My chocolate protein muffins are 12 grams of protein each! This easy protein muffin recipe contains real food ingredients only. No protein powders needed!
Protein chocolate muffins without protein powder? Here they are!
After publishing my vanilla protein muffins, I wanted to create a chocolate muffin that is high in protein. Because, as we all know, life is better with chocolate.
These easy muffins have a deeply satisfying chocolate flavor. I also adore the crumb texture. And most exciting of all, they contain completely different ingredients to my original protein muffins. Including one that is a Sugar Free Londoner first - lupin flour!
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What's To Love About This Recipe
Secretly healthy. Kitchen goddess Nigella has this chocolate cake recipe that I used for kid's birthday cakes. The texture of these muffins reminds me of the fine crumb of that very epic (not sugar free) cake. How cool is that? Muffins that taste as naughty as a cake, but are secretly super healthy.
Nutritious - The recipe contains high protein ingredients such as Greek yogurt, peanut butter, eggs and gluten-free lupin flour. It is also low in carbs and sugar free.
Easy - This is a one bowl recipe that's ready in just 25 minutes.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need for this chocolate protein muffin recipe:
WET INGREDIENTS
- Eggs - I always use large eggs in my recipes, this one included. Must be at room temperature.
- Peanut Butter - Muffins need fat to be moist, and peanut butter is our "fat" in this recipe. It is very important that the peanut butter is runny and not firm. Ideally, pick a peanut butter that contains only one ingredient - peanuts! These also tend to be more runny. Brands that I use regularly include Meridian, Manilife and Pip&Nut.
- Greek Yogurt - For a perfectly moist and fluffy muffin crumb.
- Almond Milk - Any milk works here. I like unsweetened almond milk, because it is low in carbs.
- Vanilla Extract
DRY INGREDIENTS
- Lupin Flour - Made from ground lupini beans. This is a high protein, keto friendly flour alternative. This is my first lupin flour recipe and I'm going to use it more often from now on.
- Cocoa Powder - I use unsweetened cocoa powder. The recipe also works with Dutch processed cocoa powder or with cacao powder.
- Sweetener - My go-to is a golden monk fruit sweetener. This is a 1:1 sugar substitute and it is zero carb. You can use any sweetener of your choice here, such as allulose or Bocha Sweet. If carbs are not a concern, feel free to use coconut sugar instead.
- Baking Powder - Check that it is fresh to ensure the muffins rise well.
- Salt - A pinch of sea salt lifts the flavor. Only required with unsalted peanut butter. If your peanut butter is already salted, you don't need it.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
It is simple to make chocolate protein muffins. Here are the basic steps.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method with ingredient amounts, oven timings and nutrition information.
STEP 1
Blend the eggs in a food processor until frothy and double in size. You can also use a large mixing bowl and a handheld electric blender.
STEP 2
Add the remaining wet ingredients - peanut butter, Greek yogurt, almond milk and vanilla extract. Also add the sweetener of your choice at this point. Blend until smooth.
STEP 3
Now add all the dry ingredients: lupin flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Blend until a soft and smooth muffin batter forms.
STEP 4
Spoon the batter into a muffin pan lined with paper cups, or use a silicone muffin pan. My mix made 11 muffins, but I could have stretched it to 12. Bake in the preheated oven until fluffy and the tops are domed and firm to the touch.
Katrin's Top Tips
#1 Peanut butter is sticky. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl in between blending to achieve a smooth muffin batter.
#2 The muffin batter should be very soft. The consistency will depend on how runny the peanut butter was. Add more yogurt to loosen the batter if required. It should level easily.
#3 Don't over-fill! Leave space at the top of the muffin cups because protein muffins rise considerably.
#4 Pick your texture: 20 minutes baking time yields a moist and soft muffin, akin to a cake. 23 minutes baking time made the muffins very light and fluffy (as seen in the image below).
Variations
Chocolate chip protein muffins - Sprinkle sugar free or dark chocolate chips over the muffin batter just before baking, pushing some inside the batter.
Peanut butter swirl - Add a drizzle of peanut butter onto the muffin batter and create a swirl with a knife. You can check out the method in my post about keto marble cake.
Chocolate frosting - The frosting from my keto avocado brownies tastes AMAZING on these protein muffins. Bonus: it also adds healthy fats.
Recipe FAQs
Lupin flour is a high protein, low carb and gluten free flour made from ground lupin beans. Lupin beans are legumes. They are in the same plant family as peanuts.
I do not recommend it. First of all, I chose lupin flour because it is very high in protein. Secondly, lupin flour is NOT a 1:1 replacement to any other flour I use on a regular basis. Lupin flour is about twice as absorbent as almond flour and probably a little less absorbent than coconut flour.
Use coconut or almond yogurt instead of the Greek yogurt. I don't recommend yogurt made from soy as it is more watery.
Yes, the recipe works with almond butter. However, the muffins won't be as high in protein any more.
You can replace some of the lupin flour with protein powder. I have observed that whey protein powder and lupin are similar in texture and mouthfeel. Note that I have not tested this myself yet and you may have to adjust the amounts.
