Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipes, Sweets

April 8, 2020

Hey there I'm Chen.

Welcome to Chen's Plate, a food and lifestyle blog sharing gluten and dairy free recipes along with the ups and downs of my life in NYC. Hope you find what you're looking for. So excited to have you here :)

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A little healthy twist on your favorite chocolate chip muffins. These muffins the perfect healthy dessert that’s vegan-friendly, gluten-free, and full of flavor. Requiring just 15 minutes of prep time, these muffins are a must-try you won’t regret making

 A perfectly delicious healthy dessert

Growing up, my mom would go to our local grocery store and buy us these four packs of big chocolate chip muffins. They were so sweet and fluffy that we would always fight over who would get the one that looked like it had the most chocolate chips. My brothers and I would pour ourselves a big glass of milk (almond for me always) and warm up these muffins for the best breakfast of the week.

One of the best parts about this recipe is that it’s gluten free, which makes it an option suitable for many! This is a great dessert to serve up when entertaining guests or attending a potluck. People will be absolutely blown away when they learn about the healthy ingredients!


Ingredients used to bake these chocolate chip muffins

I love this recipe because the ingredients are simple and easy to find. I hate finding seemingly simple recipes for a dessert, only to realize that the main ingredient is a flour I’ve never heard of or even seen in a store. I love baking with real, whole, clean ingredients that can be found anywhere and at an affordable price!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mashed Japanese sweet potato

  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour

  • 1/2 cup smooth almond butter

  • 3 organic eggs

  • 1/3 cup maple syrup

  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Tools needed to make this recipe

When I say this recipe is simple, I mean it! In total, you’ll only need a few items to bring these muffins to life: a peeler to peel your sweet potato skin, a pot to boil the potato, a big bowl for mixing, and a mixing tool! For the muffins, I used silicone molds to individually make each muffin, but a muffin tray is perfect too.

How to make healthy chocolate chip muffins

You will need about 40-45 minutes total to bake these muffins to perfection. The prep time shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes if you’re boiling the sweet potato, but if you already have it mashed, it should be an easy prep. Easy to make regardless!

Start by preheating your oven to 350 F

Peel one large Japanese sweet potato and cut into chunks. Place the chunks into a small pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and do so until the chunks are easily pierceable with a fork

Once the potato is soft, drain the water and mash the potato as much as you can. Remove any pieces from within the potato that didn’t mash

Measure 1 cup of mash and place in a large bowl. Add the almond butter, eggs, maple, and vanilla (wet ingredients) and mix super well. Break apart any clumps

Add in the dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda, and salt and mix super well to create your muffin batter

Mix in the chocolate chips and evenly disperse them

Pour even amounts of batter into a lined muffin dish to fill up 12 muffins total! I used an ice cream scoop to measure out even amounts. Leave a little space on the top for rising

Optional: hand place a few chocolate chips on top of each muffin

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the center is fully cooked (check out the tips section for more info)

Cool and enjoy!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins substitution options

Do you have a few alternative ingredients on hand that you’re looking to use in this recipe? Here are some easy swaps that may work for your muffins.

  • Chocolate Chips: obviously these are chocolate chip muffins, taking out the chocolate chips just seems wrong! But what if you don’t have enough? Feel free to add in nuts like almonds or walnuts or an extra crunch. You can even use m&m’s instead! Think of the fun colors!

  • Maple syrup: Maple syrup is used as an added sweetness in this recipe to replace your usual white sugar. If you’d prefer something else, you can use honey or date honey if you have that!

  • Almond Butter: I love using smooth almond butter in my recipes; my favorite brand is the Trader Joe’s no salt or sugar added smooth almond butter. Don’t have almond butter? Use another kind! Cashew butter, granola butter, and peanut butter all work here.

