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.
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 blogโs focus is on having fun in the kitchenโnot 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.
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! I recommend and use mini chocolate chips in these peanut butter banana muffins and light chocolate chip cheesecake bars, too.
More Muffins
- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
- Applesauce Muffins
- Bran Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
45 Calorie Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 36 mini muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
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.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (60ml) pure maple syrup*
- 1/4 cup (50g) lightly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (125g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt*
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) butter or coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled*
- 1 egg white, beaten*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (90g) mini chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). 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.
- 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 silicone spatula or large wooden spoon until *just* combinedโdo not overmix. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Fill muffin cups only about halfwayโthese 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.
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.
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: 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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Mini Muffin Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Regular Size Muffins: These can be baked as regular size muffins in a 12-count muffin pan. The bake time will be around 18 minutes at 350ยฐF (177ยฐC), more or less. Please use a toothpick to check doneness. Feel free to calculate theย calorie count forย regular size muffins.
- Flour: 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.
- Sweetener: Maple syrup may be replaced with honey or agave, but I much prefer the taste of maple syrup in these muffins.
- Yogurt: 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.
- Oil & Butter: 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.
- Eggs: 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 chewy chocolate chip cookies.
- Chocolate Chips: 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 thatโso good!). I do not recommend regular size.
Reader Comments and Reviews
In an effort to have a lower cal bite, I made these. Used coconut oil, sugar free chocolate chips, egg substitute to lower it a tad more. It made 38 minis, which I froze to use when the sweet urge hits. They were very good, rose well, and weโre happy with it!
These are delicious! They really scratch the itch when Iโm trying to be healthy.
These are good, and I will make them again. I made regular size muffins and used 5% fat plain Greek yogurt. The batter is really thick – almost like cookie dough. They’re not a fluffy muffin – more dense and chewy, but the flavor is great and knowing they’re healthier is great.
Big Sally fan here. These were terrible. They were more of a dough and the flavor was just awful.experienced baker. Made zero substitutions Kids hated them too.
Really good! I used Lakanto sugar-free maple syrup and used half whole wheat flour. Only had regular sized chocolate chips but didn’t have any problems – to prevent them from sinking to the bottom I lightly pressed them into the tops.
Your recipes are my go-to choices and I love them all. These mini muffins I found quite sweet. Just wondered if itโs ok to cut back a bit on either the sugar or the syrup? Also I see thereโs no salt in this recipe, which is highly unusual!
Hi Cathy! Reducing the sweeteners would change the texture, we don’t recommend it. A pinch of salt wouldn’t hurt here!
Did you set the oven for 400 for 5 minutes then reduce to 350 to get the dome effect for these mini muffins?
Hi Pam, no, you bake these at 350 degrees throughout. They still get a nice domed top, even without the initial burst of high heat!
I see you suggest not leaving out any of the seasonings. I do not like cinnamon. Would these still taste good without it?
Hi Jill, you can omit the cinnamon, but you’ll lose some flavor.
Could ai use Swerve Brown Sugar Sweetener and Sugar free Maple Syrup?
Hi Candy, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your response! While I am interested in saving calories, I certainly donโt want to give up taste and texture. Iโll have to give this some thought!
I love the taste of these but not too fond of the texture. They are more chewy than regular muffins. I did substitute honey for the maple syrup and included the egg yolk. Not sure if that contributed to the chewiness or if itโs supposed to be chewy. Thanks for the recipe!
I made it for what would have been 33 cal/muffin AND were low carb with these substitutions. Ended up baking in two mini loaf pans for 400 cal per loaf. Were great!
3/4 c almond flour, 1/4 c coconut flour
1Tb brown sugar, 1/4 c Splenda
2 egg whites
1 tsp vinegar to make lighter
Blueberries instead of choc chips
Tried these today and loved them. I did not have maple syrup so I used sorghum instead. The only other thing is my coconut oil clumped up. Definitely will be making again.
Hi Sally! I am going to use regular size muffin tray as I do not have the mini muffin one. I will follow cooking instructions as per note 2, but I was wondering if I still need to fill the tray only halfway, or a bit more.