Storage
Store these high protein chocolate muffins just like you would regular muffins - in an airtight container. They stay fresh at room temperature on the kitchen counter for 2 days or in the fridge for 5 days.
The muffins also freeze well. Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight.
Option to gently warm them in the microwave.
More High Protein Recipes
- Protein Pudding3 Minutes
- Protein Fluff3 Minutes
- Protein Banana Bread1 Hours
- Low Carb Protein Bars Recipe30 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Chocolate Protein Muffins
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3 eggs large, room temperature
- 1 cup peanut butter smooth and runny, not firm, 260g
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt 188g
- ½ cup almond milk 120ml, or use a milk of your choice
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- ⅔ cup golden monk fruit sweetener 110g or granulated sweetener of choice
- ½ cup lupin flour 60g
- ½ cup cocoa powder 45g
- 2.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt if your peanut butter is unsalted
Optional Add-In
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C or 350F (electric).
- In a food processor or in a large mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, blend the eggs until frothy, airy and double in size. This takes around 2 minutes.
- Add the peanut butter, Greek yogurt, milk and vanilla extract as well as the sweetener of your choice. Blend until smooth. Stop to scrape down the sides if necessary in between to incorporate everything into a smooth mixture.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients - lupin flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sea salt, if your peanut butter is unsalted. The batter should be soft and level easily. If it is firm, add more almond milk.
- Line a muffin pan with paper cups and fill in the muffin batter, leaving some space at the top. My mix made 11 muffins, although I could have strechted it to 12. Option to sprinkle over chocolate chips, if using.
- Bake in the oven for 20-23 minutes or until the tops have risen and the muffins are firm to the touch. Don't over-bake!
Notes
- For best results, measure ingredients with digital kitchen scales.
- The muffin batter texture will vary because it depends on how soft the peanut butter is. Add more milk if needed for a soft batter that levels easily.
- 20 minutes baking time yields a moist and soft muffin, akin to a cake. 23 minutes baking time made the muffins very light and fluffy (as seen in the images).
Aubrey Smith
I love these!! I might add a tad bit more sweetener next time, but love the lightness and flavor and profile. Choc chips are a definite, IMO! In second batch I used a little PB fit instead of 1/3 of Peanut butter, to raise protein profile higher, and that worked beautifully as well.
Addie
Hi, Katrin - I made this recipe exactly according to your recipe, using my digital scale to measure everything. I was quite surprised when I weighed out 260g of peanut butter; it looked like a whole lot more than 1 cup! But I followed your instructions anyway, and somehow ended up with 17 muffins! And they're the right size!
They are really delicious, and although for me the predominant flavor is peanut butter it's not overpowering. I did use the chocolate chips as well.
I now have nearly a pound of lupin flour to use up lol - do you have more recipes for it?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Addie, I'm planning on more lupin flour recipes in the future, so keep on checking. You can always experiment with replacing half of the almond flour with lupin in my recipes - but make sure you start by using only half the amount. Example: 1 cup of almond flour become 1/2 cup of almond flour plus 1/4 cup of lupin. This is where I would start off. Use a recipe that you have made before, so you know what the dough texture should look like.
Bernadette Schell
I replaced lupin flour with bamboo fiber flour. Tested the batter for sweetness then and add about 1/2 teaspoon of stevia glycerite. Only put a few sugar free chocolate chips on half of muffins. Turned out very good.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Bernadette, thank you so much for sharing this tweak. That's very helpful!
Karen B Higby
These are delicious! I have used Lupin flour for awhile because I cannot use almond flour. Thank you!!! I hope you will provide more recipes with Lupin flour! I understand the proces can be tme consuming to determine how to work with a different flour - I've tried and had both successes and failures - so I really appreciate your efforts!
Maria Gellert
I live in Sweden, an EU country. I just can´t find Allulose anywhere. After all the health scare of Eruthriol, I really want to try it, but where do you European dwelling fellows buy it?
Katrin Nürnberger
You can most likely buy it on iherb .com. Or google "buy Allulose Sweden" (in Swedish) and you will get options of websites that ship it.
GinnyIckle
These sound great — I'll be trying them soon!
Lupin flour is great in pie crusts — or samosa crusts, maybe with a little turmeric in the dough — so I already have some in the house.
Carrion Curl
I am definitely going to try this recipe. I have to find lupin flour somewhere first, here in Canada. They look delicious and love the idea of lots of protein. Freezing well is a bonus. I think I will try with the drizzling of the peanut butter. I will try to let you know how I liked them as well. (Can’t see anything in the recipe I do not like LOL!!!).
Ruth ONeill
Hello, these muffins sound so yummy, I can't wait to try them. I have a question though, can I substitute the peanut butter or just leave it out? One person in my family is allergic to nuts. So even though I really want to make these, I'm a little hesitant. Thank you! Love your recipes by the way.
Ruth
Katrin Nürnberger
Try almond butter. Or, make my keto chocolate muffins instead.
Charli Van Averbeke
Just made these and everyone was so impressed by the texture and flavour of these! I didn't have any monkfruit/allulose so I used Erythritol and it could have been sweeter, so next time I'll make it with monkfruit. This is so close to a cupcake that I'm going to make a frosting for the rest of the batch. My 2yr old lived this. Thank you x