Refined Sugar Free Double Chocolate Muffins

Muffins With Double the Chocolate, Half the Sugar

These refined sugar free double chocolate muffins are the best of two worlds. Less sugar plus more chocolate? Yes, please! 😀

Best of all, kids don’t have a clue that these healthier double chocolate muffins have less sugar than typical chocolate chocolate chip muffins. While an average home baked chocolate muffin recipe ends up with anywhere from 20-30 grams of sugar, these healthy chocolate muffins only contain 11 grams of sugar each.

And I’m not entirely sure why all those other chocolate muffins need to have that much sugar, because these kid-approved healthier chocolate muffins are incredible and full of rich, sweet chocolate flavor with half the amount of sugar.

One of the big things that sets this double chocolate muffin recipe apart and keeps the sugar content lower is the fact that the chocolate chunks are homemade and honey-sweetened. And that, combined with the fact that the batter itself is sweetened with maple syrup, means that these healthier double chocolate chip muffins are 100% refined sugar free.

So when your kids ask for one of these chocolate muffins without sugar for breakfast or an afternoon snack, it will be an easy “yes” from you 🙂

That’s what I love about always having refined sugar free treats on hand. There are so many times when parents have to say “no” to kids; I love when I can make one area of our life a “yes” the majority of the time without compromising our health.

That’s really what this website is all about, after all. Satisfying kids’ sweet tooth and relieving parental guilt at the same time!

I also love when the breakfast or snack I offer my kids is an easy “yes” from their side, because I despise food arguments 🙁 You know the ones. When your child is hangry and whining for a snack but doesn’t want a single one of the 2,863 options you offer.

But these super moist double chocolate chip muffins are so decadent, soft and tender, no kid could say no to them 😀

So these naturally sweetened chocolate chip muffins are a win win. They are a “yes” from kids because the taste and texture is irresistible and they are a “yes” from parents because they contain zero processed sugar and half the sugar of other double chocolate muffin recipes.

When to Make Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

Something I really love about these refined sugar free double chocolate muffins is that they come together so easily and quickly. You can make them anytime you have a half hour at home (and that includes 20 minutes of free time for you to get something done while they bake).

The only caveat here is that you need to have the chocolate chunks ready to go, chilling in the freezer before you make up a batch of these healthier chocolate muffins. But that is truly very quick and easy to do. It literally takes five minutes to make the chocolate and it only needs about a 20-30 minutes in the freezer before being chopped up and added to the batter.

You can either make up a batch of the chocolate the day before you want to make the double chocolate muffins so it is ready to go when you need it for baking the next day, or you can make it up right before you make the muffins. If you stick the chocolate in the freezer and then begin prepping your muffins, the chocolate should be hardened enough to chop around the time you are done mixing up the batter.

So to make this really simple, you can easily make these chocolate muffins if you have 45 minutes of free time.

But also, there are many occasions for which these chocolate chocolate chip muffins are excellent to have ready to serve.

First of all, any muffin is great as an easy school morning breakfast. I often send my blueberry pancake muffins with my daughter to school as her breakfast or morning snack. But since I created this rich chocolate muffin recipe, I’ve been sending these as her breakfast and/or snack instead.

These are also great as an after-school-snack, although you may need to be careful about caffeine content from the dark chocolate in these muffins that late in the day.

Another occasion when these super moist double chocolate muffins would be the perfect, easy recipe to make is for a brunch get-together or playdate. Any time you need to bring a breakfast item to share with other kids or adults, these are the thing everyone will rave about – especially when they find out you made the chocolate chunks yourself and everything is naturally sweetened 😀

Ingredients

Butter: Irish grass-fed or organic butter helps to make these chocolate muffins incredibly moist and flavorful.

Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is the natural sweetener in this refined sugar free double chocolate muffin recipe. Lower on the glycemic index than processed sugar, it is less likely to cause a sugar rush but still delivers intense sweetness to balance the acidity of the chocolate flavor.

Yogurt: Yogurt gives a little protein boost and adds extra moisture to this decadent chocolate muffin recipe. Use unflavored, unsweetened whole milk yogurt – organic if possible.

Egg: And egg works as a binder in these muffins. I use farm-fresh eggs or organic, cage-free.

Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla adds more depth of flavor to these muffins. Make sure you have pure vanilla extract and not an imitation that only contains vanilla extract.

Flour: I use all-purpose unbleached flour from Costco, but any all-purpose flour will work.

Cocoa Powder: Lots of cocoa powder gives these healthy chocolate muffins their rich, chocolate flavor. I use cacao powder usually because it is less processed but any cocoa powder will work.

Baking Powder: A generous amount of baking powder gives these muffins their fluffy rise. Try to get aluminum-free baking powder.

Salt: A little salt helps to bring out all the wonderful flavor in this delicious recipe.

Chocolate Chunks: My simple, honey-sweetened chocolate recipe is chopped up and tossed into the chocolate muffin batter at the end in place of store-bought chocolate chips that are full of refined sugar.

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and oil a muffin tin.

Step 2

Add all liquid ingredients to a medium-size bowl and whisk until combined.

Step 3

Add all dry ingredients to liquid ingredients and whisk again until fully combined.

Step 4

Add chopped chocolate pieces and mix until evenly distributed.

Step 5

Evenly divide batter between all 12 muffin cups.

Step 6

Bake for 20-22 minutes until muffins look fully cooked on top and toothpick comes out clean or with crumbs.

Step 7

Allow baked muffins to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before removing. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container on the counter for five days or in the fridge for two weeks.

Substitutions & Tips

• You can make these chocolate muffins with regular whole milk yogurt or Greek yogurt. If you make it with Greek yogurt, the batter will be thicker because there is less moisture in Greek yogurt. But the end result is delicious 🙂

• If you want to eliminate the need to make your own chocolate chunks, you can buy a healthier chocolate chip to use instead. Hu is a good brand that uses coconut sugar to sweeten their chocolate baking chips.

• When checking your muffins for doneness with a toothpick, remember that the chocolate chunks will be melty inside. So if your toothpick comes out gooey when you think they are done, try checking them again in another spot to see if it’s just the melted chocolate making it look gooey.

• If you want to add some extra protein and your kids like nuts, you can add chopped pecans, walnuts or other nuts of your choice to the batter in place of or in addition to the chocolate chunks.