A healthy chocolate muffin recipe? Yes! These chocolate cherry muffins are made with whole wheat pastry flour and non-fat Greek yogurt.
Chocolate, Cherries, and Childhood Memories
When I was little, I had a thing for chocolate-covered cherries. I'm not really sure how it started—no one in my family likes chocolate cherries, so I don't know where I first had them. But man, did I love them. While my brothers would get Sour Patch Kids or Razzles (remember Razzles?!) from the candy store, I'd go to the fancypants chocolate counter and get two or three chocolate cherries.
Now that I'm older, I can't stand those chocolate cherry cordials. They are waaaay too sweet for my tastes. But I still love that combination of chocolate and cherries—just not all the added sugar. Since I'm on a bit of a muffin kick lately, I thought I'd try making chocolate cherry muffins. I've had half a bag of dried cherries sitting in the pantry since October, so it was time to use them up! And I had all of the other ingredients on hand too, so these muffins were just meant to be.
Unfortunately, I'm still learning when it comes to baking, and I burnt them. They weren't so burnt that they were inedible, but they did end up being a little bit dry, especially on the bottom. I've adjusted the time in this recipe so if you make them, I don't think they'll burn for you—I had mine in the oven for 20 minutes. Other than the whole burnt bottom thing, these muffins were tasty. With the chocolate and cherries, they taste decadent, but they're still healthy. Okay, maybe not healthy—healthier. Healthier than a typical muffin and certainly healthier than those sugary chocolate cherry cordials I loved in my younger days.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 6 oz container plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 egg
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or fill with paper liners.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a large bowl, whisking until lumps are gone.
- In a medium bowl, combine sugar, yogurt, canola oil, and egg.
- Add wet mixture to flour mixture and stir until moistened. Fold in cherries and chocolate chips.
- Divide mixture evenly into muffin cups. Bake for 15–17 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Ahhh, you have those awesome ceramic berry containers! Jealous! 🙂
The Mr will love this recipe!
They were a Christmas present and I've just been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them. And when that opportunity didn't come fast enough, I shoved muffins into them. 😉
Yummy! I love muffins 🙂 Thanks for sharing, I'll give this recipe a try.
Susane
I still love those chocolate covered cherries!
They are so sweet, they literally make my teeth hurt! I think this is a sign that I'm getting old.
I never liked those chocolate cherries,but these I would love!
And yes, I remember Razzles!
Yay, someone remembers Razzles! First they're like candy, then they're like gum!
I am not a fan of chocolate and cherries together but I bet my husband would love this. Thanks for sharing.
Well, you can always leave the cocoa out--I've actually done this recipe without the cocoa and it turned out fine!
This looks delicious! I love the combination of chocolate and cherries.
Thank you! It's one of my favorite combinations too--although chocolate goes with most things, doesn't it? 🙂
I am a big fan of tart fruit and chocolate, and these sound delightful! And your picture makes the muffins look wonderfully moist, even if you did burn them a little 🙂
Thank you! Oddly enough, the tops were really moist--just the bottoms got dried out and a little blackened.
Hard to believe that something so good and yummy can be good for you too! Once again you have created an awesome recipe! Thanks and keep it up.
Thank you! Of course, it's probably healthier to just have some fruit and yogurt for breakfast, but as far as muffins go, these are pretty guilt-free. 🙂
I never used to like cherries in my desserts, I would always pick them out! But I just recently started using dried cherries in baking, and I love them - dried cherries and chocolate is an amazing combination!
I like REAL cherries (and maraschino cherries--shh, don't tell), but I hate the canned pie filling type cherries--I pick those out too. Dried cherries are so much better!
All the pictures look so amazing. I have been drooling over your blog today and these muffins look fantastic!
Aw, thank you so much! 🙂
We share the same sweet tooth. I too loved the chocolate covered cherries when I was kid. Today they are just way too sweet. I made chocolate chip cherry cookies a while back. They came out pretty good. I'll bet the muffins were good 🙂
I've made chocolate chip cherry cookies too! So we definitely do share the same sweet tooth. 😉 Now I find I much prefer tart cherries than the sickeningly sweet kind.
healthy chocolate and cherry muffins... I just died and went to heaven...
Made these and they are delicious - and my kids are them! Do you have nutritional info for them?
I'm glad you enjoyed them! I'm sorry, I don't calculate calories for my recipes.