Healthy Chocolate Muffins

These chocolate muffins have been on my mind for a couple weeks now. I had all the ingredients to make them, I was set to bake them. I was going to make them over Spring break. The process of making them was super easy... but they didn't turn out how I wanted them to turn out. Maybe I should have gone with my better judgment. I thought before I poured the batter (a very runny batter) into the muffin liners that I needed to add something more to the batter to make it thicken up a bit, but no... I followed the recipe and I thought to myself that I didn't really need to add anything since the recipe didn't call for it. Now that I think about it, maybe adding the oats would have thicken it up a bit. I left the oats out... the recipe called for oats and I am not a big fan of oats in muffins so I left that ingredient out. Now that I think about it... I am thinking the oats were probably very crucial to the recipe. Now I feel stupid for even posting this, but here we go. I am going to post it because frankly, the muffins are good even though we have to eat them with a spoon. 

Here are the ingredients you will need:

I didn't add in the oats, but you sure can!

1 3/4 oats 
3 egg whites
3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup pure cane sugar
1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (I used mini ones)
I got this recipe from I Heart Nap Time
The prep for this recipe is really simple.... I am thinking about trying this out again tomorrow WITH the oats to see if it makes a difference.  Just put all the ingredients in a large bowl, doesn't matter the order and mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer on LOW. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees before you start.  I started off with egg whites and when down the list. I left out the oats because, like I said above, not a big fan of oats in my muffins.... but I guess that could be why my muffins were a bit runny during the baking process. {silly me} I saved the shells as compost for my lemon leaves that I am trying to grow. I am afraid I don't have a green thumb unless it is on accident.  I added the rest of ingredients. For Greek yogurt, I used ZOI Greek yogurt. I didn't realize that a small carton of the ZOI Greek yogurt was about 1/2 of a cup. I dirtied a measuring cup when I could have just opened the carton and scooped it in the bowl. I didn't know a small carton would equal to 1/2 a cup. I know  now though.  For sugar, I used pure cane sugar from the bulk section at WinCo. WinCo has a huge bulk section, filled with tons of things. From candy to various spices and flours. It's quite amazing!  I was really excited to use the pure cane sugar. It's not bleached, it is somewhat brown. I tasted a little bit of it, and it tastes great. It is also wonderful for baking. Just use it like regular sugar. I will always prefer to use pure cane sugar now. It's more... natural! Once all the ingredients are in the bowl, mix together.  Once you are done mixing (and don't over mix) pour the mixture into muffin liners set in a muffin/cupcake pan. Or, if you prefer no liners, spray the pan with cooking spray or coconut oil.  I used muffin liners and at first, I couldn't find any. I haven't made anything cupcake related in so long, and I was worried we didn't have any muffin liners. I almost asked my dad to go grab some at the store, but my mom said that we had plenty. I have a wonderful array of mismatched muffin/cupcake liners. The colors are so pretty. I poured the muffin mixture into the muffin liners, and put them in the oven for 12 minutes at first. After the 12 minutes, I sprinkled a small amount of mini semi sweet chocolate chips on top of the muffins. Then I finished baking them for 3 more minutes... this is where I ran into trouble.  They are supposed to bake for 15 minutes. This is probably why the oats are in the muffins. I baked them for probably a half hour and they still were very gooey. I was so disappointed and was getting very frustrated. When something I bake doesn't turn out, I get to be cranky and I try to fix the problem, but my mood worsens. This time it was my own stupidity that made the muffins not work out. I didn't add in the oats. I didn't think they mattered! I didn't think they were a crucial part to the recipe, not until now.  After baking them a half hour, I decided to give up and call it quits. Still gooey in the middle. I was so upset and I kept asking myself why things like this, super simple baking didn't work in my favor! Not all the time, a lot of the time, simple baking and even complicated baking work in my favor, but this time I just didn't add in the oats and now I have learned my lesson. Next time, I will add in the oats!  So, now they are in my kitchen, on the counter, many of them eaten already because my mom and sister {mostly my mom} have been scooping them out of the muffin liners with a spoon. My mom calls it a lava cake, or lava muffin and a healthy one at that! Maybe I didn't fail.  Now I know to add in everything that recipes suggest, unless they are "add ins" like chocolate chips or nuts. I really don't like nuts in muffins or cookies or cakes, I just don't like them. I like nuts and seeds by themselves, but not in cakes and dessert things. I also learned to not freak out just because something isn't working in your favor. It always works out, maybe not in the form you planned on, but in a lava muffin instead of a yummy regular muffin. Lava muffins are pretty yummy too.