Hot Chocolate Peppermint Muffins

Rich chocolate muffins topped with toasted marshmallows and peppermint chips.

‘Tis the season to eat decadent muffins every morning until the day after Christmas…make that the day after New Year’s.

It’s totally okay to eat these muffins every day because they’ve been healthified. Now, don’t confuse healthified with healthy. These hot chocolate peppermint muffins are not by any means super healthy, just healthier. You still get all the richness of a butter-induced muffin without all the butter. Does that make sense?

To make these muffins healthier, I used whole wheat flour, low-fat buttermilk, and replaced half the butter with melted coconut oil.

I used Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Flour in this recipe. Each bag of their whole wheat flour is stone ground from hard red wheat and has all of the nutritious bran and germ still intact–nothing is lost in the grinding process. Their whole wheat flour is robust, nutty, full-flavored, and each bag contains several vitamins, minerals, and protein. I like to use a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour when I’m baking.

What you get is a healthier muffin pretending to be unhealthy. It does a good job, too, because all you taste is rich, buttery, chocolate-filled goodness.

To make these muffins extra special, I nestled a few mini marshmallows in the batter after I filled the muffin tins and topped each muffin with a teaspoon of peppermint chips.

These muffins are a perfect balance of sweet, chocolatey goodness. They’re moist, tender, and loaded with chocolate chips. If you have any muffins leftover, pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm and they’ll taste just like they came out of the oven.

These hot chocolate peppermint muffins are best served often and with a piping hot beverage (hot chocolate, maybe) while you get cozy on the couch with a blanket and watch Christmas movies.

Click here to receive a $1 off coupon for any Bob’s Red Mill product.

Print Recipe

Hot Chocolate Peppermint Muffins

Rich chocolate muffins topped with toasted marshmallows and peppermint chips.

Yield: 12 muffins

Total Time: 25 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 18-20 minutes

Ingredients:

Wet:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dry:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 36 mini marshmallows
• 1/3 cup peppermint chips (I used Andes brand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, add wet ingredients. Whisk to combine.

Add dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill the tins 3/4 full with batter. Nestle 3 mini marshmallows on top of each muffin and sprinkle the batter with 1 teaspoon of peppermint chips. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F. and place the muffins in the oven. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Do not over bake.

Allow the muffins to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

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