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These incredibly delicious chocolate chip muffins bake up soft and fluffy – and with no butter, sugar, or gluten in the recipe – they’re healthy enough as an everyday snack. They taste even better than the muffins you’d grab at the bakery!
Healthy Homemade Muffins Recipe
Let me begin by telling you healthy or not – these are some of the best chocolate chip muffins to ever come out of my oven! The entire time I was making them I was felt like there was no way they would bake up into anything even semi-delicious, and when I saw how thin the batter was… the dread only doubled! Typically muffin batter is very thick, so as I poured the liquid batter into the prepared muffin tins, I was basically just gripping myself for muffin failure.
20 minutes later my low expectations were met with a wonderful surprise! Our house smelled amazing, the muffins looked perfect (light brown in color with a crunchy lid and plenty of melted dark chocolate chips), and as I polished off two in just a matter of minutes (no really, I couldn’t stop myself!), I knew I had to photograph the rest asap so I could share them with you before the weekend! So here we are 🙂
Low Calorie Applesauce Muffins
So, let’s talk about how these seriously amazing muffins are healthy. To do that we’ll dive into the ingredient list head first!
These muffins are made with oat flour which is low in calories and gluten free (at least most oat flours are, be sure to check if you’re gluten intolerant). If you can’t find oat flour at your local grocery store, or you’d rather not buy a whole bag before trying it – I’ve got you covered! Simply pulse oats in your blender or food processor until they’re ground like flour. That’s how I do it every time. The other dry ingredients in this recipe are the baking basics: cinnamon, a pinch of ginger (optional but I love the subtle kick it adds to these muffins), baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
They’re also made with NO sugar – at all. Instead of using granulated sugar or brown sugar I use a hearty dose of pure maple syrup. I like to use grade B maple syrup here (the real good stuff!) but grade A will work, too. Just be sure you use real maple syrup, and not pancake syrup (which is usually loaded with tons of junk).
The other wet ingredients in this recipe include eggs, milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk here, but if you have a nut allergy feel free to sub in cow’s milk or soy milk), unsweetened applesauce (you won’t taste it), and oil.
For the oil you have some options! My personal favorite to use here is melted coconut oil, but you may use olive oil, or even melted butter if that’s all you have on hand. I think canola oil and vegetable would work too… but since I haven’t tried it myself, I can’t say for sure. Also, I personally think those oils would make these a little less healthy. But that’s just me.
For the chocolate I chose to use mini dark chocolate chips that I’ve been saving for a rainy day! You could definitely use regular chocolate chips here, too. If you’re not a fan of dark chocolate, give semi-sweet or milk chocolate a try instead. I only call for a half cup in the recipe below, but feel free to have a heavier hand here if you’d like to be a little more indulgent 😉
These muffins bake for 20 minutes, but you’ll need to adjust the temperature half way through. You’ll start them at 450 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 400 degrees. This method gives the muffins their crunchy lids and soft, fluffy interiors – so be sure to set your timer. The muffins will be quite soft when they come out of the oven. Please let them cool in the muffin tin completely before gobbling! This final step is a hard one (they smell so good!) but important for their texture.
And that’s that! These muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert, and anywhere in between. I’ve already made another dozen and popped them in the freezer so I can pack them in lunch boxes or grab one for a quick breakfast on-the-go. If you a have a large family, you might want to double it up, too 😉
So, what are you doing this weekend? We’re having dinner at home tonight (I’m cooking steak and tons of vegetables and am hungry just thinking about it) then we’re going to hear some live music. Should be pretty fun! I hope whatever you do it’s safe and relaxing 🙂 See you tomorrow with something sweet. xoxo
More Healthy Muffin Recipes:
Healthy Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups oat flour (you can make this by simply grinding up oats in the blender until they’re powder)
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
- Pinch ground ginger (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, olive oil, OR unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F). Line a muffin tin with paper or foil liners; set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the oat flour, mini chocolate chips, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger (if using), and salt; whisk well to combine. In a separate bowl whisk together the maple syrup, eggs, oil (or butter), applesauce, and milk; mix well until thoroughly combined. Gradually add the wet mixture into the dry mixture, stirring until combined. The batter will be quite thin - not to worry!
- Divide the mixture among the prepared muffins. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 degrees (F) and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and allow the muffins to cool completely in the muffin tin. Serve at once or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. We love to freeze these, too. They'll last in a freezer bag stored in your freezer for 1 month.
