not too sweet buckwheat and chocolate chunk breakfast muffins

with carrot, zucchini, apple, buttermilk, yogurt and oats

oddly enough this recipe combines two things i’m not normally a huge fan of (muffins and meal prep) into one thing that i am a pretty big fan of: a healthy-ish, sweet but not too sweet breakfast that lasts the whole week.

any given weekday morning, if i’m even in the mood to eat breakfast, i tend to have something small and sweet: a bowl of granola with some fruit, an oat cookie, a little slice of cake or a pastry, a piece of toast with jam and butter. it was with this morning routine in mind that i recently flipped through one of my favorite cookbooks, natasha pickowicz’s more than cake, looking for a breakfast bake to try. her millet, parsnip, and chocolate chunk muffins stuck out to me immediately, and after reading the headnote i knew they were the bake i was after:

We expect muffins to perform the tricky double act of being both scrumptious and healthy, but it’s not as simple as reducing the fat and sugar, which can leave muffins tough, monotonous, and all-around dreadful. Muffins can feel like a treat; if the base batter is rich in moisture and intensely flavored, you can confidently sprinkle in your favorite crunchy textures, bright flavors, and a few sneaky treats like chocolate chips, too.

my batch of millet and parsnip muffins

Shreds of grated parsnip offer nutty, earthy moisture and a shaggy texture. A coating of millet seeds cloaks the muffins with a satisfying crunch, a texture our palates crave. A handful of chopped dark chocolate suggests decadence, in moderation.

the resulting muffins (which i made more seasonally appropriate with carrot instead of parsnip) were delicious. there were a few things i knew i would do differently if i made them again, but that’s just about always the case with me; for better or worse, i simply can’t help myself.

after five days of enjoying the fruits (muffins) of my labor with my morning cup of coffee, i still wasn’t sick of them. in fact i wished i had more, so i decided to use the recipe as a jumping off point to make my ideal breakfast muffins that still hit that sweet spot between healthy-ish (aka not too sweet, loaded with veg and “healthy” things) and, like natasha’s recipe, feeling like a treat (moist, spiced cake with a just scattering of dark chocolate chunks).

my breakfast muffins from the top and on the inside

i made quite a few changes to natasha’s recipe, first in an effort to streamline the 18 ingredients, then (after that failed) in an effort to give it my own vibe (aka buckwheat, lol). i ended up with a recipe that has 20 ingredients, but you can chop it down to 16 without doing too much harm; just lose the zucchini and apple, ground cardamom and millet—they will still turn out great.

when i made natasha’s recipe, i shredded the carrot by hand with a box grater, which was the most “difficult” part of the recipe, so i decided to let my food processor do the work when i went to develop my take on the muffins. i suggest you do the same if you can but a box grater works too, just do yourself the favor of drying off your vegetables so you don’t lose grip on a slippery carrot and grate your knuckles instead.

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this time last year:

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not too sweet buckwheat and chocolate chunk breakfast muffins

makes 12 muffins; recipe is an adaption of the millet, parsnip, and chocolate chunk muffins from natasha pickowicz’s more than cake

100 grams carrot (about 3 small)

100 grams zucchini (about 1 small; option to use carrot here instead)

50 grams apple (about a quarter of an apple; option to use carrot here instead)

150 grams dark chocolate (i like 70% cacao for this recipe)

115 grams unsalted butter, room temperature

130 grams granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 grams buttermilk, room temperature

100 grams plain yogurt, room temperature

130 grams all-purpose flour

100 grams buckwheat flour

60 grams rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, optional

1 teaspoon salt

30 grams toasted buckwheat groats and/or raw millet, optional

1. preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F. grease the cups of your muffin tin; i like to use leftover butter wrappers that i store in the fridge/freezer for this, but you can use a little butter and your fingers, baking spray or a little bit of oil and a pastry brush.

2. shred 100 grams (about 3 small) carrots, 100 grams (about 1 small) zucchini and 50 grams (about a quarter) apple by hand with a large box grater or using the large shred function on a food processor and add to a mixing bowl. roughly chop 150 grams chocolate and add to the bowl. set aside.

3. in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream 115 grams unsalted butter and 130 grams granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. add 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix to combine, another minute. scrape the bowl and paddle again, then add 100 grams buttermilk and 100 grams plain yogurt and mix to combine; if it doesn’t mix well and splits, don’t worry, just continue on with the next step.

4. remove the bowl and paddle from the stand mixer and weigh in 130 grams all-purpose flour, 100 grams buckwheat flour, 60 grams rolled oats, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and 1 teaspoon salt directly into the bowl. refit the bowl onto the stand mixer and pulse gently once or twice, then let mix on low speed until mostly combined. remove and use a rubber spatula to fold in the shredded carrot, zucchini, apple and chocolate chunks until well combined.

5. use an ice cream scoop or two spoons to portion the batter into the buttered muffin cups, filling them evenly to about 3/4 full. sprinkle the tops with 30 grams toasted buckwheat groats and/or millet, if using, and bake until the muffins are slightly domed and spring back when poked gently, about 25 minutes.

6. let cool for a least 15 minutes in the muffin tin, then use a small offset spatula or butter knife to loosen the edges and remove. serve immediately or store leftover cooled muffins tightly wrapped or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.