What could be better than a rich, moist, chocolate muffin? How about a FAT-FREE version!! That’s right, at just under 200 calories for the jumbo muffin, these low calorie, fat-free chocolate muffins are sure to please everyone in your family. The best part about this recipe is that since it is so low in calories, you can feel free to really “play around” with it. Toss a handful of dried fruit or nuts, mini-chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips into the batter for a really delectable twist without even having to worry about blowing your diet. Fill the centers with a variety of different jams before baking, or even top the finished, cooled muffins with a dusting of powdered sugar or fat free chocolate frosting – now that’s a great way to start any day off right!!
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened (preferably Dutch processed) cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and generously grease a 6 cup jumbo (or 12 cup standard) muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine the flours, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, milk and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir until just moistened, being careful not to over mix.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for 18-22 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean).
If desired, once muffins are cool, sprinkle with a light dusting of powdered sugar or lightly glaze with fat-free chocolate
frosting.
.
Makes 6 jumbo (or 12 standard) muffins. Per jumbo muffin: 198 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 31 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 4.5 g sugar, 3 g protein, 188 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol
11 responses so far ↓
1 Erika // Aug 22, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Does it make a difference if I don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, but use plain whole wheat flour?
Also, would this recipe work using splenda instead of sugar?
2 Shannon // Aug 22, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Erika,
You can absolutely replace the sugar with splenda – just be sure to get the splenda that is formulated for baking (not the table sweetener used in coffee, etc) and follow any directions on the back of the package to alterations in measurement or oven temperature.
As for the flour, there is a big difference between the whole wheat pastry flour and regular flour. The regular whole wheat flour will make your baked goods much more dense. If you are having a hard time finding whole wheat pastry, there are few things that you can try. First, you can put the regular whole what flour in a blender or food processor for just a few seconds to make it a less coarse, “finer” grain. If that is too much of a hassle, you can just swap the quantities on the all purpose and the whole wheat – for example, if it calls for 1 cup WW pastry flour and 1/2 cup all purpose, use 1 cup all purpose flour, and 1/2 cup regular whole wheat flour.
Whew! That was a mouthful!!
I hope that this helps – if you have any other questions, just let me know.
-Shannon
3 Crystal // Aug 26, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I made these this afternoon, following your above directions about grinding the regular whole wheat flour to make it less coarse. I also had no yogurt or white sugar on hand so I used 3/4 of a cup of applesauce and 3/4 of a cup of unpacked brown sugar. They were sooo chocolatey and delicious! My boyfriend particularly liked that they were not too sweet and said that he would like to eat them for breakfast as well as dessert. I am really happy that I came across this recipe! I loved it.
4 Katelyn // Oct 1, 2007 at 9:50 am
I made these yesterday and they were amazing!
Also, in the center of each (using the method from the jam-filled muffins), I put about a tsp of mashed banana and a couple of butterscotch morsels. Soooo amazingly good!
All my friends liked them, even the ones that usually look down on healthy foods. Thank you for this recipe!
5 Deborah // Nov 12, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I made these today and they were great. I added a handful of peanut butter chips which was great but I think they would have been fine without them. They are almost like a brownie, just lighter.
6 Thecpa // Nov 13, 2007 at 10:22 pm
We baked a batch of these tonight. They are easy and delicious. We are going to make another batch and toss in some peanut butter bits. Another two thumbs up recipe. Thanks!
7 Rachel // Nov 16, 2007 at 12:06 pm
I added a handful of mini marshmallows to the batter…yummy!
8 azzah // Dec 14, 2009 at 7:13 pm
shannon, thanks soo much for the tip about the whole wheat flour, in my recipes they always turned out soo heavy, this will be a great help!
i thought i just became really bad at baking
9 Anna // Jan 7, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Wow…By far the best muffins I have ever made! You are a wizard!
Would you happen to have a light sponge cake recipe? I’m the family baker. ^+^
10 Lina // May 11, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Do you know how to make these more cake like?
11 Jenny B // Oct 26, 2010 at 1:51 pm
These muffins were terrific (especially since they are guilt-free)! I didn’t have pastry flour so I blended up my wheat flour like you suggested but also added 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Wowee did they come out soft and light! I’m so excited to have discovered your blog and I can’t wait to make something else (I’m thinking those cinnamon roll scones are next) Thank you soooo much for existing!
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