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:
How insane! I actually just bought my first box yesterday, after contemplating buying a box every time I went to the grocery store for the past year. I am a banana freak, so I got the banana chocolate chip and they are the bomb dot com. So….fudge muffins for just starting a really expensive healthy habit. Grr.
Hi!
I’ve got a question! I’m French and I actually don’t know the difference between baking soda and baking powder. Is the first one like “bicabonate”?
Thanks! And it looks amazing 🙂
Rose
Baking soda and bicarbonate of soda are the same thing. Baking powder is bicarbonate of soda mixed with cream of tartar (google “baking powder recipe”).
I’ve never had vitamuffins but these look delicious!
Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe Katie!! I made these last night and they were delicious. I followed the recipe exactly but opted not to use the oil. Now that I have leftover pumpkin in the fridge I guess I’ll have to make another batch ASAP! Thanks 🙂 Leslie
Leslie,
That’s exactly why they make those cans of pumpkin so big! Or in my case, I’ll make a double batch and turn my coworkers on to another vegan treat. (One is vegan, and I keep using Katie’s recipes so he isn’t left out when I cook)
These were UHMAZING! 🙂 🙂
The photos alone convinced me that I had to make them as soon as I saw them, and they didn’t disappoint. They’re like a mix between a brownie and a chocolate muffin, and the texture is perfect, not gummy at all. LOVE!
To answer your question of the day, I tried VitaMuffins before and thought they were just ok, but kinda cardboardy. Yours are much better, so don’t worry, you’re not missing out!
These look just fantastic! I’ve never had a vitatop, but now that you’ve armed me with this recipe, I’ll never need too. Hooray!
These look absolutely amazing. I love the addition of prune puree for extra moisture and sweetness. I forgot about that little trick.
I have had vitatops and I LOVE them!!!!! They are so delicious. Now I can make them at home 🙂
OMG! Happy Ashley.
I spend a fortune on VitaTops, and I really am not supposed to be eating them. They are very bad for those who are sensitive to wheat. I would eat them all the time if they didn’t make me sick.
Thank you! I love, love that you’ve figured this out. I’m so going to try them!
Hey Katie, I have to say, I just recently found your site and I ust love to see your smiling face each time I get a new post notification in my email.
I have a request – is there anyway you could give us the sugar info in your recipes? I am on the Belly Fat Diet and I need to know how many grams of sugar are in things.
Thanks a bunch!
Sherry Lynn
There are numerous nutrition calculators on the internet that you can use for this. I personally use Spark’s Recipe Calculator. A quick google search and you’ve got it. Just plug in the ingredients and amounts and voila, you now know how many grams of sugar is in what you baked. Even better than asking Katie because you make your own substitutions and still know the nutritional information.
Good luck. Google is your friend.
Kris beat me to it, but another good one is MyFitnessPal… you can use their website or they have apps for both Android and Apple phones. The reason Katie doesn’t include that info is that the type of sweetener is almost always optional in her recipes (honey, syrup, stevia, xylitol, white sugar, banana, etc), so it’s really best to calculate for yourself based on which ingredients you end up using. Hope that helps!
Aw thanks, Sherry.
I don’t usually give sugar info because it can vary so greatly depending on what sugar you use or how much. (Many of the recipes say “sweetener to taste.”) Plus, different milks have differing amounts of sugar (unless you use unsweetened), and fruits contain natural sugars… so it’s hard to give a specific amount for the recipes.
I think Vitatops are tasty but I can never justify spending that much money on the top of a muffin! I have bought them once but only because they were on sale! I will definitely be trying this recipe – thanks!