So what is the surprise in this recipe for chia muffins? Oh, I can’t keep a secret. The surprise is jam. Jam! There’s jam in the middle of these muffins.
Surprise!
I’ve been making these muffins every week or two for the past few months. I love them because they’re not too sweet (the older I get, the less I want super sweet food in the morning) and the jam is baked on the inside, so I don’t even have to get the jar out of the fridge. Convenient!
These muffins are actually one of the first recipes I remember making. (Well, not these muffins, because back in the 80s, chia seeds were for sprouting on little ceramic heads, not for eating.) After finding my Aunt Darlene’s old copy of Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cookbook at my grandparents’ house, I relentlessly begged my Grandma to help me make something from it. Each time I visited, we’d make something different: a pie made with pudding and rainbow marshmallows (remember those?!), roses made from radishes, and Surprise Muffins. And then my Grandma let me keep the book. I’m not sure it was because I loved it so much (and I did) or because she was tired of me wanting to make recipes from it every time I visited.
Because a good 25 years have passed since then, I started doubting my memories as I wrote this post. Were these really from that book? Could they have been from someplace else? Were they even called Surprise Muffins? But with memories like this, it’s not really the specifics that matter, it’s more the impact they have. This cookbook wasn’t just my introduction to cooking and baking; it showed me that cooking can be fun, and all these years later, it still is. (Maybe it had the same impact on my Aunt Darlene—she’s going to be on CBS’s The American Baking Competition this summer!)
Since I’ve added chia seeds to this recipe (and chia seeds absorb moisture), you’ll notice that if you leave these muffins out, they’ll dry out more quickly than regular muffins. To prevent this, you’ll want to toss them in the freezer after they’ve cooled and heat them in the microwave for 25–30 seconds when you’re ready to eat them.
Chia Surprise Muffins

The surprise in these muffins? There’s jam in the middle! Chia seeds, Greek yogurt, and whole wheat flour help make them more filling too.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- zest and juice from 1 orange (about 2 tbsp of juice)
- 6 oz 2% plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup milk (I used the refrigerated coconut milk)
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1/4 cup jam or fruit preserves (any flavor!)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 12 muffin liners in tin.
- Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine juice, zest, yogurt, sugar, oil, milk, and egg in small bowl. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chia seeds.
- Spoon about 1/3 of batter into muffin liners. Place a scant teaspoon of jam in the center of each muffin, then top with remaining batter. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until muffins are golden in color and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
55 Comments
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh
April 4, 2013 at 7:59 amThose look awesome! I’m starving so if you’d like to send a few over… 🙂
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:38 pmYou would love them! Because: CHIA!!!!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
April 4, 2013 at 8:52 amThey look wonderful! And I happen to have chia just burning a hole in my pantry!
Lisa @ Greek Vegetarian
April 4, 2013 at 9:49 amI love surprises! And jam in a muffin is a very sweet one indeed 🙂 Especially hot, oozy jam…
esther
April 4, 2013 at 10:12 amYou sound like my best friend! She can’t keep surprises to herself either. 🙂 She’ll give me a wrapped gift and say “I got you a present! It’s XXXX.”
I’ll have to try your recipe soon!
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:36 pmOh yes, that is me. When I get my husband a birthday present, I’m always hinting to him what it is. And then I just end up telling him. 🙂
Caitlin
April 4, 2013 at 10:25 ami love that you used to make these with your grandmother so long ago and that they’ve made a revival! the chia seeds are a great addition and i love the surprise jam center!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell
April 4, 2013 at 10:45 amI love them! I’d bake a batch and then freeze them. They’d be perfect to pop out one by one!
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:34 pmI always do that with my muffins. Otherwise, I would eat them all in a day or two!
Kristina
April 4, 2013 at 12:01 pmgo Aunt Darlene – that’s awesome!
and Mmm… I love muffins and cupcakes with a surprise. these look perfect.
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:34 pmI know, I am so excited for her! The show premieres at the end of May, so I’m going to be harassing everyone to watch it. 🙂
angela @ another bite please
April 4, 2013 at 12:28 pmi haven’t tried cooking with chia seeds yet…i’ve been wanting too…and I love a surprise 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
April 4, 2013 at 12:41 pmBeautiful muffins, I love the jam surprise!
