A very easy recipe for keto chocolate chip muffins, made with almond flour and sweetened with stevia.
They make the perfect keto weekend breakfast, and they're also excellent as a quick afternoon snack.
I am very guilty of having these muffins for breakfast EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past two weeks. You see, I had no choice! I had to experiment in order to achieve perfection. 😂
And I've achieved it! These muffins are SO GOOD. And filling! I have two of them for breakfast with a mug of coffee and I'm good for several hours.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make these keto chocolate chip muffins. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Eggs: I use large eggs in most of my recipes, this one included.
- Sour cream: Plain full-fat Greek yogurt also works.
- Vanilla extract: Try to use the real thing - pure vanilla extract - and not the artificially flavored stuff.
- Sweetener: I use stevia. See my comments below about substitutions.
- Almond flour: A wonderful flour substitute that bakes exceptionally well. I use blanched finely ground almond flour and don't recommend using a coarse almond meal in this recipe. For best results, it's best to measure the almond flour by weight and not by volume. This is always true when baking, and I find it especially true when baking with almond flour and coconut flour.
- Sea salt and baking soda: If you'd like to try using gluten-free baking powder (though I haven't tested it in this recipe), remember that ¼ teaspoon of baking soda is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
- Mini dark chocolate chips: The darker you can go (and still enjoy them) the better.
Instructions
Making these keto chocolate chip muffins is so easy! Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
Whisk the ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) by hand, in the order listed, starting with the liquid ingredients.
Fold in the chocolate chips, reserving ½ oz. You'll use those to top the muffins.
Divide the batter between greased foil liners. Scatter the remaining chocolate chip on top.
Bake the muffins until puffed and set and a toothpick inserted in one of them comes out dry. This should take about 20 minutes in a 325°F oven.
Expert tips
This recipe relies on baking soda to make the muffins rise. To ensure your muffins do rise, here are three important tips:
- The sour cream is not optional. Its acidity is needed to activate the baking soda. You could perhaps substitute full-fat Greek yogurt for the sour cream (it's acidic too), but I haven't tried that.
- Please make sure that the chocolate chips you use are made with cacao that was not treated with alkali (it should state so on the ingredients list if it was). Alkali-treated chocolate is not acidic, and again, acidity is needed here for the baking soda to work properly.
- This probably goes without saying, but make sure your baking soda is fresh. It should last for a long time - about three years - but I replace it every 6 months. It's also a good idea, once opened, to store the box in an airtight container so that it doesn't absorb odors.
Frequently asked questions
I use stevia to sweeten these muffins. I really like stevia glycerite. The thick glycerin base nearly eliminates the bitter aftertaste typical of other stevia products.
I only tested these muffins with stevia, but if you'd like to experiment with other sweeteners, the amount of stevia I use equals ½ cup of sugar.
Big, heavy chocolate chips pose a risk of sinking to the bottom of baked goods, especially almond flour baked goods. So I prefer to use mini chocolate chips in this recipe.
Using mini chocolate chips also enables me to use a little less than I normally would. So I can use the real stuff (I don't like stevia-sweetened chocolate) while still keeping these muffins keto and low carb.
These muffins have two things going against browning. They're made with almond flour, which doesn't brown as easily as wheat flour, and they are sweetened with stevia, so they don't have sugar or honey to promote browning.
They do become golden brown at the very last stage of baking. In my oven, I bake them for exactly 24 minutes. They're actually done after 22 minutes according to the toothpick test, but I leave them in the oven for a couple more minutes.
This allows them to brown without drying them out. But I wouldn't bake them for longer than 25 minutes, or they could dry out.
It's been my experience that greased foil liners work best in this recipe. There's more of a sticking issue when using paper liners, even greased ones.
I know that some worry about aluminum foil touching their food, so if you prefer paper liners, it should be okay. They might stick slightly to the liners, but it's not too bad. But foil liners do work better. Another option might be silicone baking cups, if you're not opposed to those, although I haven't tried this option myself.
Variations
I love this recipe as is and almost always make it as written. But in case you'd like to vary the basic recipe, here are a few ideas for you:
- Use whole-milk Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
- Use a different flavor extract such as coconut or almond extract. Use just 1 teaspoon of those.
- Use blueberries instead of chocolate chips.
- Replace the chocolate chips with chopped raw nuts or add them in addition to the chocolate chips. Use about ¼ cup.
Serving suggestions
These muffins are perfect for breakfast, but they're also excellent as a quick snack. I like to gently warm them up in the microwave before enjoying them.
Storing leftovers
These muffins are excellent when freshly baked. Once completely cooled, you can keep the leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Gently warm them in the microwave before enjoying them - 10 seconds per muffin on 50% power.
You can also successfully freeze these muffins in freezer bags. I take two of them out of the freezer the night before and place them in the fridge, then gently reheat them in the microwave the next morning.
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Recipe card
Keto Chocolate Chip Muffins
INGREDIENTS
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon stevia glycerite (equals ½ cup sugar)
- 2 cups blanched finely ground almond flour (8 oz)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup mini dark chocolate chips (2 oz), divided
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with 12 foil liners and grease the liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and stevia.
- Mix in the almond flour, whisking until the batter is smooth and free of lumps.
- Mix in the sea salt and the baking soda. Then fold the chocolate chips in, reserving about ½ oz of them to scatter on top of the muffins.
- Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the muffin liners. Scatter the reserved chocolate chips on top.
- Bake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
- Cool the muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then serve.
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NOTES
- For best results, it's best to measure the almond flour by weight and not by volume. This is always true when baking, and I find it's especially true when baking with almond flour and coconut flour.
- The sour cream is not optional. Its acidity is needed to activate the baking soda.
- Big, heavy chocolate chips pose a risk of sinking to the bottom of baked goods, especially almond flour baked goods. So I prefer to use mini chocolate chips in this recipe.
- It's been my experience that greased foil liners work best in this recipe. There's more of a sticking issue when using paper liners, even greased ones.
ADD YOUR OWN NOTES
NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 