Notes
Horrible — followed recipe to the letter and they came out, well, they didn’t come out. Muffins sank and were horribly greasy/oily. It’s pretty hard to mess up a muffin recipe and I bake muffins no less than two times per week. Save yourself the time and skip this recipe. Sorry — have to be honest.
Hi Amber. I’m so sorry your muffins didn’t turn out the way you had expected. I make this recipe very often and would love to help you troubleshoot what went wrong. Feel free to ask me anything!
Hi, I followed the recipe exactly aside using olive oil for the fat, but the inside of the muffins are so wet and gooey. I baked them for an extra 10 minutes but they would not cook inside.. for some reason they are too wet inside. What could I alter to make them less gooey inside? If I bake them longer the outside is going to be too hard and also the ingredients inside are just too wet no matter how long I bake it.. it’s like mushy oatmeal inside.
Separate the egg whites and beat until you get sturdy peaks and add them in at the end. That’s how I solved that problem, of using ground oatmeal.
I had this exact same problem! I followed the directions exactly and I am not a novice baker! I am not sure what went wrong, but I am disappointed these didn’t work out.
Amber definitely did something wrong!! These are fantastic!
can I substitute blueberries for the chocolate chips? Or would they be too moist?
Hi Laura. You could certainly try! I’ve honestly never tried this recipe with blueberries, so I can’t answer your question with certainty. But I do believe it would work just fine 🙂 If you give it a try, please let us know the results! xo
Tried blueberries today! Turned out delicious!
Hey, these look absolutely delicious! the only problem is the butter and/or oil..I have quite a few stomach problems and both of these ingredients make me sick…I was just wondering if I could maybe use extra apple sauce, or sub in honey or something?
Thanks
Hi Abby. Unfortunately some sort of fat is a must to keep these muffins from becoming “spongy”. Please let me know if you do experiment with the recipe and your results 🙂
Hi:) is it possible to replace butter/oil with Greek yogurt?
These were so good, my whole family loved them! I really enjoy baking when I find the time to do it and I’m excited to have found your website, all your recipes look amazing 🙂
Hi Catherine! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 Happy baking! xo
I am eating my secondone right now. I made them exactly as written out, cooked for the exact amount of time and they came out exactly as they should. LOL
Yummy perfection.
Yay! I’m so happy these were perfection for you, Alexis!
These look amazing! I found you on Pinterest and am loving your content. Up on my to-do list – Healthy Banana Cream Pie Smoothie and now these muffins! I’m sure my list will expand as I browse your recipes. Thank you!
Hi Paije. Thank you so much! It is always great to hear a new reader likes what they see 🙂 The Banana Cream Pie Smoothie is one of my favorites, as are these muffins! They make great grab-and-go snacks. Please let me know what you try! xoxo
I have never seen such evenly baked muffins in my life!!!!! Seriously impressed 😉
You’re the sweetest 🙂
These are amazing! For my oil I just used extra applesauce. I actually made the applesauce myself, and as I added my we the mixture to the dry, the hot applesauce melted the chocolate chips(lol)! THey are still super sparkly.
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. Would I be able to make these with all purpose or whole wheat flour. Would I need to adjust any ingredients, Thanks.
it’s a great recipe! all healthy recipes make me happy! ^^
Oh my gosh! Soft and fluffy perfection! I am obsessing over these muffins – they look so moist and perfect. I am dying over your amazing photography, too!
Hayley – your comments are always the sweetest 🙂 Thank you so much! Photography is such a battle, so I appreciate your darling comments! xo
Yummy. I’ve got all ingredients! Tomorrow I’m making them:)
These muffins look AMAZING!! I feel like I might like them better than the less healthy kinds!!
These are delicious!! I did make one change because I didn’t have applesauce I used 1 c of blended ripe bananas. They did taste like banana but I like that. And the texture was wonderful not gummy/chewy like most gluten free baked goods. Great recipe!
I agree– they are delish! I used olive oil as the fat. Yummy! Thank you!!
These turned out really good!
Please suggest another alternative to applesauce/ banana
An egg, flaxseeds or Greek yogurt
Why not try some lovely canned pumpkin? That would make it fall inspired and delish!
Does anyone know how much calories there are per muffin, I’m on a diet and I’m trying to limit my calories per day. If anyone knows please reply. Thanks.
You can type each ingredient or add the recipe to My Fitness Pal. It will break it down.