Who doesn't love chocolate, especially for breakfast? Whole wheat chocolate muffins are a great source of fiber to start your day with!
If you are a regular reader here at Nourished Simply you know about my love of muffins. Â Muffins are often a quick breakfast, especially when I work at the hospital. Â They are portable and do fill me up. Â As a chocolate lover, chocolate muffins are of course a favorite. Â I tried though to make this recipe a bit healthier by using whole wheat flour and oat bran.
I traditionally bake with either butter or canola oil. Â I know many people are using coconut oils now because of the advertised health benefits. I have no opinion honestly either way. Â I have not read enough good data to move completely over to coconut oil.
I don't mind experimenting with coconut oil, but I am not convinced that it is the end all be all. I did use coconut oil in this recipe because I have been out of all of my other oils.
Tips for baking with coconut oil:
- I find coconut oil a bit tricky to bake with.
- Because coconut oil is considered a saturated fat, it is solid at room temperature.
- To make the muffin mix easier to mix I would rather have the coconut oil in a liquid form.
- You need to melt the oil just like you would melt butter.
- I add the oil last in the recipe to allow the oil to cool a bit.
- If the oil is still hot you may start to cook the egg.
- I also try to use room temperature ingredients.
- If the coconut oil comes in contact with cold ingredients the oil will start to solidify.
How to make whole wheat chocolate muffins:
- The dry ingredients are mixed first.
- Then the chips are added.
- If the chips are coated with flour they are less likely to fall to the bottom of the muffin cups.
- I add the wet ingredients and then like I said earlier, save the coconut oil for last.
- I would do the same with melted butter.
I try to fill the muffin cups about ¾ full.  I love when the muffin tops spill over the edges of the muffin liner.  I don't like short tiny muffins.  You can see the oat bran and whole wheat flour grains in the mixture, but trust me the muffins do not taste grainy.
This batch of muffins was made on a quiet weekend morning. Â My son smelled the muffins and came running into the kitchen to see what was baking. Â When the muffins were done I had to hold him back so they could cool a bit.
Recipe
Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup oat bran
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- â…“ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup skim milk
- â…“ cup coconut oil melted
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar, and chocolate chips.
- Stir to combine dry ingredients.
- Add in skim milk, egg, and vanilla, stir just until wet.
- Slowly pour in coconut oil, stir just until combined.
- Pour muffin batter into a muffin pan lined with cupcake wrappers.
- Fill each muffin cup ¾ full.
- Bake in the oven 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the center of the muffins.
Notes
Nutrition
Allie says
I love muffins to and always have my freezer stocked for a quick and healthy breakfast for my family. I will have to add these to the rotation
Jennifer Lynn-Pullman says
I always keep my muffins in the freezer. I defrost them for about a minute in the microwave and off I go!
Angela says
I also love muffins! Great for breakfast or an after-school snack for the kiddos. Can't wait to try your recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Pravs says
Tried this muffin today. My son and his friends loved it. Thanks for a healthy muffin recipe 🙂
Jennifer Lynn-Pullman says
Thanks for letting me know. Glad your son liked them.
Daria says
I only have quick oats at home? Can I use that instead of oat bran? Thanks.
Jennifer Lynn-Pullman says
Not sure. Bran is very fine where as quick oats are not. The consistency would change a bit. Try it and let me know how you make out. You could also grind up the quick oats so they are a finer consistency.
Gigi says
I made these this morning and they were delicious especially with a little peanut butter:) I used the Hershey special dark cocoa powder, almond milk and truvia packets since it was what I had in my pantry. I will be making these often. Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer Lynn-Pullman says
Peanut butter sounds awesome!
Nisha says
Hi there.. these muffins came out so very delicious.. thank u so much for the lovely recipe.. also, i used 1 and half cup of whole wheat flour intead of the half cup of oat bran .. n they were still yummy.. my family loved it.. please tell me for how long can i store them in the refrigerator and in frezzer?
Thanks in advance.
Jennifer Lynn-Pullman says
Freezer: up to 3 months. Refrigerator about 3-5 days