Healthy Raspberry Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

 
The summer before my senior year of high school, my dad and I planned a big baseball trip for early August. I arranged our travel schedule to see five stadiums in seven days: we started with the Chicago Cubs, drove to Milwaukee the next afternoon to catch a Brewers game, headed back to Chicago for the White Sox, went east to Detroit for a Tigers game, and finished in Cleveland with the Indians.  

Despite that many baseball games, we still squeezed in lots of other activities during our trip. We walked around the Field Museum and took a boat tour on the river in Chicago, stopped by the Henry Ford Museum en route to Detroit, and wandered around the Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland for a few hours, too.
 

 
To maximize our “tourist time,” we planned on eating quick breakfasts in our hotel room instead of dining at a restaurant each morning. As soon as we checked into our hotel in Chicago the first evening and dropped off our bags in our room, we walked to a grocery store a few blocks away to grab something for the following morning.

While Dad opted for croissants, I found a package of low-fat, healthier muffins in the bakery section. When I bit into one the following morning, it tasted fairly bland and a bit cardboard-ish, but the bright pops of flavor from the raspberries really helped!

And since I knew what kinds of food we’d eat at the ballparks in the afternoons and evenings, I really wanted something on the healthy side for breakfast!
 

 
Yet these homemade Healthy Raspberry Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins taste so much better than those grocery store ones I ate on our baseball trip way back then. They’re supremely tender, nicely sweetened, have zero cardboard-ish flavor…

And they’re even healthier! These raspberry chocolate chip mini muffins contain no refined flour or sugar, and they even have a bit of a protein boost too!
 

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP MINI MUFFINS

Let’s go over how to make these healthy raspberry chocolate chip mini muffins!

You’ll start with white whole wheat flour (like this!). White whole wheat flour isn’t actually a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour… It’s made by finely grinding a special type of white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They both have the same health benefits, but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture… Which lets the tender texture of these healthy raspberry muffins truly shine!

With a mere ½ tablespoon of butter, unlike traditional recipes with ½ cup (or more!) of butter or oil, the majority of these healthy muffins’ tender texture comes from Greek yogurt. If you’ve been around my blog before, you know how much I love using Greek yogurt in healthy baking recipes! It adds the same moisture to your batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories, and it gives your raspberry chocolate chip mini muffins a protein boost too!
 

 
Instead of granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy raspberry muffins with another one of my favorite ingredients: liquid stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!), and it’s highly concentrated. You just need 2 teaspoons to sweeten this entire batch of muffins!

Tip: Many stevia brands and products have a different sweetness level, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best results, I highly recommend using the same liquid stevia that I do!

This is the kind I use because I love its sweet flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too!)
 

 
Of course, the two best parts are the fresh raspberries and mini chocolate chips! These are the mini chocolate chips I use because I love their rich flavor and they turn a little melty in the oven. (Not all brands do!) To make sure your muffins bake evenly, cut the raspberries to be about the same size as the mini chocolate chips. I know it takes a little extra effort, but I promise it’s worth it!

Nerd Alert!
Have you ever noticed that some of your homemade raspberry muffins ended up with a blue-ish colored batter? That happened to me the first time I baked these healthy raspberry chocolate chip mini muffins, so I set out to find out why. I didn’t want my muffins looking like Smurfs!

Although some people state the aluminum in baking powder causes that color change, I tried baking a batch with solely baking soda… And the muffins (and my mood!) still turned blue.
 

 
It turns out that the biggest factor in blue-stained raspberry muffin batter is… The pH of the batter. Learning that made my ex-chemist side so happy — the pH (or how acidic vs basic the batter is) is actually really easy to fix!

When the batter is too basic and has a really high pH level, a naturally occurring part of the raspberries called anthocyanin (a natural color pigment!) reacts with the base (baking soda!) to create that blue color change.
 

 
To make sure there isn’t any extra baking soda that could react with the raspberries, all we need to do is mix acid into the batter before the raspberries. That’s easy — just add vinegar! So while it may feel a little strange to add 3 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar to the batter, it’s an acid and fully reacts with the baking soda… Leaving your muffins a beautiful golden color (not Smurf blue!) and perfectly sweet.

