{SKINNY & HEALTHY} PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE-CHIP MUFFINS

A low-calorie and healthy pumpkin chocolate-chip muffin with absolutely no butter, oil, or flour plus very little sugar. These gluten-free muffins are stuffed to the brim with flavor, they are healthy, and you will be shocked how great they taste while being so healthy!

I admit, these are not the prettiest looking muffins. But gosh the taste! The texture! The smell!

These are goooooood. I couldn’t get my sick babe to eat anything the other day until I made these. And down went three, one right after another followed by a huge glass of milk. Because pumpkin and chocolate always needs to be followed with a glass of cold milk.

And I didn’t feel bad at all feeding him three of these when he’d had nothing else to eat the entire day. They are naturally sweetened with honey, no artificial sweeteners or preservatives, packed with nutrients thanks to the pumpkin, no butter, no oil…the list goes on an on. Plus, did I mention no flour? Well technically there is flour – but it’s flour made from oats that have been ground up to become a flour consistency – no white refined flour in these muffins.

Also, pumpkin is super healthy and these muffins have an entire cup of pumpkin in em. I usually don’t talk calories here on the blog, but I’m gonna do it today. Cause these muffins stack up to some pretty great numbers. Starting with the pumpkin – only 30 calories for an entire cup! Crazy right?! And that pumpkin is stuffed with nutrients, vitamins, and anti-oxidants. Fun fact – pumpkin has the highest amounts of vitamin A (when compared to other veggies). Vitamin A helps to keep your skin healthy and your eye-sight A-Ok. It’s also suggested in research to be a potential protector against cancer. (!!!)

Ahem. Sorry. So what is the total calorie count on these guys? 114 calories!! (For 9 muffins) That includes all of the chocolate loaded in them. If you were to leave out the chocolate (not recommended!) they are only 70 calories. So although I don’t recommend cutting out the chocolate, you could cut it down a bit. Maybe go from 1/2 cup to 1/3 or 1/4 of a cup. These are packed with chocolate chips which is how I like it, but if you are looking to save calories, you can definitely cut out some and they’ll still taste great!

Although, dark chocolate is high in calories, it is still great for you which is why I don’t feel bad packing these with chocolate. Dark chocolate has essential fats your body needs and is a great source of antioxidants. And yes, that’s what I tell myself every single day when I eat way too much dark chocolate because I <3 it.

Okay sorry to sound like a walking encyclopedia! I can’t help it! I studied nutrition in college and I admittedly get pretty excited about food and calories. And yes, I know I’m weird.

Anyways this muffins take minutes to whip up and not too long to bake! A few notes:

• The less you stir the better! More stirring will result in more dense muffins, so stir until just combined. Also separating the dry and wet ingredients helps you to make sure the ingredients are well combined with minimal stirring. I know it’s a pain, but two bowls people – wet and dry ingredients! 
• Don’t pack in the oat flour. Spoon and level kind of measuring going on here.
• Measure the oat flour AFTER it is in a flour form. So oat flour is just old-fashioned or quick oats that you blend in a blender or food processor until they are the consistency of regular flour. However, if you measure the oats before blending them, the measurements will be off. Once your oats are in a flour form, that’s when you measure them!
• Enjoy the heck out of these deliciously healthy muffins!

4.9 from 20reviews

{SKINNY & HEALTHY} PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE-CHIP MUFFINS

 

SAVE PRINT

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

11 mins

TOTAL TIME

26 mins

 

Author: Chelsea

Serves: 8-9

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling and not an entire can - just 1 cup)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, optional
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon oat flour (oats that have been blended)
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray; do not use muffin liners with these.
2. Combine the pumpkin, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg in a bowl. Beat until combined.
3. In another bowl, stir together the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice (if desired), and oat flour.
4. Oat flour is just old-fashioned or quick oats that have been blended in a food processor or blender until they reach the consistency of flour. Make sure to measure the oat flour AFTER blending and not to measure the oats before blending.
5. Add the dry to the wet mixing until just combined. (Over-mixing will result in dense muffins)
6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Separate the mixture evenly among 9 muffin cavities and place a few extra chocolate chips on top if desired (makes em look prettier!)
8. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Remove and allow to cool and then remove them from the muffin tin.
9. These muffins are a lot tastier and softer when slightly under-baked so err on the side of less baking rather than over baking.

NOTES

For larger muffins, fill 7-8 of the cavities and for smaller muffins fill 9