Healthy Chocolate Butterscotch Brownie Protein Muffins

 A healthy back to school breakfast muffin that is gluten-free

  My boys started a new school this year and it is a wonderful school. The only thing is the new school doesn't serve free breakfast or lunch so now my boys have to eat breakfast at home and pack lunches. I am happy in a way because now my boys can eat more healthy foods. I loved the convenience and saving money when they ate at school but sometimes the food was not that healthy. The school's idea of good nutrition was if it had whole wheat flour or whole grains in it then it must be healthy. Well, that meant Cocoa Puffs and whole wheat donuts were on the breakfast menu. So now I am trying to have healthy breakfast options that my boys can eat in the morning besides peanut butter sandwiches and oatmeal. So that means I will be spending more time cooking and sharing recipes. I really do enjoy cooking healthy food for my family.

  So I decided to tweak my Salted Chocolate Protein Donut Holes recipe and make it a bit healthier as the boys really enjoyed them. In my opinion, the donuts had too much oil and sugar in them. So I substituted monk fruit sugar for some of the sugar. I replaced the oil with yogurt.  I also wanted to sneak some fiber into these muffins and chia seeds are a tasty way to do that. So I used chia seed eggs instead of eggs.  These delicious muffins are also gluten-free! I also made the recipe in a muffin pan so they were a bigger size for breakfast. So for a healthy breakfast, my boys have one of these muffins with a glass of chocolate nut milk and fresh fruit. My boy's favorite nut milk is Silk Chocolate Protein Nutmilk and I love that this plant-based milk has plenty of protein in it.



These delicious muffins are also gluten-free!

  My boys loved the taste of these and said they tasted like brownies. These muffins were moist and had plenty of chocolate flavor. The best part was my boys could not taste the pumpkin. I love that they are getting fiber, protein and awesome nutrition along with some gut health from the fermented protein powder. I know a recipe is a winner when my boys keep asking if they can have another one. 

Using a stand mixer makes baking so easy!

Chocolate Butterscotch Brownie Protein Muffins
 Makes 18 muffins

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup plain yogurt
2  Chia Eggs- 1 tablespoons chia seeds + 3 tablespoons water = 1 egg (stir and let sit for 2 minutes)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup oat flour (rolled oats ground into flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup monk fruit sugar
3 scoops Genuine Health fermented vegan proteins, chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 -3/4 cup butterscotch baking chips


DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a stand mixer, combine your wet ingredients and mix thoroughly on medium speed.
3. Add in the remaining dry ingredients, except the butterscotch chips and combine until well mixed on medium speed. Add the butterscotch chips and mix on low until combined.
4. Using a measuring cup, add about 1/4 cup batter into each section of your greased muffin pans or use paper liners. The batter will be thick so you may have to use a spoon or fingers to get the batter into the pan.
5. Bake at 350° F for 30  minutes.
6. Let cool before removing the muffins from the pan.

Tips: These muffins do not rise so fill the muffin papers all the way to the top. You can use other flavors of baking chips like chocolate or vanilla.