45 Calorie Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins.

These 45 calorie mini chocolate chip muffins left me incredibly surprised. A low calorie mini muffin that is also tender, soft, and full of flavor. Plus… lots of chocolate.

Confession. I made these mini chocolate chip muffins back in December without the intention of posting them on my blog. I made them to bring to my friend I was visiting one afternoon (that’s not weird, right?). She didn’t get the chance to taste them until after I left. Once I got home, I received a text RAVING about how good they were.

The kicker? She had no idea they were lightened-up as she praised their tender texture and addictive taste. That’s when you know a lower calorie food is a success.

Another healthy muffin for the win!

I made them again this past weekend so I could shoot and share the recipe on my blog this week. Also because I’m welcoming any sort of healthier recipe right now as I cook and taste my way through a cookbook full of… candy. Just candy. All candy. All over my house. Every day. Life is hard.

Here we go! A mini chocolate chip muffin so low in calories you can eat 6 of them, pair with some yogurt and have a jolly breakfast under 400 calories. I do not count calories for the food I eat and cook, nor do I typically post nutritional info because my blog’s focus is on having fun in the kitchen – not math. But I was extra curious about these muffins and I thought you would be as well, so here is the breakdown for you:

• Flour = 560


• Lightly packed brown sugar = 115


• Pure maple syrup = 200


• Greek yogurt = 130


• Melted butter or coconut oil = 200 (or 230)


• Egg white = 17


• Mini chocolate chips = 550


• Cinnamon = 2.5


• Vanilla = 10

Divided by 36 mini muffins = 47 calories (using butter). Ok so these are really “45-ish” calorie muffins. Unless you’re the calorie police, the 2 extra calories are no biggie. Heck, I’m sure you burned them scrolling down this far or moving your eyeballs today.

These muffins would be nothing without a few of the listed ingredients.

First, don’t leave out that fat. The small amount of butter (or coconut oil) is what makes them taste like their higher calorie counterpart. The fat makes them tender and soft; I tried making these with applesauce instead of butter and they tasted dull and rubbery. I don’t recommend it. Greek yogurt is a fabulous protein-packed, low calorie “moist maker” in the batter. The baked muffins are anything but dry! I like to use plain nonfat. The egg white gives the muffins structure. You could use 1 full egg instead, keeping in mind that the calorie count would be a tad higher.

Cinnamon, maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla flavor the batter. These are all imperative ingredients to the taste of your muffins, so I don’t suggest switching things up. You could certainly use honey instead of maple syrup, but you will lose the stronger flavor of maple syrup. And when it comes to lower calorie foods, flavor is everything.

The chocolate chips! These muffins are a little “blah” without them. The chips are the highest calorie ingredient in this recipe besides the flour (obviously necessary as well). But they, along with the fat, are what make these muffins actually taste good. And when the mini muffins are warm from the oven, the chocolate chips are all melty and scrumptious. You may use regular chocolate chips instead but there won’t be very many chips in each muffin that way. Mini chocolate chips = more bang for your buck!

Enjoy, chocolate lovers.

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

45 Calorie Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 36 mini muffins

Total Time: 35 minutes

These 45 calorie mini chocolate chip muffins left me incredibly surprised. A low calorie mini muffin that is also tender, soft, and full of flavor. Plus... lots of chocolate.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 cups (157g) all-purpose flour¹  (measured correctly)


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/4 cup (60ml) pure maple syrup²


• 1/4 cup (36g) lightly packed light or dark brown sugar


• 1/2 cup (125g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt³


• 2 Tablespoons (29g) melted butter or melted coconut oil, slightly cooled⁴


• 1 Eggland's Best egg white, beaten⁵


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/2 cup (90g) mini chocolate chips⁶

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray two mini muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. This recipe makes around 36 muffins, so you will only use half of the 2nd pan. I do not recommend mini liners for these. Set pan aside.


2. In a large bowl, gently toss the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the maple syrup, brown sugar, yogurt, butter, beaten egg white, and vanilla together until no brown sugar lumps remain and everything is combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula or large wooden spoon until *just* combined - do not overmix. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.


3. Fill muffin cups only about halfway-- these muffins rise! A couple teaspoons of batter per cup is plenty. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If your oven has hot spots, be sure to rotate the pans during bake time. My muffins took 12 minutes. Remove pans from the oven. Allow muffins to slightly cool before enjoying.


4. Make ahead tip: Muffins stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. Muffins can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm to your liking before serving.

Recipe Notes:

So many notes! They're mostly about substitutions because I know you'll have some questions. Substitutions for these muffins have a huge impact on their taste, texture, and calorie count. There are substitutions that I suggest, so please review these notes if looking to change anything.

These can be baked as regular size muffins in a 12-count muffin pan. The bake time will be around 18 minutes at 350F, more or less. Please use a toothpick to check doneness. Feel free to calculate the calorie count for regular size muffins.

1. Whole wheat flour may be used, but the muffins may taste a little dense. How about using white whole wheat flour or half all-purpose and half whole wheat.


2. Maple syrup may be replaced with honey or agave, but I much prefer the taste of maple syrup in these muffins.


3. Nonfat plain Greek yogurt may be substituted for low fat Greek or regular yogurt, vanilla or honey flavored Greek yogurt, or regular nonfat yogurt. I do not recommend sour cream.


4. I do not recommend leaving out the butter or coconut oil. This is what makes these muffins tender and similar to the texture of higher calorie chocolate chip muffins. Do not use applesauce in its place.


5. Without any other changes to the recipe, 1 egg may be substituted for the egg white if you do not want to leave out an egg yolk. Or you can make these cookies!


6. Mini chocolate chips are best. You get many more in each muffin which makes them taste so good. Feel free to increase mini chocolate chips to 2/3 cup (I've done that-- so good!). I do not recommend regular size.

Adapted from Skinny Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Did you make a recipe?

Tag @sallysbakeblog on Instagram and hashtag it #sallysbakingaddiction.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Try my Skinny Chocolate Cherry Muffins next!

Eggland’s Best provided me with eggs to bring you this muffin recipe.

Share this post