[email protected]'s Recipes
April 4, 2013 at 1:09 pmWhat a nice surprise! I would love these muffins too.
Shirley
April 4, 2013 at 2:25 pmhaha I remember those commercials! Ch-ch-ch-chia! I never knew they were for eating until a couple years ago. Jam in muffins sounds really good, and I just love Greek yogurt in baked goods. And I love the story with your grandma!
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:31 pmI always ended up killing my chia pets’ hair whenever I got them! So they weren’t so fun. I much prefer eating chia seeds. 🙂
Kristin
April 4, 2013 at 2:39 pmThese look great! Growing up, I had that same Betty Crocker New Boys and Girls cookbook (well an updated ’80s version) and I loved it as well. I made the jam filled muffins once, for my mom one Mother’s Day, and I remember them being called surprise muffins too.
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:30 pmAhhh, I’m so glad you left this comment–THANK YOU for confirming that these muffins were in the book! It was one of those memories where the more I thought about it, the more I started to wonder if I was remembering correctly. 🙂
jessica
April 4, 2013 at 5:38 pmMy daughter would love something like this. She is so into little surprises right now!
Kait
April 4, 2013 at 7:18 pmThese look yummy! I love the middle too — a nice little extra treat 🙂
Natalie
April 4, 2013 at 9:24 pmI love the surprise jam center, they look so good!
Natalie @ Once Upon a Cutting Board
April 4, 2013 at 10:02 pmThese are so cute .. I love the healthful tweaks you made to them and the surprise in the middle! It would be fun to use different types of jam and then it’s really a surprise which one you’ll get!
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:27 pmI love that idea! Next time I need to do that. 🙂
Stephanie @ henry happened
April 4, 2013 at 10:27 pmI love a good baked good in the morning! And I’m with you on the non super sweet stuff now – Caroline likes oatmeal with brown sugar AND honey and I just don’t get it.
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:27 pmI guess oatmeal with brown sugar and honey is still better than Frosted Flakes or Lucky Charms, right? 🙂
Sonja / A Couple Cooks
April 4, 2013 at 10:44 pmI’ve never had jam-filled muffins, but these sound so intriguing. I love the idea of chia seeds and Greek yogurt too. Thanks for the idea! And love your site! 🙂
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com
April 5, 2013 at 2:00 amThese looks so good! What a wonderful secret! I usually don’t eat sweet things for breakfast, but I would eat something sweet TOGETHER with something savory, and I do love some jam in the morning!
Anne - Mommy Has to Work
April 5, 2013 at 10:01 amThese look so tasty!
Sarah @ Play 2 Learn with Sarah
April 5, 2013 at 10:14 amThat look awesome! My kids love muffins so I bet these will be a hit! Thanks!
Rachel
April 5, 2013 at 10:26 amWow, those look so good. I love how the jam is so neatly tucked inside there.
mjskit
April 5, 2013 at 12:23 pmAnything that uses jam gets my attention! I love jam in and on just about anything! So if you’ve been making these every week or two, then they must be good. You’re right that they don’t seem to be extra sweet with only 1/2 cup sugar, but then with the jam – why use more. Gorgeous little muffins!
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:22 pmYes, they are very good–I can’t stop making them! 😀 I find a food I like and I stick to it!
Jackie @ Domestic Fits
April 5, 2013 at 12:49 pmThose look awesome! I need to start baking with Chia seeds, I love the moisture tip!
Genevieve
April 5, 2013 at 3:26 pmJam is a good surprise indeed! I tried making peanut butter muffins with a jam filling once but they were a bit of a disaster – the jam kind of exploded everywhere had an unpleasant texture in the baked muffin. Yours look so perfect the way the jam stayed in the center! I probably tried to add too much jam – sometimes more is not better! Did you use white chia seeds in your muffins? I was wondering why I couldn’t see them…the black ones would probably add a pretty effect too!
Kiersten
April 7, 2013 at 8:19 pmYes, that happened to me the first time I made these! The tops cracked and the jam oozed out. The next time I made them, I put only a small amount of batter in the muffin tin, then the jam, then the rest of the batter. By putting most of the batter on top of the jam, it keeps it from exploding out of the top. And yes, I used white chia seeds. 🙂