There’s a giant box of VitaMuffins in my kitchen.
And it is not my fault.
In fact, I’ve never tried a VitaMuffin in my life. The giant box belongs to my roommate, who would eat deep chocolate vitatops every single day if they weren’t so expensive ($17 for twelve muffin tops?!). She’s always asking me to “please come up with a copycat recipe so I can stop giving Costco all my money.” And therefore, I dedicate the following recipe to her:
Copycat chocolate vitamuffin tops: healthy enough for breakfast.
And decadent enough for dessert.
Muffin Monster.
Spawn of Cookie Monster.
Copycat Chocolate VitaTops
(makes 12)
- 2 tbsp milk of choice (30g)
- 2 tbsp oil, or 2 more tbsp milk of choice (30g)
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract (6g)
- 1 tbsp ground flax (6g) or 1 tsp energ powder (Can omit; they will just be a little denser.)
- 1/2 cup pureed prunes or pumpkin (120g)
- 1/2 cup spelt flour (all-purpose flour works too, and a reader says you can use Bob’s gf mix.) (65g)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder (10g)
- 2 tbsp xylitol or sugar (25g)
- 1 to 2 more tbsp sugar or 1 to 2 nunaturals stevia packets (scant 1/16 tsp uncut) (Add 1 tbsp if using prunes, 2 if using the pumpkin.)
- highly recommended: 1/4 cup chocolate chips or mini chips (mixed into the batter)
- optional: 2-4 chocolate chips per muffin, for decoration
Preheat oven to 350 F, and grease a standard-sized muffin pan. In a mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients and whisk. In a separate bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except the decoration ingredient, and stir well. Now mix wet into dry and stir until just combined. Don’t over-mix. Distribute batter evenly among 12 muffin cups, and—if desired—place two or three chocolate chips on the top of each muffin. Bake 12 minutes, then allow to cool 5-10 minutes before removing from the muffin tins.
Is it just me, or does my chocolate VitaTop look like a Pacman ghost?
Question of the Day:
Have you ever tried a VitaMuffin?
Do you think they’re good enough to be worth the expensive price tag?
Link of the Day:
I bought them all the time until I had to go gluten free. They were pretty good and healthy. I’m not a big sweets eater but once in awhile I would crave something and these hit the spot. Can’t wait to try this recipe as haven’t had one in over a year.
Could you sub dates for the prune or pumpkin puree and omit the stevia?
Made these today for the first time–won’t be the last for sure. They are perfect! Sooo good. My daughter is going to love me big time when she gets home!
Hello from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada! Can I just say that I’m a huge fan and you are my go-to for anything dessert-y..though I sub things out sometimes 😉 I’ve made these twice now (never had a vita-muffin). First time I used all purpose flour and wheat germ..this time (they’re still warm) i used oat flour. Both times I used coconut oil, unsweetened chocolate coconut milk and mashed bananas – y-u-m!! Both batches turned out amazing! Merci!!
Yum! These turned out great! I used pumpkin rather than prunes, subbed white flour and coconut oil for the spelt and oil, and a sugar sub for most of the sugar. Very chocolatey! Totally satisfied my sweet tooth. I used silicone tart cups to make them in and they popped out as perfect muffin “tops”! No need to buy the expensive frozen ones ever.
Holy WOW these are good! Definitely should have made a double batch. I was out of almond milk so I used 2 tbsp water and I did use 2 tbsp oil (coconut). I used whole wheat pastry flour, pumpkin, 4 tbsp total of coconut sugar (no stevia), and I of course added the optional chocolate chips in the batter and on top (Enjoy Life). I used silicone muffin liners and they popped out easily, much more easily than regular muffins. They actually were much more like brownies than muffins. Probably a little more sinful than I’d normally make the kiddos for breakfast but they were great for a special treat and I wouldn’t hesitate to make them for dessert – except I’d make a double or triple batch! Thanks for another winner Katie!! 🙂
I made these the other day and did not add the extra choc chips. I was trying to be good 🙂 They are so delicious that I made another batch and added a few cacao nibs on top. Super tasty and chocolaty. I love anything chocolate. Thanks for posting this recipe. If you have not made these and love chocolate you should take the time to bake them. They do not require a lot of work and most of the ingredients you already have in your pantry. I made my with the extra TBSP of milk instead of oil.
Vitamuffins: Totally worth the cost, though if we had a local bakery I’m sure they would cost less. They are the most delicious, healthy snack ever!!! They are kept in the freezer, so I often microwave a deep chocolate vitatop muffin for 30 sec (piping hot), the add some healthy yogurt and fruit on top for a great breakfast. I am so happy you made a similar recipe!
Hi! I love your recipes,you are so clever and creative! I wanted to ask if this is the lowest muffin/cookie type of recipe you have? I’m one of those people who just have to have something sweet to dunk into my tea and I would love a cookie type recipe of about 20 calories each I could make. Do you think you could help me? Thank you!
Hi! I love your recipes, you’re so clever and creative! I’m one of those people who needs something sweet to dunk into my tea every day and I wanted to ask if this is the lowest calorie muffin/cookie type of recipe you have? I’m looking for something with about 20 calories I could make, do you think you can help me, I’ll really appreciate it! Thanks