This muffin recipe is for serious and committed chocolate lovers.
Just because you are on a low-carb diet, doesn’t mean you have to give up chocolate too! (Let’s face it, that just would not be good!).
We just need to use sugar-free versions of cocoa powder and baking chocolate, and almond flour instead of regular flour.
Overall, one of these gorgeous chocolatey muffins will set you back only 2g net carbs!
Are you serious? Can I eat chocolate on a low-carb diet?
Yes, absolutely. Chocolate has a bad reputation as the dieter’s enemy number one. But it’s not the chocolate per se that is the problem, but the vast amounts of sugar that are added to chocolate bars.
There are sugar-free chocolates and cocoa powders in the world, and that’s what you should be getting. Read more about chocolate on a low-carb diet.
Note for those on Atkins Induction – although small amounts of sugar-free cocoa powder are permitted on Induction, almond flour is not, so this muffin recipe won’t be suitable for you yet. Do come back once you are past Induction and on OWL! In the meanwhile please check out this list of Atkins Induction desserts.
Sugar-free cocoa powder – safe brands
I use Green & Black unsweetened cocoa powder in my recipes – I think it’s the best option if you are in the UK.
In the USA, good brands for high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder are Valrhona and Ghirardelli.
If you use a different brand, just make sure it doesn’t have any added sugar.
Adding moisture to the recipe
In the recipe below, I am using cream, which is high in fat and low in carbs.
Depending on your dietary preferences, you can substitute cream for dairy milk, or coconut or almond milk. You can even use water!
The consistency of the final mixture should be similar to thick yoghurt – it can be poured into muffin cups, but it would flow slowly and be quite sticky.
Low-carb chocolate muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup (90g / 3oz) ground almonds
- 1/2 cup (50g / 1.7oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp Truvia
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar-free vanilla extract
- 1 small pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (120ml / 4oz) single cream
- Optional: 30g / 1oz sugar-free chocolate chips or chunks of
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5
- Mix all dry ingredients together thoroughly
- Lightly beat eggs, add vanilla extract and cream and combine
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well until smooth
- Fold in chocolate chips if using
- Spoon mixture into individual muffin tins or cups
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until springy and firm to touch
Nutritional information
Well, i have had another go and there is still an after taste despite less vanila extract – maybe it’s the amount of baking powder?? Still a lovely recipe tho, very pleased 🙂
Thanks Kate 🙂 I am so glad you like the recipe overall.
Which brand of sweetener did you use? Sugar substitutes are often the culprit for the aftertaste.
Regarding sugar-free vanilla extract, Steenbergs brand is available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2guIZMx and also from some supermarkets.
Great texture but they left a bit of an after taste – I think it’s the vanilla extract. Next time I won’t put as much in. In England it’s tricky to find a sugar free extract tbh . Thanks for the recipe.
Can I use almond milk or do I use heavy cream?
I haven’t personally tried it with almond milk, but I think it should be fine. Good luck!
I made this with a few changes:
– 1/2 cup (120ml / 4oz) of semi-skimmed MILK instead of cream
– 1 heaped tbsp of solid pure coconut oil (microwave before adding to eggs)
– 1/2 cup of splenda instead of Truvia
***Absolutely delicious***
And most importantly, the 10 muffins were ready in 15 minutes at 185C FAN assisted oven. 40 minutes would have burned my beautiful cakes completely!
Thanks for sharing Larissa!
Really liked as is but can see possibilities with nuts, cherries etc. Great flavor, moist and most muffin like then some I’ve made. Love carb count and calorie count decent too.
Thanks so much Regina! Great idea about adding more nuts or cherries – I will have to try that out 🙂
Not sure what I did wrong but they came out super dry and bitter. Not appealing at all. 🙁
Yeah my tastes just like yours
These are fabulous muffins! I made these to try and duplicate similar ones my son likes from Carb o Licious brand. These have a great texture and flavor and my son loved them. I followed the recipe exactly and got 9 muffins. Thanks so much for posting!
Great recipe
But I used 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract as I thought 1 tbsp seemed too much!!!
They turned out great. Although next time I will use a better quality cocoa powder. I used Cadburys Borneville.
Hi Mya, many thanks for your feedback! I know tbsp might look a bit excessive but I found it tends to improve the texture. But it’s great that it worked for you with tsp amounts! Many thanks for letting me know.