Plus, how many should I obtain? Around 12?
And can I use regular chocolate chips?
Thanks a lot!
Chiara
Hi Chiara, I’m unsure of the exact yield but it should be around 12. You can still fill them halfway and regular chocolate chips are just fine. Enjoy!
Tried these out, I like to bake sometimes when I do it straight from scratch I’m a bit skeptical and insecure about how they will turn out. These were incredible!! Super yummy everyone loved them. I for sure will be making these again! Love how they are healthier and lower in calories!
Hi,
The muffins were a big hit in our house. They taste good, and are the right size for a sweet treat. The cinnamon flavour comes through beautifully. I was wondering if the muffins could be made with spelt flour instead of AP.
Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Vaishali! I haven’t tested these with spelt flour but you can certainly try it. The muffins might be a bit more dense. You can also try using half spelt and half all purpose.
These look scrumptious! Do you think I could use almond flour instead?
Hi Lily! I don’t recommend it. Stick to the recipe.
I made these for breakfast this morning and they were a hit with my kids! Score!!! I did half the batter with chocolate chips and the other half with blueberries (I used regular sized muffin pans). I love both. I did half white/half whole wheat flour and used a whole egg. Thanks for the recipe, I will be making these again for school lunches!
Sally–is the measurement amount the same when using mini chocolate chips OR regular size chocolate chips? Your Jumbo Choc Chip recipe calls for regular size, but I have “minis” and wonder if I would use the same amt. Thank you!ย
For those, I’d use the same amount or 1/4 cup less if you don’t want that much chocolate. But more chocolate is always nice. ๐
All of your recipes have always turned out wonderfully for me, except something with this one went wrong. I followed the recipe to a T (used honey), and when I incorporated the liquid into the dry ingredients, it became dough! It was not batter whatsoever… I double checked my measurements and everything was correct. They’re in the oven now, but I feel like baking them may be a waste ๐
These are absolutely amazing. I make them all the time in regular sized muffin molds and everyone raves about them. At only 148 calories each (with the ingredients I’m using, according to MyFitnessPal), they are a delicious, guilt-free treat! Thanks for your incredible recipes, Sally!!!ย
Hey Sally! I love your blog, and I have made these muffins so many times, they’re delicious! So my friend wanted me to make muffins, but she wanted me to add raspberries. I know you have a recipe for chocolate chip raspberry muffins, but I love this recipe, AND it’s healthier, so I was just wondering if i could add other things to the muffins without messing up the perfection? Thanks!
You can add raspberries to these– no problem. Might be best to make them regular size since raspberries are sometimes large and these are quite small.
Oh my heavens!! These are SO DELICIOUS!! Just made them for my kiddos and their friends and they LOVED them! Thanks for having the best recipes!!
Made these this morning as a treat for my fiance and coworkers. OMG YUM!!!! Light and airy, with plenty of chocolate… I subbed some cake flour for the all purpose flour to make them even more tender, and it worked! Also got the chance to try out the coconut oil I bought at Trader Joe’s. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe! This one is definitely a keeper!!
Hi, would you be able to use blueberries instead of chocolate? Or would you recommend another recipe for a healthier blueberry muffin.
Blueberries would be OK.
I made these muffins this week and they were a HUGE success. Everyone in my house is watching their waistlines and these were the perfect treat!
These are delicious! I made them right before I went to work and by the time I got home that night, my boyfriend had eaten ALL BUT ONE! He saved the last one for me haha. They are excellent and I will definitely be making these again soon!
Omg these are so cute!
I made them this afternoon and they are so tiny and adorable ๐ I used half mini chocolate chips (because i only have one bag left & can’t get them here in germany) and chopped some regular choco & butterscotch chips ๐
They turned out really delicious! I made some of your yogurt PB frosting (Which turned out a little thin because my greek yogurt wasn’t firm enough but is super tasty) and it was a perfect addition to the muffins – cupcakes are always even yummier than plain muffins ;D
These are great. I made them tonight and accidentally left out the butter. They still turned out and taste great!
Another great recipe! I love that you used two different sweeteners and two different fats.