Chocolate muffins
- 18/04/2015 | Posted by Carles
Before you start
We are aware that an entry with the appetising name of "Chocolate muffins within a website that advocates healthy and wholesome food can be a little confusing... but we want to show that eating healthy and eating healthy sweets is not incompatible! The problem with many sweets, whether they are homemade, from pastry shops or industrial bakeries, is that they are made from: white flour, refined sugar and butter/margarine. And these are precisely 3 foods that we should avoid if we are trying to lose weight or simply if we want to take care of ourselves a little bit. So, can we find an ingredient that can replace them and at the same time give us a good taste and a nice texture? Well, yes, we can!
Eating healthy and eating healthy sweets is not a contradiction in terms!
That's why we want to share with you a recipe to make either a sponge cake or chocolate muffins. I recommend you try it because its flavour is really surprising and it is a healthy alternative for those moments when we don't know why, but our body asks us for sweets and there is no way to get rid of the craving. And it's also a great snack for our kids, rich in fibre and essential nutrients without sacrificing the chocolate flavour they love so much.
It is a sweet rich in fibre, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron and B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K and folic acid.
Get out pencil and paper and take notes!
Ingredients
(for 12 large muffins or 1 sponge cake)
- 100gr. oat bran (approx. 8 heaped tablespoons)
- 20g whole wheat bran (approx. 4 heaped tablespoons)
- 150g skimmed milk powder (approx. 12 heaped tablespoons)
- 65g defatted cocoa powder (approx. 4 heaped tablespoons)
- Half a packet of baking powder (approx. 7.5g)
- 4 pre-beaten whole eggs
- 250gr. of 0% whipped cheese (5 heaped tablespoons or 2 skimmed yoghurts)
- Lemon zest, cinnamon and up to 2 tablespoons of liquid sweetener to taste (do not use powdered sweetener as it is bitter and tastes very bad when cooked in the oven).
Oat bran and whole wheat bran are not difficult to buy, they can be found in health food shops as well as in most medium-sized supermarkets. In addition, they are very cheap.
For the skimmed milk I use the brand Asturiana® (it can be a bit difficult to find).
For the defatted cocoa I use the brand Valor®.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 250ºC.
- Mix well with a spoon the 5 solid ingredients in a bowl (oat bran, whole wheat bran, skimmed milk powder, baking powder and defatted cocoa powder).
- Add the yoghurt and the previously beaten eggs, together with the liquid sweetener and mix very well until a homogeneous dough is formed.
- Spread the dough in a mould (preferably a silicone mould). It can be a plum cake tin, a round cake tin or a muffin tin.
- Bake in the oven. The baking is very fast and you have to make sure it doesn't burn (especially if they are muffins). I put it in the lower-middle part of the oven and leave it for about 10 minutes at 200ºC (low position) and then 5-10 minutes more with the grill, so that a crust forms on the top. If you want to bake a whole sponge cake, the baking time will probably be a little longer, but you have to experiment, because every oven is different!
Freshly made they are delicious, nice and warm and soft... With time they harden a little, as is normal. If you eat them the next day they are sometimes a little harder, but nothing that can't be remedied by dipping them in a good bowl of skimmed milk! To make them softer and last longer, all you have to do is separate the egg whites from the yolks and whip them until stiff (if you have the will and the know-how, of course...). In any case, I recommend wrapping them in cling film overnight so that they keep better if the idea is to eat them for breakfast!
Calorific value
The total caloric intake is 1655kcal (150 grams of carbohydrates, 147 grams of protein, 52 grams of fat) - in case of making a sponge cake.
The nutritional value per 100 grams is 190kcal (17.14 grams of carbohydrates, 16.8 grams of protein, 6 grams of fat). If we follow the guidelines of limiting protein intake to a maximum of 30g per meal, we should not exceed the limit of 2-3 muffins or a quarter of a sponge cake per meal.
In case of making muffins or smaller portions, we only have to divide the values 1655kcal (150 grams of carbohydrates, 147 grams of protein, 52 grams of fat) by the number of portions obtained in order to know the caloric intake of each portion.
