Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe (With Optional Peanut Butter Center)
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This Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe has an optional peanut butter center you will love!
That’s right; you can make them either way. Enjoy them as a truly chocolatey muffin, or go the peanut butter cup flavor route and add a dollop of peanut butter to the center. Either way, these are incredibly decadent.
Why Make These Double Chocolate Muffins?
Because dessert matters. We can stick to a diet or eat healthy as much as we want. But sometimes, life calls for dessert. And the best part about these is that you aren’t really sacrificing much with these muffins because they are made with all-natural ingredients.
What Makes A Muffin Moist?
The fat content. While I try to find balance and avoid excessive fats in my recipes, some recipes call for them. I have to say that even though these were made with egg whites, they turned out pretty well. But if you want them even more moist, I highly recommend using 1-2 whole eggs instead of egg whites. The fat in the yolks will go a long way to adding more moisture. But again, these aren’t dry muffins, at least not in my opinion. So the choice is yours.
Are Chocolate Chip Muffins Healthy?
I suppose they could be. I mean, the recipe below is about as healthy as a chocolate chocolate chip muffin is going to get. They are made with all-natural ingredients, no processed sugar, and whole grain flour. You really can’t get much healthier than that with a muffin.
Optional Additions
If you wish, you can add the following:
- Pure vanilla extract – Add 1 to 2 teaspoons to the wet ingredients.
- Vinegar – Use white vinegar. Add 1-2 teaspoons to the wet ingredients. This will help with leavening as well as help to naturally preserve the muffins a bit better.
- Walnuts – If you want chocolate walnut muffins (or any nut), make sure you chop them into smaller pieces for the best texture.
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin Key Ingredients
Whole wheat pastry flour – If you can’t find it near you, the next best thing is White Whole Wheat Flour. It’s often more readily available in stores around the country. You can use regular, whole wheat flour, but the muffins will end up with a more coarse and dense texture. They may even be a tiny bit drier.
Baking powder – Make sure it’s fresh so it works properly.
Ground cinnamon
Ground black pepper
Salt – Any type you normally bake or cook with.
Unsweetened cocoa powder – Make sure it’s unsweetened.
Dark chocolate chips – I use Lily’s brand or the 365 brand of sugar-free chocolate chips. These should be good-quality chocolate chips or chocolate chunks for the maximum chocolate flavor.
Egg whites – You can use one whole egg in place of the two egg whites if you prefer.
Honey – Any type is fine.
Oil – Anything that is lightly flavored will work here. You can also try using half oil and half sour cream, Greek yogurt, or melted butter.
Unsweetened almond milk – Any milk will work. I would only avoid coconut milk. Buttermilk could be a tasty option.
Peanut butter – Optional. No sugar added.
How To Make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line your muffin tin with muffin liners. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. The flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pepper, salt, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips (Coating the chocolate chips in flour helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of your muffins during baking).
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. The egg whites, honey, oil, and almond milk.
Pour the flour mixture into the liquids and blend well with a wooden spoon.
Fill your muffin papers halfway with batter and place in the oven. If you want the peanut butter centers, fill the papers a 1/4 of the way (being sure to evenly distribute the batter over the bottom of the muffin paper), drop the peanut butter in the center, then cover the peanut butter entirely with the rest of the batter. If you use peanut butter, your muffin papers will be closer to 3/4 full.
Bake for 20-30 minutes. Test with a knife or cake tester. Be aware that you may pull out some melted chocolate from the chocolate chips. So examine it carefully to see if it’s melted chocolate or raw batter if the stick or knife does not pull out clean.
Cool on a wire rack and serve.
Storage
Store these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing
These store well in the freezer if packed well. Wrap them in plastic wrap and then place them in an airtight container. In this way, they will freeze for up to 4 months.
Reheating
The best way to reheat a muffin is in the microwave. Or let them sit out and come to room temperature on your countertop.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe Card
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe
Equipment
- Standard muffin pan
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I use the Lily's brand)
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup oil (light flavored)
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (any milk will work here)
- 12 tbsp. peanut butter (optional – if using – 2 tsp. per muffin – no sugar added)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line your muffin tin with muffin liners. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pepper, salt, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips (Coating the chocolate chips in flour helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of your muffins during baking).
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, honey, oil, and almond milk.
- Pour the flour mixture into the liquids and blend well with a wooden spoon.
