CHOCOLATE CHERRY COLLAGEN PROTEIN MUFFINS
These Chocolate Cherry Collagen Protein Muffins should be on your “must bake” list! They’re tender and fluffy, with perfectly browned muffin tops and lots of juicy cherries and melty chocolate inside. These muffins never last long between me and the girls! Best of all, they’re gluten-free, dairy-free and high in protein. You might also like my Banana Collagen Protein Muffins or my Lemon Poppyseed Collagen Protein Muffins 🙂
Did you know? Consuming 5g of collagen peptides daily has been shown to reduce number of facial wrinkles, as well as redness, and dryness (source).
For these Chocolate Cherry Collagen Protein Muffins, I used a combination of unflavored collagen peptides, gluten-free baking flour, and coconut flour. I almost always use coconut flour with collagen recipes because collagen can make baked goods “goopy” inside but coconut flour absorbs some of that.
Collagen substitutions
These muffins get their protein from LIV Body Flavorless Marine Collagen. I just love collagen for baking – it makes baked goods so tender and moist! Marine collagen is highly bioavailable and rich in type I collagen, the most integral type of collagen in the human body. Use my code “NOEXCUSES” for 20% off all LIV Body products! This recipe calls for 60 grams of unflavored collagen, but you can use as little as 30 grams.
You can also swap the collagen out for two tablespoons of gluten-free baking flour or one extra tablespoon of coconut flour. If using whey, casein, or a vegan protein powder, I suggest starting with half as much or 30 grams (these protein powders tend to be more absorbent). You can also substitute the coconut flour for twice as much gluten-free baking flour. I wouldn’t recommend using just coconut flour because the texture might be a little coarse.
Sweetener substitutions
To sweeten these muffins, I used my favorite stevia-erythritol blend which is organic, calorie-free, and twice as sweet as sugar. Feel free to use any sweetener you like! Bear in mind, if you’re using erythritol, monk fruit, baking stevia or other sweeteners that measure 1-to-1 like sugar, you’ll need up to twice as much (one cup).
Other substitutions
Collagen baked goods need extra binding agents to hold them together, so I used an egg whites. If you can’t have eggs, substitute two flax eggs or a vegan egg replacer. You can also substitute two whole eggs for the egg white if you prefer!
Oh and feel free to replace the unsweetened almond milk with whatever milk you have on hand! The almond butter can also be swapped out for cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, even tahini. A quarter cup of melted coconut oil or buttery spread should also work 😉
Last but not least, these wouldn’t be Chocolate Cherry Collagen Protein Muffins without some dark sweet cherries and dark chocolate! You can use fresh or frozen cherries – just make sure they’re pitted. I used dairy-free dark chocolate chunks.
Here’s the printable recipe for these Chocolate Cherry Collagen Protein Muffins! I hope you’ll rate and comment below if you try them 🙂
This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by LIV Body.
Chocolate Cherry Collagen Protein Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60g) flavorless collagen protein powder* I used LIV Body Marine Collagen, use code "NOEXCUSES" for 20% off
- 1/2 cup (65g) gluten-free baking flour*
- 1/2 cup (60g) coconut flour*
- 1/2 cup calorie-free sweetener* I used one that's twice as sweet as sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt optional
- 1/2 cup (4 large) egg whites*
- 1/4 cup creamy almond butter*
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk*
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup cherries fresh or frozen
- 1 oz. dark chocolate chunks
*See blog post above for substitutions.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Whisk together dry ingredients (through salt) in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add wet ingredients (through vanilla) and mix until no clumps remain.
- Gently fold in cherries and chocolate (mixture will be thick).
- Scoop batter into nine wells of a muffin tin that have been coated with cooking spray. If you're using liners, you don't need cooking spray.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick or knife inserted comes out mostly clean.
- Leftover muffins will keep in the fridge in an airtight container at least one week, or in the freezer at least one month.
Notes
Also in Blog
CHOCOLATE PEANUT PROTEIN CANDY BARS (VEGAN)
PUMPKIN CHIP PROTEIN BREAD (GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE)
This Pumpkin Chip Protein Bread has a rich, tender texture full of pumpkin spice and chocolate chips (no dry protein bread here). The kids and I can't get enough! Best of all, it's gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and easily made egg-free and vegan.