Hint: That’s right! Distilled white vinegar is the secret ingredient. Because all of it reacts by the time they come out of the oven, you can’t taste the vinegar at all in your fully baked muffins — I promise!

One last tip! Before baking your healthy raspberry chocolate chip mini muffins, you must coat the muffin liners with cooking spray. Low-fat batters (like this one!) stick to liners like superglue, so misting those liners ahead of time allows them to peel away much more easily from your muffins.
 

 
How cute and tempting do these look?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy raspberry chocolate chip mini muffins!

Healthy Raspberry Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

© Amy's Healthy Baking

Yields: 36 mini muffins

These are the best raspberry mini muffins I’ve ever had! They’re supremely tender, deliciously sweet, and full of juicy berries. As a chocoholic, I especially love the chocolate chips, too! These muffins will keep for at least 4 days (if not closer to a week!) if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

5 from 10 votes

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Ingredients 

• 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 large egg whites (room temperature)
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp liquid stevia (or adjusted to taste)
• ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp (45mL) distilled white vinegar (see Notes!)
• ¾ cup (180mL) nonfat milk
• 1 cup (140g) fresh raspberries, finely diced (see Notes!)
• ¼ cup (56g) miniature chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 36 mini muffin cups with paper liners, and lightly coat them with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, almond extract, and liquid stevia. Add in the Greek yogurt, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in the vinegar. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.) Fold in the diced raspberries and 3 tablespoons of miniature chocolate chips.
• Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 11-14 minutes or until the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It's really important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much will make your muffins turn out dry.

 

IMPORTANT MIXING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Do not use a stand mixer or hand-held mixer! They tend to overmix this batter, which yields muffins that are tough, gummy, rubbery, or dense. Use a whisk where explicitly instructed, and use a fork for everything else.

 

FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.

 

ALMOND EXTRACT ALTERNATIVE: If you’re not a fan of almond extract or don't have any, substitute vanilla extract.

 

LIQUID STEVIA NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too. Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they're not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best results, I recommend using the same one I do. I buy it online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found.

 

If you prefer not to use the liquid stevia, then substitute ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (150mL) of pure maple syrup, honey or agave AND reduce the milk to 2 tablespoons (30mL).

 

VINEGAR NOTES + ALTERNATIVE: Do not omit the vinegar! You can’t taste it in the finished muffins — I promise! The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to do three things: (a) make the muffins rise, (b) give them a more tender texture, and (c) prevent the raspberries from staining the batter blue. See the "Nerd Alert" in my blog post above for more information!

 

If you don't have distilled white vinegar, then substitute freshly squeezed lemon juice. (It has a similar pH, so your muffins should have the same texture!) I haven't tried using other vinegars, so I'm not sure how they'll turn out.

 

MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.

 

FRESH RASPBERRIES NOTES + ALTERNATIVE: When dicing the raspberries, cut them to be no larger than the size of chocolate chips. Larger pieces prevent the muffins from baking evenly, and the muffins will collapse and turn dense while cooling.

 

Frozen and thawed raspberries may be substituted for the fresh, but they tend to discolor the batter.

 

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour, use as follows: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (I like this one from Bob's Red Mill) will also work, if measured like this.

 

HOW TO STORE: Store the fully cooled muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep for at least 4 days, if not longer.

 

FREEZING TIPS: If you used paper liners, peel them off before freezing. (It’s harder to peel them off after thawing or reheating the muffins!) I like to thaw individual muffins in the microwave on 50% power until they’re warmed all the way through. They almost taste freshly baked like that!

 

HOW TO MAKE STANDARD SIZE MUFFINS: This recipe will also make 12 standard-sized muffins, if you prefer. Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.

 

{gluten-free, clean eating, low calorie, low fat, low sugar}

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.

View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
 
 
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♡  Healthy Raspberry Chocolate Chip Pound Cake