Healthy Chocolate Muffins |Cooking With Amanda

I have been dreaming of a healthy chocolate muffin for ages. Actually, to be exact, a healthy chocolate cherry muffin. The double chocolate part that was attained by adding a few mini chocolate chips wasn't a necessity, I admit. But more chocolate? It was really a no brainer. Obviously more chocolate is always better. Not healthier I suppose, but you can't have everything!

Except with these muffins. Because they really ARE healthy. And tasty. And chocolatey. So I'm happy.

Originally I was actually envisioning a healthy black forest cake style muffin, and I still really want to make that happen, but these aren't really it. I used dried cherries for the cherry part, instead of the pie filling type cherries that are more reminiscent of black forest cake. So, not black forest cake, although I am definitely still planning on making that a thing. But let's be honest, you add cherry pie filling to a muffin and it's no longer a healthy muffin, but more of a black forest cupcake. Dried cherries are just healthier.

And easier. These double chocolate cherry muffins come together and are in the oven in under 15 minutes. My oven was barely preheated by the time they were ready to go in. You can't beat that. It's one of the reasons I love making muffins so much. They're so fast and easy, and there are so many options. Plus you can make them as healthy or as decadent as you like. I lean toward making them as healthy as possible, but I figure if I'm making muffins, I want to be able to eat them for breakfast. And snacks. And pretty much whenever I get the hankering for a muffin. And I want to do that guilt free!

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Healthy Chocolate Muffins Recipe

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Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolks
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 12 cup muffin tin (or 24 cup mini muffin tin) with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until well combined. Add the chocolate chips and dried cherries and toss to combine.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, oil and vanilla until well combined. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed, do not over-mix.
Fill the prepared muffin tin with the batter, dividing it equally between the muffin cups, they will be almost full. Bake for 23-25 minutes for full size muffins, and 16-18 minutes for mini muffins, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Muffins are best the first couple of days after baking them, but store well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months.