So, if we get 12 muffins, the caloric intake per muffin is as follows: 138Kcal (12.5 grams of carbohydrates, 12.25 grams of protein, 4.3 grams of fat).
As you can see, it is a very complete sweet, ideal for breakfast or a snack, low in fat (from eggs and chocolate) and high in protein. The amount of fat per 100g is equivalent to the same amount of fat found in 100g of tofu, beef sirloin or flaked oatmeal.
The amount of protein per 100g is equivalent to the amount of protein found in 100g of raw monkfish, hake, herring, cuttlefish, octopus, beef, lamb, chicken or turkey!
I encourage you to switch to healthy sweets and make our children change their snacks of Donuts®, Donettes® or Bollycaos® for other options that are just as tasty but much healthier. Over the years their bodies will thank you!
EQUIVALENCIES and comparisons
For information, we can compare the nutritional contribution of chocolate muffins with other "snacks" that our children usually eat. In this case with Donuts®, Donettes® or Bollycaos®. We will analyse them one by one and then outline the information in a comparative table to make it more visual for you.
Decide for yourselves what you want to give your body and the bodies of those around you!
Nutritional value per 100g: 475kcal (43 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of protein, 31 grams of saturated fat). Nutritional value per packet (7 units): 598.5kcal (54 grams of carbohydrates, 7.5 grams of protein, 39 grams of saturated fat).
2 - RAYADOS DONETTES®: pack of 7 units at 154gr.
Nutritional value per 100g: 513kcal (46.5 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of protein, 34 grams of saturated fat). Nutritional value per packet (7 units): 791kcal (71.6 grams of carbohydrates, 7.7 grams of protein, 52.4 grams of saturated fat).
3 - SNOWY DONETTES®: pack of 7 units at 126gr.
Nutritional value per 100g: 438kcal (50.5 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of protein, 24 grams of saturated fat). Nutritional intake per packet (7 units): 552kcal (63.6 grams of carbohydrates, 6.3 grams of protein, 30.24 grams of saturated fat).
4 - SUGARED DONNUTS®: 2 units of 48g each.
Nutritional value per 100g: 414.6kcal (43 grams of carbohydrates, 5.8 grams of protein, 24 grams of saturated fat). Nutritional value per packet (2 units): 398kcal (41.3 grams of carbohydrates, 5.6 grams of protein, 23 grams of saturated fat).
5 - BOLLYCAO® ORIGINAL: 1 unit of 75gr.
Nutritional value per 100g: 328.5kcal (31.5 grams of carbohydrates, 6.4 grams of protein, 11.5 grams of saturated fat). Nutritional value per packet (1 unit of 75g): 328,5kcal (31,5 grams of carbohydrates, 4,8 grams of protein, 8,6 grams of saturated fat).
|
NUTRITIONAL INTAKE (per 100g) |
CHOCOLATE MUFFINS | DONETTES®. | STRIPED DOUGHNUTS | SNOWY DOUGHNUTS | DONNUTS® SUGAR | BOLLYCAO® BOLLYCAO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KCAL/100gr | 190Kcal | 475Kcal | 513Kcal | 438Kcal | 414,6kcal | 328,5kcal |
| Carbohydrates | 17,14gr | 43gr | 46,5gr | 50,5gr | 43gr | 31,5gr |
| Proteins | 16,8gr | 6gr | 5gr | 5gr | 5,8gr | 6,4gr |
| Grease | 6gr | 31gr | 34gr | 24gr | 24gr | 11,5gr |
PS: Many people in our community have been encouraged to make this recipe... and they have sent us the photos! We leave them here so you can see them.
Chefs / Artists / Authors:
1) Pedro Fernandez
2) Núria Monfulleda
3) Jaime Morales
4) Bea
Calvo
5) Anna Colell
6) Eva Gonzalez & Adrià Ariste
7) Maike Wiengmann
8) Marta Visa
9) Maike Wiengmann (again)
