It’s not often that I experiment with muffin recipes. I have a few favorites that I make over and over (and over and over) — like these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and these Double Chocolate Banana Bran Muffins. But when we were on our Carnival cruise this past December (see my full recap here!), I became obsessed with the chocolate muffins at the breakfast buffet every morning. They were so moist and perfectly sweet, and I ate my fair share every day (at breakfast, and sneaking a few down into my room for snacks later in the day…. or night…). It took me a while to decide which other recipe I wanted to try to make for you (this Melting Chocolate Cake was the obvious choice!). I was contemplating a lot of different things, but once I got my mind on those muffins I couldn’t get it off. I had to give it a try. So I tried. And I tried. And I tried. I’ll admit, I was beginning to get a little frustrated. My first batches were okay, but I was trying to find this magical balance between healthy and delicious and I just couldn’t get it quite right. I could either make them a little more delicious and sacrifice the healthy just a touch, or vice versa. In the end, I decided my priority is to bring you the BEST tasting recipes I can, and most of the time they are reasonably healthy. These muffins are also reasonably healthy — I packed them with as much good stuff as I could: unsweetened applesauce for moisture and natural sweetness, canola oil and buttermilk for extra moisture (because Carnival’s muffins were so moist and luscious!), whole wheat flour for protein and fiber and just enough chocolate chips. And I think I did all right, because they are quite large muffins and still only 214 calories each! If you want a smaller muffin, you can likely get away with making 14 for only 184 calories each. They don’t puff up big and tall like some bakery muffins, but I think the texture is so much better! I hope you enjoy them as much as we have (all 3, 478 batches) (okay maybe it was only 3 or 4). Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again. Register Now Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel — I love to see what you’re making!
