No-fat Sugarless Double Chocolate Muffins

Who says you cannot enjoy your desserts when you’re dieting? And again, who says you must not enjoy something nice tasting just b’cos you’re dieting? I refute the argument. As long as the ingredients used are healthy, it’s not going to do you any harm, right? Absolutely right! I don’t believe in disdainfully baking goodies very oft with copious amounts of butter, and cream cheese, and what not, and then try to sound crushed and say – “Woot! I’m adding on those pounds. Help!”. That is incongruous with reason. Like my Dad was saying the other day – most people realise the importance of health only once they lose it. Shame they don’t realise in time! While I still enjoy the proverbial treat once in a while, I still aim at eating healthy, atleast when I’m making the treat myself.

I did promise you that the Muffin Man is here to stay, didn’t I? So yes, in keeping with my promise, here’s a virtual treat for all you folks reading this. Pray, tell me, what’s stopping you now…from mollycoddling away?

See those pretty vanilla beans? Oh they may look all shrivelled-up to you alright, but to me, they certainly are pretty. Take a minute, close your eyes and imagine that you can smell that wonderful vanilla from the beans. Did it work? I bet it did! Those are from Amma’s friend – Saraswathi Aunty’s garden from her native place. So if any of you need any vanilla beans, you know whom to contact – Me! Aunty will be more than happy to comply with your requests.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
• Ground flax seed – 3/4 cup
• Wheat germ/Wheat bran – 1/2 cup (I used Wheat bran)
• Cocoa powder – 1/2 cup
• Honey – 3/4 cup (substituting 1 cup sugar) ( I used 1/2 cup honey and it was just about sweet, which works for me; suggest you use 1/4 cup more)
• Baking powder – 1 1/2 tsps
• Baking soda – 1 tsp
• Instant Coffee powder – 1 tsp
• Ground Cinnamon – 1/2 tsp
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips – 1/2 cup
• Low-fat buttermilk – 1 cup
• Home-made sugarless Applesauce – 3/4 cup
• Egg – 1 no
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp (I used 1/2 tsp of powdered vanilla bean)

Note: This proportion makes 12 standard-sized muffins

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 200c/400F. Line muffin tray with paper muffin liners and set aside.
• Use the muffin-method to prepare the batter – combine flour, flax seed, wheat germ/wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon, instant coffee powder and chocolate chips in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, beat the buttermilk, sugarless applesauce, honey, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
• Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing just until combined. The batter is definitely thick in consistency, so don’t be alarmed.
• Spoon equal amounts of batter into muffin cups. You will need to work with two spoons here, to scoop the batter into the muffin cups.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
• Cool on a wire-rack turned upside down. Enjoy them muffins with a nice hot cuppa, or have one for breakfast, a guilt-free one at that.

Sorry to digress while you are drooling, but I have some really drool-worthy news to share. Remember the announcement for the all-new feature on CCN – ‘Tales from Your Kitchen‘? I’m thrilled to say that I’m in possession of the first Tale from an ardent fan of the blog. No, I’m not giving out her name yet; the only thing I’m disclosing for now is that the next post on CCN will feature the first of ‘Tales from Your Kitchen’, so watch this space for a job wonderfully done by a reader of the blog. I hope her enthused tale inspires the other readers of the blog to share with us ‘Tales from Your Kitchen’ as well!