Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins! SUPER healthy -- no flour, butter, or oil, and low sugar in these delicious treats! chelseasmessyapron.com

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins are made with better-for-you ingredients!

Chocolate peanut butter muffins, cut in half and stacked, revealing their soft interior with gooey chocolate chips.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins

These muffins are amazing! They call for healthier ingredients and require very little sugar, compared with most muffins (like these Chocolate Muffins!). Plus, there is no wheat flour used. If you’re gluten intolerant, you’ll appreciate the absence of wheat flour!

One of my favorite things about these muffins is that there are no strange ingredients that you probably wouldn’t have on hand or know exactly where they are in your grocery store. Often, healthy muffin recipes call for specialty flours, oil, or sweeteners, and my goal is to use easily accessible mainstream ingredients. And — of course — at no sacrifice to flavor!

Making oat flour by placing oats in the blender and processing them until they are pulverized into flour.

I mentioned that Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins are flourless; instead of using white flour, or even whole wheat flour, we use oats. The oats are blended into a powdery oat flour. No need to buy this from the store, since it literally takes seconds to make at home.

How to make oat “flour”

  1. Place old-fashioned or quick oats in a food processor or small blender jar.
  2. Pulse the oats until they are ground into a powder-like consistency that resembles flour (see photo above on the right).
  3. Stir the oats around to be sure that all the oats have been finely ground.
  4. Measure the oat flour for these muffins after it’s been turned to flour and not in the original whole oat form. Two tablespoons isn’t a lot, but contributes to the overall stability and flavor of these muffins.

Combining the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, then pouring the batter into prepared muffin tins, baking, and preparing to enjoy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffin ingredients

  • Cocoa powder: Use natural cocoa powder, not a Dutch-process cocoa powder. I’ve tested these muffins with Dutch-process cocoa powder, and it does not work in these muffins!
  • Oat flour. More on this in the section above.
  • Baking soda, baking powder, salt. These baking agents help ensure a nice crumb and rise. Here’s how to make sure your baking soda and powder are fresh.
  • Creamy peanut butter. Make sure to use creamy, not chunky, peanut butter in these muffins. If using natural peanut butter, be sure it is well mixed and incorporated (not separated or overly oily) before adding.
  • Unsweetened applesauce. If using sweetened applesauce, you’ll want to reduce the amount of brown sugar.
  • Vanilla Greek yogurt. Our favorite yogurt to use in these muffins is Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt (made by Greek Gods® — not sponsored). Whatever yogurt you choose to use, make sure you like it plain or you likely won’t love it in these muffins.
  • Vanilla extract. Vanilla adds a nice flavor to the muffins. It’s not entirely necessary, so don’t worry if you don’t have any to add.
  • Brown sugar. This recipe only uses 2 tablespoons, but if you aren’t used to healthier baked goods, you may want to increase the brown sugar to 4 tablespoons.
  • Honey. This natural sweetener adds additional sweetness. The reason we use part honey and part brown sugar is because too much honey makes these muffins too moist.
  • Egg. These muffins need one large egg; I have not personally tested using egg alternatives.
  • Dark chocolate chips: To keep these Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins more on the nutritious side, we’re using dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has essential fats your body needs and is a powerful source of antioxidants. (Source.)

Quick Tip

If you are eating a gluten-free diet, these muffins are a great addition! While no gluten is added to this recipe, be careful to read the labels on the baking products you buy. Some contain gluten where you wouldn’t expect it, and others are made in a facility with gluten and may be exposed to cross-contamination with gluten products.

Halved peanut butter chocolate chip muffins with melted chocolate chips on the inside, showcasing their deliciousness.

Tips

  • Generously grease the muffin tin. I don’t recommend muffin liners in this recipe; the batter sticks to the liners. Make sure to really grease the cavities well. Of course, a good muffin tin also makes a world of difference. These tins are my absolute favorite, and I’ve never had a problem with these muffins not releasing nicely.
  • Add a few dark chocolate chips on top. I like to add three or four extra chocolate chips on top of each muffin before putting them into the oven. Not only does this make the tops look nicer, it also ensures there is a chocolate chip in every bite!

