioned earlier, I initially tested this recipe with whole wheat flour. Although the texture was a little different from that kind of flour, the muffins still turned out super moist in the middle when using all-purpose flour. So, feel free to use equal portions of flour instead.
- Make mini muffins. Pour the batter into a 32-count mini muffin pan and reduce the cooking time to 12 minutes.
Storage instructions
To store: I usually make a double batch of these for our snacks during the week. Because we eat them within that time frame, they keep well at room temperature, covered. You can also keep them in the fridge, too.
To freeze: Place muffins in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 6 months. Let them thaw overnight in the fridge.
To reheat: If your muffins are frozen or have been chilled in the fridge, I suggest microwaving the muffins for 20-30 seconds or until warm. The chocolate chips melt beautifully.
✅ Nutrition reviewed
Nutrition information has been reviewed by registered dietitian Felicia Newell, MScAHN, RD, CPT.
Healthy Chocolate Muffins
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups milk I used almond milk
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-count muffin tin with muffin liners and said aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit for 10 minutes, for a gel to form.
- In a high-speed blender or food processor, add the oats, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, vanilla, maple syrup, milk, and prepared flax egg, and blend until the batter is completely smooth. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Distribute the batter amongst the muffin liners. Top with extra chocolate chips and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Using eggs: This recipe works using an egg instead of a flax egg. Add the egg when all the other ingredients are added to the food processor/blender.
- Baking time: I’m including a range (18-22 minutes) because oven models differ. My oven took precisely 18 minutes, but readers have said theirs can take up to 22 minutes (20 minutes was a standard time frame).
Nutrition
More healthy muffins
- Healthy pumpkin muffins
- Almond flour muffins
- Flourless muffins
- Healthy oatmeal muffins
- Healthy blueberry muffins
- Healthy zucchini muffins
Originally published April 2020
If I use an egg instead of the chia seeds, do I leave out the 3 Tbsp of water?
Yep! The water is used to make the flax egg but if you’re using a real one, there’s no need for this 🙂
I would love to leave my feedback here in case anyone else had some challenges. It all ends well:)….I followed this recipe with adding an egg instead of flax and half a cup of frozen super sweet bananas to cut down on all the maple syrup, which I always have in freezer. I also used 90% broken up pieces of a chocolate bar from Walmart, the better goods brand which is only $2 and something but the best smooth melt on your tongue 90% dark chocolate I have tried. Who knew. So everything but the chocolate pieces went into my blendtec blender and out came a very soupy batter which I knew no way would it work for a muffin. I added in more rolled oats, not the quick cooking ones to no avail . I then added a few TBL of arrowroot flour, but didn’t thicken much but THEN, I added probably at least a 1/4+ cup almond butter and my joy returned as the batter thicken up perfectly for muffins. I stirred in the dark chocolate and filled up 24 mini muffins and 12 other muffins in another large muffin tin but only half way. Baked till toothpick came out clean, the mini muffin tin cooked faster than larger one. They looked perfect, all cute rounded shape! Tasted them and would say if you like them sweeter you need to use maybe no more than a 72% chocolate. Anyway I have little glass jars like at the restaurant Seasons 52 that they put their little desserts in and had so much fun. I made up a variety. I put layers of muffin, FAGE greek yogurt and strawberry sauce(frozen strawberries with a little maple syrup heated up) in the small jars for some of them, for others I switched it to raspberries from the freezer, for others used whipped coconut cream(put can of Whole Foods coconut milk in fridge overnight, drained out liquid and whipped it with a little maple syrup or date syrup(date lady at Walmarts) and vanilla, some others I heated some nut milk with a little sweetener and made some like a baked muffin like pudding… options are endless. So just sharing my good ending with you all. Happy New Year.
I just made these and they were delicious! Question though – my batter was QUITE soupy. I ended up adding a 1/2 cup more oat flour to the mix. Did I need to? Is your batter usually soupy and it comes together and that’s what makes them moist?
Appreciate the ease of this recipe! It’s like a one-pot situation. Clean up was a breeze. Thanks a mil!
Hi Katie! Yes, it could be- I think you did the right thing by adding more though 🙂
I made a slight change to this recipe where i used one cup of vanilla flavored greek yogurt and half a cup full-fat milk. I also used 3 tablespoons of white sugar with 1/2 cup maple syrup. It turned out delicious!! Thank you for this recipe! It has already become one of my favorites 👍🏻
Hi there
Can I replace the flax egg with a normal free range egg?
Sure can!
hi, I wanna add protein powder to this recipe, how much would I need to use.
No idea, I haven’t tried this with protein powder. Feel free to experiment and see!
Is it possible to use white sugar…maple syrup is pretty expensive for me..
What I mean is if I use 1/2 maple syrup what do I use to make up the other 1/2 c of liquid so the recipe stays as moist?
It’s deceptive to claim your “no flour” recipes contain no flour. They do contain flour, which is made from oats. It’s still flour. 🙁
With all due respect, it is not deceptive at all. If you go through all my ‘no flour’ recipes, or any other food blogger for that matter, rolled oats is not considered a standard flour.
Enjoy these flourless muffins!
would it be possible to sub rolled oats for steel cut? thx!
I haven’t tried, feel free to experiment and see!
I made these muffins last night and they are absolutely amazing!! You’d never guess that there’s no flour, eggs, and dairy. My friends love then too! I definitely recommend making these☺️
Thank you for the feedback, Emma!
How can I reduce the maple syrup? Like to 1/2 cup and what to make up the other 1/2 of liquid?
I haven’t tried, so feel free to experiment and see.
“healthful” is the proper adjective, meaning that the muffins contribute to one’s health. “Healthy” means well, vibrant, and alive. I’d venture the vast majority of English speakers and writers don’t know the difference. Jus’ sayin’…like, y’know what I mean? 😉 they do look yummy…more 😉
I’m okay with using the word healthy for recipes, it is just easier haha!
Thanks!