Chocolate Oat Muffins

Pinterest recipe review: * * * * * (5/5 stars)

The "Healthy is Always Better" blogger posted the following recipe. I was intrigued because the lack of flour made them easily gluten free! I didn't have greek yogurt so I used the plain non fat yogurt that I did have instead. I also used regular sugar instead of a sugar alternative. I made half the batch as she suggests, pulling them out to top with chocolate chips, and then returning them to the oven for a few more minutes. I found that, while they tasted good, those muffins sank and lost their beautiful, poofy, muffin top. The other half of the batch I left alone for the full fifteen minutes and topped them with chocolate chips when they came out of the oven fully cooked. I much prefer this method since they both tasted good and looked beautiful!

Picture courtesy of Healthy is Always Better

Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffin 
(Knock-Offs of Whole Food’s 6 Dollar per 4 Chocolate Chunk VitaTop Muffins)

• 1 3/4 c oats
•  3 egg whites
•  3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar)
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup sugar substitute (like Splenda granular) OR 1/4 cup + 2 tbs stevia
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or use white chocolate or peanut butter chips!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with foil cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.

Place mixture in a bowl and gently stir in 1/2 of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Scoop mixture into prepared muffin pans.

Place muffins tins in the oven for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut oven off), and distribute the other half of the chocolate chips on top of each muffin.
Place  the muffins back into the oven and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Note, you could skip this step by putting all of the chips in the batter, and baking the muffins for 12-15 min straight, but this method gives the muffins the traditional ‘VitaTop Muffin’ look with the chocolate chips on top!
Cool muffins before removing from pan. ENJOY!!!

Servings: 12 Big Muffins or 24 Smaller Muffins
Calories: 116 Calories Per Muffin or 58 Calories Per Muffin

*drooling*