  • Japanese Sweet Potato: Japanese sweet potato in this recipe helps to thicken up the batter and give the texture added fluff and moisture. You can also use a regular sweet potato or pumpkin puree which is perfect for the fall 🙂

A healthier muffin recipe

When I make new dessert recipes, health is at the forefront of my mind. Since being diagnosed with Crohns, I have worked really hard to find ingredients that my body loves. It’s hard for me to digest a lot of basic foods, so I try to find substitutions that make my digestion easier. Hopefully they can do the same for you!

Maple Syrup

To sweeten my muffins, along with many other recipes, I used maple syrup. This is one of my go-to ingredients because it serves as an all-natural sweetener that tastes wonderful and eliminates the need for granulated sugar.

Almond Flour

Almond flour helps to give these muffins their consistency, as well as keep them gluten free! It’s my favorite type of flour to use, as it’s much more nutritious than all-purpose flour and easier to work with than other gluten free flours. Plus, it has extra protein!

Tips for making the best healthy chocolate chip muffins

Here are a couple of quick how-tos that will help you create the best muffins you’ve ever had!

  • Don’t skip any of the ingredients: It may be tempting to omit the sweet potato or maple syrup, for example, but these ingredients are vital! You’ll want to use all of the ingredients listed to end up with delicious muffins.

  • Substitutions don’t always work: The recipe instructs to use almond flour as your main flour. I have not tested other flours, but if you do use something else, note that the texture and overall flavor may be different than mine.

  • Storing the muffins: Be sure to refrigerate any leftover muffins in a sealed container. Enjoy within a few days. Feel free to eat them cold or reheat in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

Try these muffins recipes too!

Like muffins as much as I do? Try these! These are just as healthy, just as fluffy, and full of amazing ingredients. All my recipes are gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free always. Some are vegan or can be made vegan if you want them to be 🙂 Happy baking friends.

Banana Blender Muffins

Banana Bread Muffins

Fudgy Double Chocolate Muffins

Double Chocolate Muffins

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins
Yield: 12 Muffins

Author: Chen’s Plate
Prep time: 15 MCook time: 45 MTotal time: 60 M
A little healthy twist on your favorite chocolate chip muffins. These muffins the perfect healthy dessert that’s vegan-friendly, gluten-free, and full of flavor. Requiring just 15 minutes of prep time, these muffins are a must-try you won’t regret making

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mashed Japanese sweet potato
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
  • 3 organic eggs
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

How to cook Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

  1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 F
  2. Peel one large Japanese sweet potato and cut into chunks. Place the chunks into a small pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and do so until the chunks are easily pierceable with a fork
  3. Once the potato is soft, drain the water and mash the potato as much as you can. Remove any pieces from within the potato that didn’t mash
  4. Measure 1 cup of mash and place in a large bowl. Add the almond butter, eggs, maple, and vanilla (wet ingredients) and mix super well. Break apart any clumps
  5. Add in the dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda, and salt and mix super well to create your muffin batter
  6. Mix in the chocolate chips and evenly disperse them
  7. Pour even amounts of batter into a lined muffin dish to fill up 12 muffins total! I used an ice cream scoop to measure out even amounts. Leave a little space on the top for rising
  8. Optional: hand place a few chocolate chips on top of each muffin
  9. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the center is fully cooked (check out the tips section for more info)
  10. Cool and enjoy!

Calories

236.39

Fat (grams)

16.17

Sat. Fat (grams)

2.65

Carbs (grams)

19.15

Fiber (grams)

3.80

Net carbs

15.35

Sugar (grams)

11.56

Protein (grams)

7.36

Sodium (milligrams)

179.83

Cholesterol (grams)

46.50

Did you make this recipe?
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Created using The Recipes Generator

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Hey there I'm Chen.

Welcome to Chen's Plate, a food and lifestyle blog sharing gluten and dairy free recipes along with the ups and downs of my life in NYC. Hope you find what you're looking for. So excited to have you here :)

about Me

Categories

morning delights

savory eats

snacks

sweet tooth

shop now

Follow me on Instagram