Double Chocolate Protein Muffins (vegan + gluten free)
Ultra rich, super chocolatey and packed full of protein these muffins are made in one bowl and with simple ingredients! Vegan, gluten free, and nut free.
If you are a fan of dessert for breakfast, you are gonna love these muffins. These vegan and gluten free double chocolate protein muffins taste so good and no one will know that you snuck in some extra protein in these gems. They make for a great breakfast or snack.
Free from: Dairy, casein, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, nightshades, tomatoes, and more
Optional free from: Wheat/Gluten
In the mood for more protein recipes? Make sure to check out my protein blueberry muffins, protein pancakes, and chocolate protein pancakes!
Why You’ll Love these Chocolate Protein Muffins
- Full of chocolate!
- Super easy to mix up in one bowl
- Ready in less than an hour
- Each muffin has 6 grams of protein
- Dairy free, Egg free, Nut free, Gluten free, and more!
Ingredients
Here is a quick run down of the ingredients for this recipe. Need an allergy substitution? See the section below for all my tips and tricks!
- Flour: All purpose flour works great here. To make this gluten free, use a good quality all purpose gluten free flour. I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure.
- Dairy free Milk: Use your favorite dairy free milk. I recommend either soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk.
- Cocoa Powder: I recommend that you use the natural, unprocessed cocoa powder. It has a higher level of acidity which helps the muffins to rise even higher! For a more dark chocolate (and sweeter) flavor, you can use Dutch processed cocoa powder, they just might not be as tall.
- Protein Powder: Use your favorite protein powder. I recommend using either a chocolate flavor or a vanilla flavor. For these muffins, I used a chocolate pumpkin seed based protein powder.
- Sugar: A bit of sugar to help make it sweet. If you want to use unrefined sugar, I suggest coconut sugar.
- Oil, Applesauce, Vanilla: These help to keep the muffins moist.
- Salt + Baking Powder: To help the muffins rise and taste good.
- Chocolate Chips: Totally optional but I really recommend them! They make them fun. I always use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks for the big chips.
Allergy Substitutions
To make these gluten free, use a good quality 1:1 baking mix. I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure. If you need a gluten free flour that is nightshade free, check out my homemade gluten free flour blend! It works great in recipes like this.
To make these corn free, make sure that you are using corn free vanilla extract and protein powder. My favorite corn free products are on my shop page.
Best Protein Powder
Depending on your unique allergy and food needs, the best protein powder will look different for you as opposed to other people. For a complete breakdown of my favorite protein powders for the different allergies, see my protein powder article here.
For this recipe, I used Mary Ruth’s Chocolate Protein Powder with pumpkin seeds as the main source of protein.
Variations
Want to jazz up these muffins? Check out these ideas!
- Add nuts or seeds. If you are not allergic, walnuts or almonds would taste great here. Add a quarter to half cup of chopped nuts. If you are not allergic to seeds, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds would also be great!
- Add fruit. Adding in some frozen raspberries to make chocolate raspberry muffins is awesome. Add in ⅓ cup of frozen raspberries to the batter. Gently fold in when you add the chocolate chips.
- Use Greek Yogurt in place of applesauce. To add a bit more protein, use your favorite (dairy free) Greek Yogurt in place of the applesauce in an equal amount.
Instructions
For the full instructions, complete with ingredient measurements, please see the recipe card below.
Start by prepping the oven. Preheat it with the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line a muffin tray with parchment paper liners or spray with a neutral flavored oil spray. Set this aside.
In a large bowl, first whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, applesauce, and a pinch of salt. Give it a good whisk until the oil and milk have really blended together.
Now, sift in the dry ingredients. Add the flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, and baking powder. I tend to switch to a spatula at this point just to make it harder to overmix. After the batter has come together, add the chocolate chips. Give it another quick mix and it should be good!
Fill each muffin cup up to just about full. Make sure to use all the batter for the 12 muffins. Sprinkle a few more chips on top before baking.
Bake these muffins for about 22 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin should pull out clean when they are done.
Tip! Don’t open the oven to check on them for the first 20 minutes. This is the critical rise time for the muffins. Opening the door too soon can make the muffins deflate.
When they are done, remove from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes in the hot trays before removing them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Recommended Equipment
After baking muffins for the blog for years, I have found that I get the best results when using a 6-muffin tray as opposed to a 12-muffin tray. The hot air in the oven can easier circulate and you get taller, fluffier muffins as a result. I love these from Wilton in particular.
To get muffins that are easy to remove from the wrapper, I like these unbleached parchment paper cups. They are made from unbleached and unchlorinated paper, making it safe for you and the environment!
How to Store
Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 4 days.
To freeze, place the fully cooked and cooled muffins in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. To enjoy after freezing, let them come to room temperature on the countertop for a few hours before eating. I like to pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to get them all warm again.
More Protein Recipes
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Equipment
- mixing bowls
- mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- whisk
- Spatula
- muffin tray
- Muffin liners
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup flour swap for gluten free as needed
- 1/2 cup sugar can use coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons chocolate protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup dairy free milk soy milk, oat milk, rice milk, almond milk, etc
- 1/2 cup canola oil or other neutral oil of choice
- 3 tablespoons applesauce swap for dairy free Greek yogurt as wanted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/ 190°C. Line a muffin tray with parchment paper cups or spray with a light coating of neutral flavored spray. Set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the dairy free milk, oil, sugar, applesauce, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients. Into the same bowl, sift in the flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, and baking powder. Switch to a spatula and mix until the batter has come together. A few lumps are okay. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, making sure not to overmix. Scoop the prepared batter into the muffin tray. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.
- Bake. Bake in the prepared oven with the rack in the middle of the oven for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center pulls out clean. When done, let them cool on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Add nuts or seeds. If you are not allergic, walnuts or almonds would taste great here. Add a quarter to half cup of chopped nuts. If you are not allergic to seeds, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds would also be great!
- Add fruit. Adding in some frozen raspberries to make chocolate raspberry muffins is awesome. Add in ⅓ cup of frozen raspberries to the batter. Gently fold in when you add the chocolate chips.
- Use Greek Yogurt in place of applesauce. To add a bit more protein, use your favorite (dairy free) Greek Yogurt in place of the applesauce in an equal amount.
- Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 4 days.
- To freeze, place the fully cooked and cooled muffins in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. To enjoy after freezing, let them come to room temperature on the countertop for a few hours before eating. I like to pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to get them all warm again.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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