Full disclosure on this recipe, I think I ate 3 of these everyday for 3 days, I stopped bc I gave some away to help break my muffin addiction. They were that good and I can usually tell when a baked good is missing an egg. I’m using a “chia egg” in this recipe instead of a flax egg which is a common sub in most vegan baking.
Both are healthy and work well but in this recipe I chose chia for 2 reasons. One, I am a huge texture person, I like the idea of grinding the chia seeds up so it incorporates more fully into the batter. I’m using a regular coffee grinder here to ground the seeds down before adding the water and allowing it to gel up…. and two, because I eat with my eyes and you can get white chia seeds that just look smoother in your baking. You can however, absolutely use regular chia seeds or a flax egg in this recipe and get a great result.
The other ingredient that helps these muffins stay moist is unsweetened applesauce, which is so underrated in baking and cooking imo. Applesauce, dark chocolate, cherries – these muffins are a flavor party in your mouth and they are quick enough to whip up on a weekday morning for a quick breakfast or snack anytime of day. Packed with heart healthy oat bran and whole wheat flour they won’t spike your blood sugar but they’ll give you sustained energy throughout your morning.
To top it all off these muffins have chocolate! While being completely delicious, the dark chocolate in these muffins helps to reduce hypertension and inflammation when eaten in modest doses like a muffin. The dark cherries are little antioxidant powerhouses with fiber to boot – they help slow down aging (win) and prevent against diabetes and help quell inflammation for arthritis sufferers.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and I’d love to hear if you make them. These muffins are perfectly sweet just as they are, but if you’re feeling saucy a few extra dark chocolate chips on top never hurt anyone. Happy Baking!
Dark Cherry and Chocolate Chunk Oat Bran Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
- Coffee grinder (optional)
Materials
- 1 cup oat bran
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup plant milk I used unsweetened vanilla almond
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks I like Hu Gems
- 3/4 cup dark cherries frozen is great here
2 "chia" eggs
- 2 tbsp white chia seeds
- 5 tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line your muffin tin with paper cups or grease well
- Make your "chia egg," grind the chia seeds in a coffee grinder and pulse until fine, add to small bowl with water and allow to set for 5 mins until it become like jelly
- Combine the oat bran, ww flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine
- In a larger bowl or bowl of a stand mixer add the coconut oil and sugar and combine, then add your applesauce, acv and chia eggs and mix
- Add half the dry ingredients, then the plant milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chunks and cherries
- Use an ice cream scoop to portion out even amount into each muffin cup and bake for 20-22 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before enjoying 🙂
