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Delectable vegan chocolate oat mini muffins are the treat you need! Easy to make, they are oil-free, gluten-free & only 39 calories each.
I think we all need some good news right about now, so how about this:
Eat more chocolate–it’s good for you.
You can start with my double chocolate mini muffins. They are ready, from start to finish, in about 15 minutes and have a measly 39 calories apiece.
And yet the taste and texture? Devil’s food chocolate birthday cake. Really and truly.
Ingredients for Vegan Chocolate Oat Mini Muffins
The glad tidings continue. These bites require no more than 4 primary ingredients, all of which you likely have on hand:
- 1 cup rolled oats (quick-cooking or old-fashioned, either will work)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup of raw nuts or seeds (I used sunflower seeds)
- 2 tablespoons miniature chocolate chips
Even these basics are flexible. You can use fancy raw cacao powder or store brand cocoa powder, they will be grand either way. Only have roasted nuts or seeds? Yes, those will work, too. No mini chocolate chips? Give bigger chips a chop (for greater dispersion) or scavenge for any chocolate you can find and chop it into wee bits.
The remaining ingredients are super-staples: baking soda, salt (regular salt works fine, too), sweetener (I used coconut sugar, but see my recipe notes; pretty much any sweetener you like will do), vanilla (you can nix this if you do not have it) and water. That’s it!
If you are in a pre-coffee, semi-conscious state when you set out to make these, no worries! You can still master this prep: toss everything except the chocolate chips in the blender and blend until smooth. Divide among sprayed mini muffin cups, sprinkle with chips and bake for 10 minutes. Done.
I’ve raved about the taste, texture, and ease, but for a final tidbit of joy, let’s talk nutrition. In addition to heart-healthy, high-fiber oats, these tender bites of chocolate bliss are rich in antioxidants from the cocoa powder, especially flavonols.
Flavonols have a host of health benefits including overall heart health, possible protection against cancer, stress reduction, as well as instant energy, to name a few. The scientific data on the subject are extensive and compelling (i.e., not fake news, dear readers).
Mini Muffins for Dessert Snacks and More
So go ahead, enjoy these mini muffins for breakfast. Pack several in your lunch. Munch a few pre- or post-workout. Delight in them for dessert.
One batch yields twenty, so all of the above are possible with one round of baking. Friends, children, co-workers and partners will clamor for these once they’ve had samples, so plan accordingly; you don’t want to leave yourself high and dry, so make two batches as warranted.
Happy, healthy baking, friends!
Related Posts:
- Pumpkin Latte Mini Muffins {vegan, oil-free, flourless}
- Chocolate Chip Banana Quinoa Muffins {vegan, GF, flourless}
- Chocolate Chickpea Flour Muffins {vegan, grain-free}
- Keto Vegan Coconut Flour Cookies {grain-free, gluten-free}
- 100% Flax Chocolate Cookies {vegan, oil-free, keto option}
- Healthy Chocolate Banana Oat Cookies {vegan, oil-free, gluten-free}
Vegan Chocolate Oat Mini Muffins (oil-free, gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Line 20 cups of a miniature muffin tin with paper, foil or silicone liners.
- Place all of the ingredients EXCEPT the chocolate chips in a blender; blend until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared cups. Sprinkle tops with the chocolate chips.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cool, in the tin, on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and cool completely on rack.
Can I use coconut butter or oil instead of sunflower seeds?
In general, oil will not work as a substitute for nuts/seeds in a recipe. You can try with an equal wight of coconut butter.
Can I use coconut butter or oil instead of nuts or seeds?
Hi Nicole,
I am not sure, but probably. Keep in mind the nuts and seeds are doing more than adding fat to the recipe, they are adding volume and texture, too. So you will need to experiment with adding more of the solid ingredients to make up for lost volume/texture.
I made these yesterday and they are so moist and delicious. I used raw cashews instead of sunflower seeds because that’s what I had in the house and it worked perfectly! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe and website! I love everything I have tried.
I am so glad you like them, Lisa! Thanks so much for the kind words.:)
Better than Mary Poppins (bc she’s only practically perfect and these are totally perfect)!
OMG Camilla – these are so yummy and “clean”. I made them exactly as you said and hubby and I loved them and consumed them over just 2 days! I used a silicone mini-muffin pan and they pop right out. These will be a staple here from now on. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
I’m always looking for shortcuts so I did make a tweak to the process on my second batch. I find that removing batter type mixtures from the bottom of my Vitamix to be time consuming (and incomplete). So, while it does dirty an extra dish (a bowl) I used the Vitamix just to blend the oats and sunflower seeds into a flour. I then dumped that in a bowl and added all the other ingredients and stirred them manually (very quick). I then used a #40 cookie scoop to fill the mini-muffin pan. I’m not sure why, but using this method made 23 muffins instead of the 20 from the all-blender approach. Anyway, they might taste a bit denser this way, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing and it definitely made things a tad easier (including clean-up). I’m also thinking I can do the blending ahead for several batches for the future. One could even combine all the dry ingredients and save them for another time when you just add the water/vanilla like you would a mix.
Diane, thank you for the Mary Poppins reference ! Love that more than you know. 🙂 Yay, I love shortcuts so I am so glad you added some to the recipe, brilliant. Thank you, too, for sharing your method, so helpful for everyone. I am so happy you and your husband enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
YUM!!! The only bad thing about this recipe is that I want to eat a lot of these at once, they are so good!
I am so happy to hear that you like the muffins (a lot!), Mia! 🙂
Hi
Can I add all the blended ingredients to a loaf pan and turn into a low rise bread?
If so, what are the guidelines etc?
Thx
(a re-send)
Hi Doc,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you regarding your question! I think that you could do a single pan, but I would recommend something like an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan (better rise if less thickness of the batter). I think that would make a tasty snack cake! Perhaps start by adding 5 more minutes than the muffins bake time (same temperature). Be sure to line the pan with parchment paper to avoid sticking (or, if you do not need the recipe to be 100% oil-free, spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray, or lightly grease the pan). Cheers 🙂
I’m on it!
Thank you so much for getting back to me. I’ll be baking for my mom over the weekend.:)
Kind regards
Doc.
Great little muffins, like brownie bites, but I can eat them for breakfast, too, hehe. Thanks for these!
I just purchased your chickpea flour cookbook and I can’t wait to try the recipes. I do have a question about sweeteners. I would like to use a sweetener that mint be a little healthier such as dates, date sugar, or date syrup; or map,e syrup. Would there be a problem in using one of these? Thank you so much!
Hi Sue Ellen! Thanks so much for purchasing my chickpea flour book, I hope you enjoy it (and let me know if you have any questions once you begin trying recipes). YES, you can definitely use some of the alternative sweeteners you mention. Here’s what I recommend: blend all of the ingredients EXCEPT the baking soda, then add some of the sweetener that you like (start with less than the amount I mention since you can always add more to taste) and blend away. Take a taste of the raw batter (it is tasty) and adjust as needed. Then blend in the baking soda and bake away. I recommend waiting on the baking soda so that you do not lose any of the soda’s rising oomph as you test for sweetness level. In terms of texture: the dates and date sugar options will like make these a bit more unctuous/fudgy in texture (thumbs up). You may need to add a touch more maple syrup if you go that route, but I could be wrong. Would love to know how they turn out!