Chocolate vegan muffins with a hint of orange, and only approx 100 calories per serving!
This was my 4th attempt at this recipe and I have finally perfected it – for the most delicious Low Calorie Chocolate Muffins!
Only 100 calorie per muffin and pretty damn tasty.
I came to the conclusion that in order to have a truly delicious chocolate-y muffin, you need to use actual chocolate.
These muffins are:
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- Eggless
- Wholegrain
- Low fat
- Low calorie
What’s your favourite kind of muffin?
Usually I’m a lemon poppyseed muffin kind of girl but now I’m thinking chocolate orange is definitely the way to go…

Low Calorie Chocolate Muffins (Vegan)
Moist, light & chocolatey muffins with all the flavour and a fraction of the calories!
Ingredients
- 180 ml / ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 50 g coarsely chopped dairy-free dark chocolate, melted
- Zest and juice from 1 medium orange
- 190 ml / ¾ cup + 1 tbsp agave nectar
- (Optional) 1 tsp natural orange flavouring
- 125 g / 1 ¼ cup spelt or plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- (Optional) A few dark chocolate chips for decorating on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170c / 350f and line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
- Mix the almond milk, melted chocolate, orange juice and zest, agave nectar and orange flavouring in a bowl or jug.
- In another bowl, stir together the spelt flour, baking powder, bicarb and cocoa powder.
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until well combined.
- Divide the mixture equally between the 12 muffin cases and top with a few dark chocolate chips, if desired.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until firm on top. Leave to cool before serving.
- Store in an air-tight tin for up to 3 days. Enjoy!
Notes
*You can sub wholegrain wheat flour or wholegrain gluten-free flour, if you prefer.
**I used a dark chocolate orange bar to give it even more orange flavour! But it works just as well with plain dark chocolate.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12Amount Per Serving Calories 108Carbohydrates 17gFiber 1gSugar 8gProtein 2g
Joshua Pastelin says
Hi I wanted to know how I could edit or delete all my comments in any way? Please tell me if there’s any way I can do that!
Joshua Pastelin says
I tried this recipe for a school project and the girl in my group who baked it made it taste like shit because first of all they were like 3 inches small and rock hard. There was left over ingredients so I made some at home and I can only say that these are the best chocolate orange muffins I’ve had. I can’t believe this recipe is free online.
Aimee says
Haha thanks Joshua! Happy to hear that :)
Joshua Pastelin says
I have made this recipe twice now on my own at home and I this is by far the best recipe I have ever tasted!!! I shared this recipe with other to show them the tastyness of your muffins!!! Also thank you for responding!!!
bob says
Do your Melt the chocolate bar? If so do you have to us it nessacary or do you just chunknit up?
Aimee says
Hi Bob, sorry I didn’t make that clear in the recipe – yes, melted and incorporated into the wet ingredients.
Jessica says
Hey! This recipe looks amazing! Does the spelt flour need to be wholegrain or white? Thank you :)
Aimee says
Hi Jessica, you can use white wheat plain flour or wholegrain flour instead!
Chelsea says
How many tablespoons (or other measurement) would 30g of cocoa powder be? I don’t have a scale at home and want to try these but the conversions are hard to figure out via google lol
Nikita says
Hi, can agave nectar be replaced with something else?
Aimee says
Maple syrup, golden syrup or another equivalent liquid sweetener. It might alter the calorie count slightly, but probably not by much.
Tara says
Could I use oat flour instead?
Aimee says
I’m really not sure, to be honest. I haven’t tested it so can’t say one way or another. My friend Natalie has a recipe for chocolate cupcakes with oat flour though: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/the-best-healthy-chocolate-cupcakes/
Pj says
Yum! Could I use maple syrup in place of the agave? :)
Maria says
DELICIOUS! I LOVED these muffins! They were so yummy and chocolatey and overall amazing! I actually ended up making them into mini muffins and swapping regular milk for the almond milk and honey for agave and using a mixture of oat flour and all purpose flour (just the stuff I had on hand) but they came out lovely! I’ll definitely be using this recipe again, thank you so much for sharing it!!
Carmen says
I love stuff like this but I don’t care for orange and chocolate together. What could be used in place of the orange?
Aimee says
You can leave the orange out, if you like! Or if you want to add other flavours, you could try lemon, cinnamon, peppermint etc. Let me know how you get on!
Jennifer says
Hmm I got 124 calories each, and I didn’t even add the chocolate :( Still pretty low but I was so excited about the concept of a 100 calorie muffin!
Aimee says
The problem with calorie counters is that every brand is going to have different nutritional values and it’s never going to be 100% accurate. Using the ingredients I had, I got 100 calories but like you say – 124 still ain’t bad ;-) If you’re set on having it under 100 cals, you could use less chocolate, it will still be delicious!
Jules says
These muffins are truly delicious and so fluffy! Thanks for the recipe :)
Aimee says
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Thanks Jules :-)
Effe Kokonios says
Hi! these muffins look so yummy!! is the recipe for mini sized muffins or normal? :)
Aimee says
Hi Effe, thank you! They are for full-sized muffins :-) Let me know if you try them!
Alison @Food by Mars says
Oh dear these look yummie. They won’t be 100 calories when I eat 7 :) Lovely work!
Shiran @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet. says
These look amazing, Aimee! I LOVE the combination of chocolate and orange, so they are perfect for me, and I love to learn from you about healthier dessert options!
Aimee says
Thanks Shiran! Chocolate and orange are amazing together… I have to stop myself from making all my recipes about chocolate and orange :)
Melanie @ Food Heals Me says
I know how it feels to make something again and again to finally have that perfect dessert. These must be really good, and I would feel less guilty indulging in one of them because they are only 100 calories! I’ll take two please. ;)
Aimee says
Exactly, you can happily have double servings!
Sharon @ Bit of the Good Stuff says
Stunning pics Aimee! I’m definitely going to have to try these. I adore the choc-orange combo! :D
Aimee says
Thank you Sharon! Me too :D
Kerri says
These look and sound amazing! Where do you find “natural orange flavoring” and can I substitute cacao powder for the cocoa powder?
Aimee says
Thanks Kerri! I bought my natural orange flavouring from the baking section in a supermarket but you could also try baking and specialist stores. Or simply leave it out. And yes I’ve used cocoa and cacao powder interchangeably in the past with good results :-) Let me know if you give these a try!
Sarah | Well and Full says
I love how you complemented the chocolate with fresh orange, that sounds lovely! :)
Aimee says
Chocolate and orange together make me so happy :-)
Nadia's Healthy Kitchen says
Mmmm anything chocolate and orange is a winner in my book :)
Aimee says
Agreed!
Cathryn says
These look so good! I’ve been baking lots before baby arrives and to schedule lots of blog posts and I need to stop eating everything I bake.
Beautiful photographs as always.
Aimee says
Thanks Cathyrn! And congrats :-) How long now before the baby arrives? I think you’ve got a pretty good excuse to eat more though!
Jessica Edmunds says
Chocolate orange is THE best combo and such a great idea for when y bf is munching jaffa cakes haha xx
Aimee says
Isn’t it just? I think I’ll need to keep an endless supply of these… x
Preety says
These looks delicious.. My daughter loves chocolat..I’m making these cuming weekend for hr.. This for sharing
Aimee says
Thank Preety! Let me know how you get on :-)
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist says
lovely cupcakes and I love that you could eat a whole batch and still be within calorie count!! Chocolate & orange is such a classic and delicious combo. Yum!! x
Aimee says
Thanks Kate! x