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–+ servings
A chocolate chunk muffin on a table.
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double chocolate protein muffins (Costco copycat, no protein powder)

All the deep chocolate of the Costco bakery muffin with a fraction of the sugar. Cottage cheese does the work, a chopped dark chocolate bar melts through the crumb, and there is no protein powder anywhere.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time28 minutes
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 343kcal
Author: Mika Kinney

Ingredients

dry

  • 1-⅓ cups all-purpose flour reserve 1 tablespoon for the chocolate
  • ⅔ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ¼ cup ground flax seeds
  • 2-½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt

wet

  • 1-½ cups cottage cheese blended, measured before blending
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup Greek yogurt plain, non-fat
  • ⅓ cup avocado oil

added last

  • ⅓ cup hot milk or hot coffee

chocolate

  • 1-¼ cups chopped dark chocolate, 60 to 70% or chips

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425°F and line a muffin tin with aluminum liners. This batter likes to stick so best to use parchment paper liners or aluminum ones.
  • Chop the 1-¼ cups chopped dark chocolate, 60 to 70% into bits.
  • Whisk the 1-⅓ cups all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, ½ cup almond flour, ¼ cup ground flax seeds, 2-½ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp baking soda, and ¾ tsp salt.
  • Lightly blend together 1-½ cups cottage cheese, ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, 3 eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, ¾ cup maple syrup, 2 tbsp brown sugar, ⅓ cup Greek yogurt, and ⅓ cup avocado oil. Don't overblend!
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir. Some flour streaks are ok. Rest the batter 15 minutes. The flax and cocoa need this time to hydrate, and skipping it is what makes chocolate muffins bake dry.
    Fold in the chocolate chunks. Save some for the top of the muffins.
  • Heat the ⅓ cup hot milk (or coffee) until steaming. Stream it into the batter, stirring just until it comes together. The batter will loosen and go visibly darker.
    Adding coffee to the batter.
  • Scoop immediately into the lined tin, filling only every other cup, very full and domed. Work in two batches.
    Muffin batter in the muffin tray every other one.
  • Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350°F and bake 15 to 18 more without opening the oven.
  • Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then transfer and cool completely, about 30 minutes, for the centers to finish setting. If you try to peel back the liners while they are still warm they will stick a lot! Especially paper ones.
    Remember to increase the oven temperature again before baking the second batch!

Video

Notes

They're better the next day. Applesauce brings water that butter doesn't, so these read slightly gummy while warm and settle into a much better crumb by the next morning.
Hot milk vs coffee. Hot coffee deepens the chocolate without tasting like coffee, and works out to about 3mg of caffeine per muffin. Decaf works identically.
Dial the liquid. After the hot milk goes in, the batter should still hold a mound on the spatula.
Butter instead of applesauce. An equal amount of melted butter works and makes them richer. 
Storage. Room temp airtight up to 5 days. Freezer up to 3 months. Reheat 15 to 30 seconds in the microwave.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 14g | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 21g