As many of you know I am kind of a heath nut. I am constantly working out, weights, running, etc. Beyond that I am constantly searching for ways to improve what I eat. Before I eat I try to ask myself “What does my body need?”. Usually the answer isn’t that triple fudge cake. But I wish it was. I haven’t managed to make that happen but have figured out how to make some really yummy chocolate muffins.
I’ll cut to the chase and reveal my magic change. I took a pretty standard Mug Cake recipe and replaced half the flour with protein power. Oh and I replace the cane sugar with Stevia. Other wise it is about the same as any other mug cake recipe. And they are quite filling. I have had them as a kinda mini lunch.
“But you called it a muffin!“, yep I did. What is the difference between a Costco muffin, or just about any other “muffin” now a days, and a cupcake? One word; frosting. Think about it, that is the only difference. If you bought some CostCo muffins and added frosting you could hand them out at any B-day party and no one would complain. In fact they might complement you on your great “cup cakes”. So since most people do not add frosting to their “Mug Cake” it is actually a “Mug Muffin”.
So without further ado
Here is my basic recipe. You need to use a 16 -20 oz large microwave safe coffee cup/mug. First mix the dry ingredients; flour, protein powder, milk, coco, sweetener, & baking soda together. Make sure it is consistently blended together. Next add water till it has the consistence of a cake batter, about 3-5 tbs. Getting that cake batter consistence is very important. If it is too think it will not rise. If it is too watery it will kinda explode, made quite the mess. Then add the remaining optional items as desired. Cook on high in the microwave for 1 minutes 30 seconds. I have tried cooking it for two whole minutes and in my microwave it tends to get dried out. But depending on how powerful your microwave is more or less time may be necessary.
- NOTE: you need to use whey based protein powder. I have tried with two different plant based protein powder and it never rises. You just get warm batter.
- I think you could skip the powdered milk, but I think it makes it a bit richer. I am still experimenting with this.
- The sweetener can be whatever you prefer. I use stevia, but sugar or others should work fine. You may want more or less depending on your taste.
- Of course you can add your own special ingredients; fruit, nuts, more chocolate. Just bear in mind it will impact how health your muffin is. But what’s life without a little fun?
How health is it?
Well that depends. Option B without any optional items is 219 calories & 24g of protein, so yes very health. And quite filling. However it isn’t as flavorful. Sometimes I’ll do the muffin that way and add some fruit yogurt on the side that combo does well. The yogurt acts kinda like frosting in making it a bit more moist, Oh, is it a cup cake then? I’ll let you decided on that one.
Option B with 1 tbs of chocolate chips & 2 tbs of pumpkin seeds is 462 calories & 34g of protein. So a lot more calories. But to be fair these that is still less than most CostCo muffins. Most of them are 500-800 calories each. And you still have 34g of protein, all you get with the CostCo muffin is sugar.
| Ingredients | Amount (Option A) | Amount (Option B) |
| AP flour | 2 tbs | 1/4 cup |
| Whey protein powder | 2 tbs | 1/4 cup |
| Powdered milk* | 2 tbs | skip |
| sweetener** | 2 tbs | 2 tbs |
| Coco | 2 tbs | 2 tbs |
| Baking Soda | 1/4 tsp | 1/4 tsp |
| Water | 3 tbs | 1/4 cup |
| Vanila (optional) | 1/4 tsp | skip |
| Choc. chips (optional?) | 1-2 tbs | 1 tbs |
| Pumpkin seeds or nuts (optional) | 1-2 tbs | 2 tbs |
| Your favorite whatever | up to you | up to you |
I have done a number of variation, which seems to be endless. I have used vanilla protein powder and added fruit, that came out really nice. I even tried making a savory muffin with veggies and some spices. That didn’t quite work out as I had hopped so I’m back to the drawing board on that one. As I figure out good variations I will try to share them.
About the pics
I don’t know if you can tell but these are big muffins. About the size of a CostCo muffin. The first two pics are with the muffin cooked in a 20oz mug. The last one is cooked in a 16oz mug.
This was one of my first attempts with a smaller cup. The white and black cup is 20 oz.