- Fill your muffin papers halfway with batter and place in the oven. If you want the peanut butter centers, fill the papers a 1/4 of the way (being sure to evenly distribute the batter over the bottom of the muffin paper), drop the peanut butter in the center, then cover the peanut butter entirely with the rest of the batter. If you use peanut butter, your muffin papers will be closer to 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes. Test with a knife or cake tester. Be aware that you may pull out some melted chocolate from the chocolate chips. So examine it carefully to see if it's melted chocolate or raw batter if the stick or knife does not pull out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
I'm Tiffany, a writer for MSN and the AP Newswire, a cookbook author, digital publisher, food lover, and mom. I create healthy, clean eating recipes for everyday living.
Thankyou! I ended up using the black pepper, I was just curious bc I’ve never used it BAKING before. I like to stay true to a recipe the first time to see if I want to substitute anything else later! But everything was delicious and I will definitely be making these again, my 3 year old devoured them 🙂
Danielle – My pleasure! 🙂
I made these last night and they were so good! My kids loved them! I did put about a tsp of homemade peanut butter in the center and my recipe only made 12. I know by making bigger muffins, the calorie count was much higher- like 215 a muffin! Do you have any recommendations on how to make them a little healthier? How much could I cut down on the honey and oil without affecting the taste and texture too much? Thanks!
Ashley – I’m not sure what your definition of healthier is. Are you sure you measured everything correctly? That just seems like a big drop from the 18 I got.
I think I did, but who knows? I have made some mistakes in the kitchen before 😉 By healthier, I mean lower fat and sugar. How much could I reduce the oil and honey without affecting the taste? Or, could I use a substitution?
Ashley – You could probably reduce the honey by half, but I wouldn’t go too much lower on the oil. It gives the muffins some moisture. It’s 4 tablespoons, so maybe try 3 tablespoons?
Thank you!
I need to make breakfast in bulk to last my husband and I all week! I want something on obviously healthy but something that will keep us full and give good nutritional values because I’m breastfeeding! So is this a good idea or is there a recipe you can think of off the top of your head that would be good to try for us?
Melissa – Depends on what you consider healthy. While the ingredients are whole food ingredients, this really is more of a dessert. I highly recommend my strawberry oatmeal smoothie, providing there are not medical restrictions for breast feeding (this contains raw oats). It’s very filling! https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-strawberry-oatmeal-smoothie/ Otherwise, here is my breakfast category: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/?cat=3
Hello!
I love your website and your recipes, but I did see you included soy milk as an option in the ingredients… why went soy milk is not clean?
Sandy – You will find it in my older recipes from when I first started eating clean and thought that soy was a good option. You won’t find it in my recipes now.
Hi! I know you’re ALWAYS answering questions about pastry flour, and here’s one more! I have tried and tried to find whole wheat pastry flour near me, but haven’t had any luck. However, I did find whole grain pastry flour. Do you think there will be a noticeable difference if I use the whole grain pastry flour?
Jennifer – What grains is it made with?
The ingredients list is: Organic whole grain soft wheat flour. I’m not sure how much help that is!
Jennifer – That’s it? I’ll have to check, but it seems clean to me.
What qualifies this as clean eating. Starting on this path and I’m a little confused?
Alesha – Here is a description of clean eating: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/what-is-clean-eating/ With this recipe, it’s all whole food ingredients. The only thing that is not 100% clean is the chocolate chips. You will find that with things like this, mild exceptions are not the end of the world. You can also make your own and I hope to do a post on that soon. But until then, I chose the “cleanest” chips I could find.
We made these for breakfast this morning. They were a tad dry but I also baked them on the long end of the suggested time. Next time I make these I will try agave(just to taste the difference) and bake them for about 16-18 min. My oven bakes hotter than normal. My husband had a MAJOR sweet tooth and these seemed a little “bland” to him. I might try a little more honey/agave next time. It’s a hard task but I’m trying to weine him off of so much salt and sugar. Also, is Hershey’s cocoa powder consider a “cheaper” cocoa and if so, what brand do you recommend? Thanks again for all you do, you really do make this transition easier.
JenniferSheppard – I have used Hershey’s. I try to buy organic stuff though. Seems like it’s always better quality.
Can I use olive oil or something else in place of the safflower oil? I don’t have any safflower oil in my pantry right now.
Thanks for your help! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Jen – Sure! I just chose that one because of the light flavor.