More healthy baked goods

4.87 from 60 votes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins

Made with nutritious ingredients, these flourless Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins are incredibly indulgent!
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8 muffins

Equipment

  • Muffin pan

Ingredients 
 

  • Cooking spray
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons oat flour see note 1
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar lightly packed
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce see note 2
  • 1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 large egg
  • 5 tablespoons dark chocolate chips

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350โ„‰. Generously spray 8 of the muffin pan cavities with cooking spray, but don't use muffin liners!
  • In a large bowl, stir together the cocoa powder, oat flour (see note 1), baking soda, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the peanut butter, applesauce, Greek yogurt, vanilla, honey, and egg. Mix until completely combined.
  • Add dry ingredients on top of wet and chocolate chips on top of that. Stir until just combined. Transfer the batter into the prepared muffin tin. If desired, top each muffin with a few more chocolate chips.
  • Bake for 18โ€“22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and let cool in the muffin tin for 2โ€“4 minutes and then gently coax out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: To make your own oat flour, place old-fashioned or quick oats in a food processor or small blender jar. Pulse the oats until they are ground into a powder-like consistency that resembles flour.
Note 2: If desired, you can use just applesauce or just Greek yogurt instead of a combination of both, but make sure to still use 1/2 cup measurement of whichever you choose to use.
Storage: Store peanut butter muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or refrigerate for up to a week.
For longer storage, wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temp or microwave briefly to warm.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 241mg | Potassium: 295mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 33IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Meet Chelsea


Hello, and welcome to Chelseaโ€™s Messy Apron! Iโ€™m Chelsea, the recipe developer, food photographer, and writer behind the site. Iโ€™m passionate about creating simple, reliable, and delicious recipes that anyone can make.

Thanks for stopping byโ€”I hope you find something delicious to make!

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4.87 from 60 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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235 Comments

  1. Cindy Holguin says:

    I put the recipe into my Weight Watchers app and for the new freestyle program it came out as 6 points per muffin (I put it in as 9 servings). For the Greek yogurt I did put in fat free. I look forward to trying these soon!

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      Awesome! I’m so happy to hear this! I hope you enjoy! ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Laurie says:

    Can I sub anything for the yogurt? Maybe extra peanut butter?

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      You could use sour cream in place of the yogurt! I wouldn’t recommend extra peanut butter.

  3. Liz says:

    5 stars
    These are the best chocolate muffins ever! Iโ€™ve made them several times and they always turn out great. My husband is a big junk goodie and heโ€™d rather have these than cake. . Yet, they are so much healthier!

  4. Ashley says:

    Do you think that I could hide veggies in this recipe? My son hates vegetables, but loves muffins and I have been looking for muffin recipes with hidden veggies. I just made one that was double chocolate with shredded zucchini and carrot, but it used both flour and oil and this recipe looks much healthier.

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      I wish I could answer you for sure, but I really don’t know without testing this recipe. Adding the wet vegetables will require more dry ingredients and I don’t know what that ratio would look like without some experimenting. Wish I could be of more help!

  5. Laura G says:

    5 stars
    Do you have the nutritional value for these ?

  6. Stefanie says:

    Hi is there a way to omit the brown sugar? Could I add more honey or possibly maple syrup? I’m also trying to stay away from any other types of artificial sweeteners.

    Thanks!

  7. Evelyn says:

    Any way to make these gluten free??

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      They are gluten free as long as you ensure you have gluten free oats (most are naturally gluten free) and the rest of your ingredients (which are naturally gluten free) are made in a gluten free facility. Enjoy!

  8. Kelly says:

    These are amazing & so easy to make! My whole family loves these & I love that my 11 year old loves them! I would rather give these to him for a chocolate treat than any store bought sugar-filled cookie or cupcake. I have even used egg whites or egg beaters instead of an egg & all natural peanut butter & they turned out awesome! Keep the recipes coming! Thank you for sharing!

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      So thrilled to hear these are a hit! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for the comment Kelly!

  9. jason says:

    is there a dairy free version – what can we replace the greek yogurt with? thank you!

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      I’m sorry, I haven’t tested any dairy free versions of these muffins.

  10. Danielle says:

    5 stars
    These are amazing! I made them last night and omg thank you! I may have eaten too many but I donโ€™t even feel bad!

    1. chelseamessyapron says:

      So happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment Danielle! ๐Ÿ™‚