Chocolate Muffins with Peanut Butter Frosting: Low Sugar, Low Fat, Whole Grain, Lots of Variations

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch our family of 6 struggle to nurse its chocolate habit and still eat real food on $6/day.

Last week I had the best idea ever: low sugar chocolate muffins with low sugar peanut butter frosting. This brilliant idea was followed by a violent craving for such delicious virtuousness.

But try looking up low sugar chocolate muffin on the internet. Just try it.

You'll find a lot of things with Splenda and several low-fat recipes, which contain plenty of sugar. You'll find a few recipes in grams, which makes it even more glaringly obvious that Americans think sugar belongs on the bottom level of the food pyramid, even though they still have fat relegated to the tiny top triangle. You'll find recipes with about 2 Tbsp of cocoa for a big old batch of muffins. But you won't find a nice dark chocolate-y muffin with very little sugar inside and no artificial sweeteners. At least I didn't. I was full of righteous indignation and immediately turned out a dark chocolate muffin with only 1/4 C sugar for the whole 12 large muffined batch (and all whole grains to boot).

And then I realized why this might be more of a challenge than I had originally thought. The muffins were just short of bitter, and possibly only edible due to the peanut butter frosting that did turn out rather well. It was mostly me and Emma making our way through them--I through duty and she through baby-like ignorance of sweeter things. (Ah, the baby-like ignorance...)

I doubled the sugar in the next batch I turned out and added a wee bit of all-purpose flour. This fixed the problem completely and they were nice and chocolate-y and very good. They were also popular with the minions. But by this point, each frosted muffin had about 3 tsp sugar, which is hardly the worst thing in the world, but I felt that this added sugar relegated them to healthy after-school snackdom, rather than guilt-free breakfast-hood (what, I've got my standards, okay).

Still, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to scale the sugar back again. I knew I could only do it by reducing the amount of cocoa and I wanted a good chocolate-y muffin. I perservered (the life of a food blogging mother being wrought with peril, you see) and even tried a batch using applesauce instead of oil, although this is generally against my principles. These muffins were quite good too, even the applesauce ones. They were not, I must in all good conscience tell you, as good. They are still a muffin of compromise--a muffin that had to sacrifice some of it's deep chocolate-y-ness for a healthier punch. Maybe I should have called them Middle Age Muffins or Old Gray Mare Muffins or maybe Four Children Later Muffins, but we all know that those titles aren't the ones that will bring in the big bucks. So we'll stick with the words 'chocolate,' 'peanut butter,' 'low-fat' and even 'low sugar'--that's where the glamour is. And don't worry if you haven't had four kids and aren't approaching your mid-30's, I'll give you the scoop on those healthy after school muffins too, so you can decide how righteous you wish to be. (And if it's cupcakes you're after, check the web because Americans don't seem to have a problem turning out recipes for those.) 

P.S. These muffins can go without the frosting just fine, but the frosting is nice because (well, because it's super yum, but also because) it adds a nice bit of protein and a bit of moisture for those extra virtuous ones. However, they also add a bit more sugar and of course, some fat.

Chocolate Muffins with Peanut Butter Frosting: Low Sugar, Low Fat, Whole Grain
adapted from One Bowl Oatmeal Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Cost:

1 C quick oats or 1/2 C oat flour (some families, not to mention any names, have trouble with texture, so they play it save with the flour, although the quick oats don't add tons of chunkiness)
1 C milk
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 egg
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C applesauce
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C all-purpose flour
4-6 Tbsp cocoa (I used 5 and thought I could get away with one more)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (You could replace this with 1/4 tsp almond extract--both flavors give the chocolate a little depth, so choose your poison or your weapon or just whatever--the metaphor sort of got away from me there)
1/4 C chocolate chips (optional) (I bet you could use coconut instead if your minions would not revolt)

Put oatmeal in a bowl (If using oat flour, add it with the other flours). Pour milk over oats. Add vinegar and stir. Let it sit a minute if you've got the time.

