- These muffins are the perfect make-ahead breakfast for busy mornings.
- Cottage cheese is the secret high-protein ingredient that is blended into these muffins.
- Use extra-ripe bananas that have plenty of brown spots as they add natural sweetness.
Our High-Protein Chocolate Muffins unlock all of the genius secrets to eating more protein in a delicious and moist muffin. Cottage cheese, eggs, milk and walnuts round out the nutritious protein you’ll get with every bite. We’ve also packed in more fiber with whole-wheat flour and bananas—which also help reduce the added sugar in this recipe, while balancing the sweetness from the brown sugar. The intense chocolate flavor comes from both the cocoa powder and the espresso powder, which enhances the chocolaty goodness without adding coffee flavor. Keep reading for our expert tips on banana selection, how to prep your muffin pan and more.
Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen
These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too!
- Bananas do the heavy lifting on adding natural sweetness. Choose ones that have plenty of brown spots, as they enhance the sweetness without adding more sugar.
- Blending the cottage cheese is important for creating a smooth batter, as the cottage cheese can become chunky if left unblended.
- Be sure to spray the muffin liners with cooking spray; otherwise, the muffins may stick. Allowing the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before trying to remove them will also help.
- If you prefer, you can use large-curd cottage cheese. For extra flavor and sweetness, you could add chocolate chips to the batter.
Nutrition Notes
- Whole-wheat flour adds fiber to this recipe, while keeping these muffins light. Using half all-purpose flour and half whole-wheat flour allows for more nutrition without big alterations in texture for most baked goods, like muffins.
- The sugar content in bananas is based on their stage of ripeness. This type of sugar is all-natural and not considered added sugar. Bananas also add fiber and potassium to this recipe—great for heart health.
- Cottage cheese is the secret high-protein ingredient in this recipe. Blending it ensures that the texture of the muffin isn’t altered. Increasing protein intake in each meal can help with weight loss and maintenance, and is also crucial for building and maintaining muscle mass.
Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist Josh Hoggle.
