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 think vita muffins are good and all but not good for the price. I think it’s muh more worthwhile to make them yourself. I just made this recipe and it turned out great! Though I’m a chocoholic and a teenager during finals week, so I melted a handful of dark chocolate chips and mixed it in as well for a little extra chocolate kick! 😉
The chocolate vita-tops were always my favorite, but also cost prohibitive. Thank you so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!! 🙂
I can’t wait to make these! I love vita tops but they are so expensive. I would also love a copycat recipe for the Cranbran vitatop do you think you could come up with one?
I can look into it! 🙂
Hi, Katie! I am so going to make these on the weekend! They will make a perfect snack or breakfast for school….i am always in the mood for something chocolatey. Also, I have a question for you or anyone else who can help me out. What cocoa powder brand do you recommend for chocolate recipes? I have used a couple that have left a strange aftertaste, but then again it may just be my tastebuds that make it feel that way!
I haven’t tried a lot of brands, but Hershey’s Special Dark is really good, especially for brownie recipies. I think Katie has said it’s the alkali that makes the dark cocoa taste more authentic, so if you’ve been using regular cocoa, give it a try!
I used to buy Hershey’s, but in an effort to buy only fair-trade I now buy Dagoba even though it’s more expensive. Or for Dutch cocoa I use Wonderslim. (I think that’s the name, anyway.)
I love your posts, and have tried many of your recipes. They’re great and your personality really shines through on your posts. You’re one creative gal. Keep up the good work! I definitely appreciate it, and I’m sure many, MANY others do as well. 🙂
Can you substitute almond or coconut flour to make them grain free? These look better than the Vitatops…they tasted dry to me!:)
Sorry, I haven’t tried.
I don’t have the prunes or pumpkin or even sweet potato so I’m going to try with bananas tonite since I just bought a TON from Giant for super cheap =)
Just a heads-up that you might want to cut back the sugar a little if subbing banana… when I did that for the pumpkin brownie recipe they came out kinda sticky (almost candied?) from the extra sugar in the banana. They were delicious, though! 🙂
This is so exciting! I’ve always wanted to try Vita Tops!! Thank you 🙂
What a good girl you are! I’ve never bought a vitatops, but have so wanted to, and was only tempted when they were on sale. I bet your roommate will love you forever…I will too. Thanks so much for coming up with this one. I will be making them this weekend.
This is a fantastic recipe!!! Super stoked to try it!
I work for Weight Watchers as a meeting leader, and I love how you include the Points Plus values in your nutrition facts. When you’re saying how many Points Plus the serving is, you should call it “Weight Watchers Points Plus Value.” Points Plus is not a “new system” as we’ve had it since 2010. I love that you are supporting our members by providing the P+ stats, but calling it just “Points” is confusing to people who have done multiple versions of Program.
Just wanted to give you a heads up on that. 🙂 Keep banging out these awesome recipes!
Thanks. Will change for the future!