Happy Sunday everyone!  Berry season is right around the corner and the selection at the grocery store is already perking up 🙂  If you know me, you know I love me some berries.  And you know, sometimes you just want to eat chocolate for breakfast…so I combined them.  Because why not? Chocolate covered strawberries are totally thing outside of Valentine’s Day.

If you’ve been following along with the recipes here at PBF, you know that I am totally an oatmeal muffin fiend.  They’re so easy to meal prep for the week and are seriously yummy.  Since I cut out dairy at the beginning of the year though, I’ve been mostly making overnight oats…which are delicious BUT I always find myself wanting oatmeal muffins!  I finally decided to give them a whirl with a plant-based protein.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Rolled oats – I love to see the whole oats in my oatmeal muffins, but don’t worry – they’re baked to perfect tenderness! Other types of oats like quick oats or steel cut oats will behave differently, so I don’t recommend swapping this ingredient.
• Milk – Use whatever neutral tasting milk you prefer! I used almond milk, which doesn’t have a strong flavor. Some non-dairy milks have a really strong flavor or are overly sweet – I’d stay away from those in this recipe.
• Applesauce – Adds volume, sweetness, and moisture without watering the muffin batter down. Runny muffin batter will lead to totally flat muffins, which no one wants.
• Egg whites – These are the glue that bring the dough together and add a bit of protein too.
• Protein powder – I used a plant based protein powder in this recipe. If you don’t have vegan protein or don’t want to buy it, I recommend using a whey/casein blend instead. Whey alone tends to yield a chewy baked product that doesn’t rise nearly as much, but it’s okay to use in a pinch. If you opt for a dairy based protein powder, you’ll need to cut down on the almond milk to about 1/2 cup.
• Dutch cocoa powder – For maximum meltiness, I highly recommend buying a dark chocolate bar (find them in the baking section) and chopping it up yourself. Sure, you could buy pre-made chocolate chunks, but they are usually coated with something to keep them from sticking. That interferes with melting and nobody wants that!
• Espresso powder – I love using espresso powder in chocolate baking recipes because it really helps strengthen and highlight the chocolate flavor.
• Baking powder – This gives the muffins a good rise as they cook, plus helps add air in the final muffins, meaning they’re less dense.
• Baking soda – This helps the muffins rise much like the baking powder, but it also helps them get that beautiful golden brown color.
• Strawberries – Raspberries would work well paired up with the chocolate too. Fresh or frozen will work just fine!
• Chocolate chunks – For maximum meltiness, I highly recommend buying a dark chocolate bar (find them in the baking section) and chopping it up yourself. Sure, you could buy pre-made chocolate chunks, but they are usually coated with something to keep them from sticking. That interferes with melting and nobody wants that!
• Maple Syrup – You need a bit of sweetness to bring out those chocolatey flavors.
• Peanut butter – Adds some much needed fat to the muffins, keeping them from being dry and crumbly. You could also just use the egg yolks or opt for another nut butter, but I like the bit of extra sweetness that comes from the peanut butter.
• Vanilla extract – Like salt in a savory dish, vanilla tends to enhance the flavors of a sweet recipe.

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