Add egg. Add applesauce. Add sugar.

Sift in flours, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (I sort of give mine a mix on top of the wet ingredients, but you could combine in a different bowl if you'd like). Stir into wet ingredients until just combined. Note: If the batter is very wet (the quick oats variation tended to be a little wetter), add 1-2 Tbsp more whole wheat flour.

Add chocolate chips if using.

 Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Frosting 1--Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 C peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp butter
1/4 C powdered sugar (you may even be able to get away with 2 Tbsp. Try it and see if it needs more sweetness)
1 Tbsp milk or cream if necessary

Beat peanut butter and butter. Add powdered sugar. Add milk if necessary to loosen it up (I melted my peanut butter so it wasn't.)

You could also (see below) try adding 1/2-1 oz. cream cheese instead of the milk, though I haven't tried it.

Frosting 2--Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Frosting:

I like this one quite a bit, but was going for more of a peanut butter punch. I bet you could add 1-2 Tbsp of cream cheese to the top recipe instead of the milk/cream option to get the best of all worlds.

2 oz. cream cheese
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1/4 C powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Add powdered sugar.

Frosting 3--Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

Make the 1st frosting and add 3-4 Tbsp cocoa to it. I preferred the frosings just with the peanut butter, but if you're even more of a chocolate nut than me and mine, go for it.

Muffin Variation 1--Living Dangerously:

Replace the applesauce with 1/2 C canola oil or butter.

But why, you ask. Because it is somewhat richer and allows the chocolate flavor of the cocoa to come through more. If you don't care about fat, or if your kids need a little more of it on their bones, go for it. You'll have a slightly richer muffin.

Muffin Variation 2--Relegated to Healthy After School Snackdom (My Favorite)

Replace the applesauce with 1/2 C oil or butter.
Use 1/2 C sugar (instead of 1/4 C)
Use 1/2 C cocoa (instead of 4-6 Tbsp.)

Heck, add 1/2 C chocolate chips while you're at it.

And lick off the frosting knife. Quick, no one's looking.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Garlic Mustard Vinaigrette

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch as our family of 6 tries to eat on $6/day.

Guess who's never spelled vinaigrette before today? In fact, now that I'm aware of its proper spelling I believe I've been saying it incorrectly as well. No wonder I don't get invited to fancy dinner parties. I'd surely be wandering about in last year's (if I'm lucky) fashions chatting up that there vinegar-ette. But no more. Now I am a changed woman. Now I will wander about in last year's (fine, it's more like 6 year's ago) fashions discussing lovely vinaigrettes--a word that rolls off the tongue in a way that is properly French. So invite me to your dinner parties, okay. I promise not to use a toothpick to pick my teeth.

Garlic Mustard Vinaigrette
adapted from The New Best Recipe
Serves: 4
Prep time: 3 minutes
Cost: 10 cents-ish

Note: Best Recipe recommends this for bitter salad greens (endive, chicory, dandelion greens, etc., but I think it works with anything)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sour cream (yogurt would probably work too)
1 1/2 tsp clear vinegar (white wine or plain old distilled or whatever, but not balsalmic or red or something like that)
1 tsp mustard (the fancier the better, but even the dull, cheap stuff words)
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, mashed into a puree
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a jar or tightly sealed tupperware container and shake the shadingdang out of it. (You see, this is why I still will not be invited to fancy dinner parties--what I meant to say was 'shake vigorously until emulsified.') Emulsified, if you too have been missing out on the fancy dinner parties, means that it's all mixed together and the oil is no longer separate from the rest of the stuff.

Pour onto your salad. It should just coat the leaves of the lettuce rather than be thick and, you know, Ranch-dressing-y.

