Chocolate Chip Muffins

Experiment #6: Chocolate Chip Muffins

I used the Fudgy Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe from Allrecipes.com as the basis for this experiment.
Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp Kal stevia (use up to 1/2 tsp to taste)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 T ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips (reserve a couple tsp to sprinkle on top)

1. I combined the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and wheat bran in a large mixing bowl
2. In another bowl, I used a hand mixer set on medium to combine the butter, egg, stevia, vanilla, and flax seed. I then mixed in the sour cream
3. I slowly added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and tried to mix well
4. At this point, the batter became extremely dry, so I got 1/2 cup of water and slowly added it until the batter had the consistency of fluffy cake batter
5. I stirred in most of the mini chips by hand
6. Then I poured the batter into pre-greased muffin tins (I did NOT use paper cups) and popped them into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Nutrition Facts: 145 calories per serving (12 servings per batch), Total Fat 8.9g, Saturated Fat: 5.4g, Sodium 96mg, Total Carbs 14.6g, Dietary Fiber 1.8g, Protein 3.1g

The whole batch has about 1,750 calories, so if you make bigger muffins, then redo the math. If I had used sugar, these would have been about 210 calories per serving!

Thoughts: These came out great! The texture was fantastic--they were moist and soft. They did come out a little on the small side; even though the muffin cups were over half full, they did not rise up much over the top of the pan. I also thought they were not incredibly sweet. The chocolate chips added enough sweetness for my taste, but I bet Jeff would like the cake part sweeter. I am going to let these sit and try them again later and see if the flavors all mellow out like in the banana bread before I officially decide to add more stevia next time.

I think the wheat bran is what is making my batter dry (the banana bread batter was also dry). I like having that extra bit of health... makes me feel less guilty for giving them to the kids for breakfast! Luckily, adding the water worked out well so I am not going to try and correct for that.
Changes for next time: Definately add more stevia... like a 1/4 tsp more. Also try adding 1 tsp of baking powder like the banana bread has. I could substitute applesauce for sour cream to reduce the calories and I think I would prefer a tad less cinnamon. Maybe try less wheat bran as well.

Update: These were not as good after cooling off and sitting on top of the fridge. Jeff felt that the wheat bran gave it a texture that was a little off... he said he could taste "flakiness". He also thought they were a little dense. I could make them again as is with a little more stevia, but more likely I will experiment some more and try and get them to be a bit fluffier. The kids still loved the muffins when they had them this afternoon... so if all else fails they make a great healthy-ish snack for the monkeys.