Chocolate Protein Mini Muffins

Chocolate protein mini muffins are a simple gluten-free treat to make for your family. These muffins are made with oat flour, cacao powder, and protein powder as the base. You can sweeten these with a natural sweetener like coconut sugar, maple syrup or honey. Or choose a sugar-free sweetener for anyone who is on a sugar-free diet.

Chocolate Protein Mini Muffins

My daughter and I made these together for her school lunches.

This recipe makes 24 mini muffins. They are the PERFECT treat size to pack for a lunch.

You can use natural sweeteners or make them sugar-free - I've included ingredient suggestions for each below.

These are chocolatey, gluten-free, use natural sweeteners and healthier ingredients. They take only 30 minutes to make and will result in a month's worth of treats that you can feel good feeding your family.

Chocolate Protein Mini Muffin Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these muffins:

• Oat Flour - You'll need 1 cup of oat flour. You can make your own using old-fashioned rolled oats and a blender. See full instructions here.
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - I prefer to use cacao powder in my baking. Cacao powder is a healthier version of cocoa powder. It's a good source of protein, magnesium, iron, potassium and fiber. You can usually find it in the "health foods" section of your grocery store. Or you can purchase it online. You can also use regular cocoa powder for this recipe - look for an unsweetened version.
• Protein Powder - Not all protein powders are created equal! Some might cause bloating or digestion problems - so you might have to try a few before you find one that works for your body. I really love the Iron Vegan Sprouted Protein Powder. I also use this protein powder in my smoothies.
• Sweetener - You can use coconut sugar (it doesn't taste anything like coconuts and is my personal favorite for baking), maple syrup, or honey. For diabetics, you can use lakanto monkfruit sweetener, erythritol, xylitol, stevia etc.
• Bananas - You'll need two bananas that are ripe with lots of brown spots. These are perfect for baking as they're easy to mash and very sweet.
• Milk - You can use any kind of milk you like - regular dairy, or non-dairy like oat milk, coconut milk, almond milk etc.
• Chocolate Chips - I prefer to use 70% dark chocolate chips as there's less sugar added. You can also use sugar-free dark chocolate chips that are sweetened with stevia.
• Other Bits - you'll also need baking powder, baking soda, salt, an egg, and vanilla extract.

How To Make Chocolate Protein Mini Muffins

These mini chocolate muffins come together in a few simple steps:

1. Mix Dry Ingredients - In a large bowl, mix together the oat flour, cacao powder, protein powder, sweetener, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. Blend The Banana - Add the ripe bananas and milk to a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. You can also mash the banana with a fork in a bowl instead.
3. Mix Wet Ingredients - Add the banana and milk mixture along with one egg, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl. Whisk together.
4. Combine - Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together. Mix until it forms a batter, then fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Add To Mini Muffin Cups - Use a spoon or cookie scoop to fill up the mini muffin pan. These muffins are baked at 350°F for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Storage - These muffins store great in the freezer! Just pop them into a large ziploc freezer bag and seal tightly. You can grab one and add them to school lunches (while they're still frozen) or pop one in the microwave for 20 seconds for a quick snack. These will also keep well on the counter or in fridge in an air-tight container for up to one week.

For detailed instructions and the full recipe card that you can print out, just scroll to the bottom of this post.

Chef's Tips

Here are a few suggestions about these muffins:

• Use avocado oil spray - I love to use avocado oil spray on my baking pans before I add the batter. Avocado oil is a healthy fat and this spray makes life so much easier.
• Try chocolate chips made with stevia - If you have a diabetic in the family you can use chocolate chips sweetened with stevia. These are good for the whole family to eat too!
• Make your own oat flour - I never buy oat flour because it's much cheaper to make it yourself. I buy a big bag of sprouted old fashioned rolled oats and use my blender to create oat flour. The process is very easy - see full instructions here.
• Freeze these for easy grab-and-go snacks - You can add all of them to a large freezer bag and grab one when you've got a sweet craving.
• These are great for kids - I made these for my daughter's school lunches. They're the perfect size for little hands! I love that they are a source of protein too. It's fun to sneak healthy things into treats.
• Choose an unflavored protein powder - Skip the added sweetener from flavored protein powders and choose an unsweetened version instead.

More Healthy Baking Recipes To Try

I've got loads of other healthy baking recipes for you to try! Here are a few:

• Coconut Flour Banana Muffins - a healthy muffin that's gluten-free, paleo, whole30, sugar-free and nut-free.
• Chocolate Avocado Cookies - These gluten free cookies are totally addicting and kids love 'em!
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - These remind me of the cookies my mom used to make but with a healthier twist.
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Baked Donuts with Sprinkles - made with oat flour, this is the #1 recipe that my husband still talks about!
• Flourless Banana Chocolate Muffins - you'll be surprised at how incredible these are!

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