Healthy Chocolate Muffins

Healthy Chocolate Muffins?? Yes, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but it is possible to bake a healthy, ooey-gooey, moist and dense, melty chocolate muffin that is low in fat. My husband and I have been treating ourselves to a Deep Chocolate Vita Muffin every night, and even at just 100 calories each they are delicious!! But pricey, at $5.99 for a box of four, and my good sense won't allow me to go on paying that kind of money, so I was forced to find a home-baked alternative.

I Googled 'low fat chocolate muffin recipe' and came up with many choices. (What did we ever do before Google search??) The one I decided to try is from eHOW: How to make One Point Chocolate Muffins. The 'One Point' is Weight Watchers terminology for low in fat and calories. My version, because I add a few chocolate chips to each muffin, is probably 1-2 points each. They are ridiculously easy to make and low in cost as well!

Elizabeth, great-niece and budding chef, was on hand today to demonstrate the process. The Cast of Characters includes 1 box reduced fat or regular dark chocolate brownie mix, 3 cups All Bran Cereal, 2 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and about 6 ounces (one half of a package) of semi-sweet chocolate chips. That is all!! The recipe makes 14 muffins.

Pour the dry cereal in the mixing bowl...

Add the water and stir to moisten. Let sit for 10 minutes or so until the cereal is completely wet and soft.

Start the mixer on low speed for a minute to mix the cereal with the water.

Add the pouch of brownie mix and continue to mix on low.

Add the baking powder and continue mixing...

Scrape the sides of the bowl to mix in all the dry brownie mix.

When the batter is well mixed, pour into a large measuring cup for ease of handling.

Spray the muffin cups with Pam, and pour the batter in. Each cup should be almost full. These are not high rising muffins, they are moist and dense with a really chocolate-y taste!!

Sneak a taste (chef's prerogative)...

Drop 6-8 chocolate chips into each muffin and place the pans in the oven pre-heated to 350 degrees.

Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes until tops of the muffins are dry and springy to the touch. 

Remove from the oven and run a knife around each muffin to loosen while they are warm. Let cool and place on a pretty plate to serve, or put in a large zip-lock bag to freeze. To warm a frozen muffin, microwave for approximately 30 seconds and enjoy!!