Any unused vinaigrette can be stored in the refrigerator. Just be sure to give it a good shake before you use it again to re-emulsify the things that have separated.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Chicken Pot Pie

Cheap Eat Challenge: Can a family of 6 eat cheap and tasty (and pretty healthy too) on $6/day? Let's find out.

I call this "sunburst of the heart" pie, and don't even think of stealing my brilliant design because it's, like, trademarked or whatever due to the utter genius of my artistry. It's going on display next month at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so if you think it's just a dowdy pie in an old-ish looking pan with a blob of extra dough in the middle, that just shows how little you know about modern art. It also shows that I did not get one single decent picture of the cut pie. Alas.

So we got our dreary rainy day. Perfect for chicken pot pie. If it's hot in your neck of the woods, I feel confident that more chilly/rainy/drearyness will come and go before things level out. So put this in your back pocket and maybe freeze some of the leftover meat from your next roast chicken. Because chicken pot pie is an excellent leftover meal.

Which is a lot of the appeal. If you have a little chicken and some broth or drippings, plus some vegetables--even if they're not the perkiest--hanging out in your refrigerator, then you just need a dough and you're good to go. We didn't have enough meat for a full sized chicken pot pie. I was going to make little ones in ramekins (which would have been lovely), but utter laziness won out and I discovered that if you simply fold the sides of your pie crust down a bit, you can make them fit whatever size fillings you've got. Add the sunburst of heart design, and you've got yourself a winner.

Chicken Pot Pie
adapted from The New Best Recipe
Serves 4-8
Prep time: 10 minutes (if chicken already made; otherwise, you'll need an extra 20 minutes to boil some chicken meat)
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $4.40
(crust: 1.35, chicken: 2.00, vegetables: .50, flour: .05, butter: .30, milk: .20)

Note on vegetables: Use what you've got. I used carrots, kale, and peas. But celery, potatoes, corn, beans, asparagus, mushrooms, or pretty much any vegetable would work as well.

1 recipe Basic Butter Pie Crust
1-1 1/2 lb shredded chicken (I used only 8 oz. and folded my pie crust down)
2 C chicken broth (chicken gravy will also work. I used broth and added the very flavorful drippings from the chicken I'd roasted. If you broth is weak, you may want to add 1 chicken buillion cube)
1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
3 medium carrots, diced
1-2 large kale leaves, shredded with the ribs removed and chopped
3/4 C peas
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
3 Tbsp lemon juice (I forgot this, but it's supposed to brighten up the color of the vegetables; Best Recipe says sherry works even better, but we never have that around so lemon juice it is)
2-3 Tbsp fresh parsley (optional)
Make the pie dough.

If not using a leftover chicken, boil your chicken until it's no longer pink. Shred the chicken.

Heat oven to 400 while you prepare the vegetables.

If using leftover vegetables, warm them before proceeding. If using raw vegetables (as I did), heat oil in large frying pan. Add onion, carrots, and any other uncooked hard vegetables (so no peas, tomatoes, spinach, or cooked stuff). Saute for a couple minutes, then add the kale stems. Saute another minute and add the kale leaves. When the leaves are wilty and the vegetables are somewhat tender (but not mushy or overly soft). Salt and pepper to taste and take the vegetables off the heat and set them aside with the shredded chicken.

Heat butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook about a minute. Add chicken broth, any drippings you have, milk, and thyme. Bring to simmer and simmer until the sauce thickens (probably 1-2 minutes). Stir in lemon juice if using.

Pour sauce over chicken/vegetable mixture. Add any soft vegetables (peas, tomatoes, corn from a can, cooked leftover veggies, etc.) Add parsley if using. Stir and add salt and pepper if needed. (You can do this early and keep it in the fridge till dinner if you wish. Just warm the mixture before pouring in the pie crust.)

Pour mixture into pie crust. Cover with second pie crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the dough, add the leftover blobs of dough in artistic and beautiful ways, as seen above.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the pasty is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let it sit for a few minutes and then cut right in and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE