Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins

I think this is a great recipe for a newbie gluten free baker. It requires no specialty gluten free flours and it is so easy to make with simple ingredients already in your pantry! For those who can’t do peanuts or are following the paleo diet, almond butter is a fantastic substitute. I have made it both ways and been very pleased.

My favorite thing about these muffins are the cracks that develop on the top, which add a nice texture in contrast to the fluffy inside. These are not overly sweet, but hit the spot just right for me. That is why I decided to call it a muffin, rather than cake. If you want a more decadent treat, add some chocolate chips to the batter or top with a simple ganache.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins

  • 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Gently melt together butter and honey.
  3. Whisk in cocoa powder and peanut butter until smooth.
  4. Whisk in eggs and baking soda.
  5. Pour into muffin tin, lined or greased.
  6. Bake for 18-22 minutes until done.
  7. Yields 12 muffins.

Peanut butter and chocolate, the ultimate combination! Both are huge pregnancy cravings for me, so putting them into one cake is perfection. Just an update, I am finally in my third trimester, 30 weeks! Very excited, but sooo ready for summer to end. I’m happy to report that I have been gaining healthy weight and feeling pretty good overall. This lovely photo was taken by my 7 year old daughter via cell phone, so don’t mind the amazing quality :)

… Also today is my daughter Juliette’s 2nd Birthday! I can’t believe she is growing up so fast. She is quite a little ham, as you can see…

… and we can’t leave out the others :)

Hope you all are enjoying your summer!

~Michelle



46 thoughts on “Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins”

  • These are so good and were really easy. I also felt like they were decent in protein and figured out that one muffin is about equivalent to one egg, which I have two of almost every morning. So I’m going to make these a morning and skip the chocolate chips… Or I’ll just keep them :)

  • These look so yummy! Sadly, I’m out of peanut butter and this is the second peanut butter recipe I want to go make.
    You look wonderful, and your kids are so beautiful! I hope your pregnancy continues to go well.

    • Any nut butter should work, I have made them several times with almond butter and they turned out great! Thanks for the kind words Rebeca :)

      ~Michelle

    • They can sit out for a couple days in a sealed container, but would have a longer shelf life refrigerated, at least 1 week.
      ~Michelle

  • You look beautiful! I am going to try these this weekend with the almond butter. Looking forward to them, Michelle. Thank you!

  • My daughter made these tonight for tomorrow’s breakfast along with an egg muffin recipe that is grain free. I am trying to convert our family over to grain free due to allergies and weight issues. My teenage sons are the biggest skeptics. Hopefully, these will convince them that it is not so bad after all. They smelled heavenly as they were baking. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. Made the Cheddar onion biscuits into buns for dinner tonight with our burgers. They were delicious, just a bit dry. Probably the coconut flour that I used.

  • Hello Michelle … made these with Sunflower Butter = SO good and SO pretty!
    My 5 Year old Son had friends over for a Playdate … all Boys … Results: Boy Approved!
    I did freeze two and that was successful, too. Thank you for all your Recipes! This is a keeper for Lunch Boxes … starting next week … ;)

  • I made these with almond butter and they turned out so well! So glad to know I can make yummy things like this without needing flour. Thank you!

  • MMMM!!! AMAZING!! I baked these yesterday and only got one, before my family swallowed them whole!! Delish!! Btw have you ever heard of Tom Sawyer gf-wheat free flour? I love using it in some of these recipes. It`s cup for cup substitution, so its no hassle to use! You might like it. =] Thanks for another great recipe!

  • Hello…just wondering if you could use stevia instead of honey? We only use stevia for a sweetener. Thank you.

    • Hi Monique,
      I have never worked with stevia, therefore I do not have a proper ratio to give you to replace the honey. If you try, could you please come back and share your results? I’m sure there are others who would benefit from your findings.
      ~Michelle

    • Susan,
      I only use baking soda in my recipes, so there is no chance of accidentally consuming gluten :)
      ~Michelle

  • Wow, these look easy and delicious! Wondering if they are heavy though without any flours? Are they wet in texture? (I am a texture person). Will try them to see how they turn out. Thanks so much for the recipe and your family is beautiful! You look great for being 30 wks pregnant! (Susan-there is no baking powder in this recipe – it is baking soda).

    • Hi Janet,
      The nut butter acts as the flour in the muffins, they are light and fluffy. Believe me, this discovery has made me very excited for future recipes :)
      ~Michelle

  • I just wanted to say a big thanks for these deliciousnesses. Since being diagnosed a month ago, I have been putting GF items into 3 groups: never again, passable, and would eat it even if I didn’t need to. This is definitely one of the good guys, as are your other recipes I have made thus far. Thank you so much for adding yumminess back into my diet. (Even the glutineers of the household think they’re fab!)

  • These choc. PB muffins are amazing! My kids devoured them!! I also brought a batch to work (I have a colleague who is GF) and everybody who tried one loved them! I am really enjoying your recipes, keep them coming. BTW, you have a beautiful family!

  • Made these for the first time today… instead of making muffins, I put them in ramekins and baked them at 400 for 8-10 minutes. (I used the coconut oil variety, as I needed to avoid dairy as well as gluten). Schokinag cocoa powder. (not hot chocolate), and then whole foods 365 brand dark mini chocolate chunks.

    Came out great! A chocolate peanut butter molten cake that is both dairy and gluten free, tasted amazing!

  • ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I LOVE to bake and it is the first gluten thing I’ve made!! I am so impressed at how so few ingredients can turn out such a deliciouse muffin! I am going to try a cake eventually with that recipe. I also added the chocolate chips and walnuts too!! I cannot thank you enough for the recipes because after the gluten free bread I tried from the store, I really thought my son would never eat baked goods again!

  • Michelle, I am addicted to these. I used carob chips instead of chocolate chips and almond butter instead of peanut butter. I’ve noticed that peanuts give me erratic allergies, so I use almonds instead whenever possible. These turned out malty, nutty and awesome. I’m crazy about desserts, so thank you for this simple and very enjoyable treat!

  • I calculated the nutrition information using myfitnesspal.com so here’s what I got for anyone interested:
    For 1 muffin: 316 calories, 24 carbs, 22g fat, 8g protein, 161 sodium and 87 chol.

    I used unsalted butter, Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder, natural peanut butter and Nestle Dark Chocolate chips since that was what I had on hand. I’m off to make these tonight and enjoy for breakfast tomorrow!

    • Thank you so much for this! I was very curious about the fat content with the margarine, PB, & eggs! Definitely more a dessert than a snack or breakfast in our house! (And I WILL be making them – I’ve been dairy & sugar-free for almost 3 months now . . . anything chocolate and PB goes on my MUST BAKE list :-) )

  • Just tried one of these and OMGoodness–so yummy! I imagine if you wanted, it would be good with Justin’s Hazelnut butter as well. This would also be good for dessert warm, with a little vanilla bean ice cream….

  • Well, I messed up the first batch by using 1/4 lb of butter rather than 1/4 cup. Oops! They were notably greasy and heavy but flavour wise, they seemed like they’d be quite good using the proper quantities. The others in my household were not as keen and hubby won’t touch peanut (or any nut/seed) butter. So I’m attempting a batch with no nut butters and subbed in 1/2 c of mash avocado. I’ll see how they rate soon!

    • FYI – The no nut butter muffins with the added avocado were FANTASTIC!! Hubby won’t touch avocado and he devoured 3 before asking how many he could have. I still haven’t told him ;) The kids loved them too and with the elimination of the nut butters, I can safely send them to school in lunches or as a special treat on my child’s birthday to share with his class! Thank you so much, definitely saving this site for future reference.

  • I am making these for the second time because they are sooo darn good! I just noticed I am a bit short on Honey. Should I wait till I have a full 1/2 cup or do you think I will be ok with a little less?

  • Made these today :) yum. I used sun butter cause I’ve had a jar for I can’t even remember how long and haven’t really used it yet. I can’t wait to make them again with real peanut butter! Thanks for this neat blog.

  • Hi there! After trying a friend’s rendition of this recipe I had to look it up, but I’m wondering, is there a way that I could sub a flax egg for the eggs in this recipe? I usually try to eat a plant based diet? Any thoughts?

  • Hi Michelle,

    I’m very new to the scd diet as I recently was diagnosed with UC. I can’t wait to try these. Does cocoa powder contain additives? Or starches? Also have you ever tried coconut syrop? I just bought some from the health food store, and apparently you can use it in place of sweeteners, or topping for ice cream etc.
    Question, what type of camera do you use to take your photos, food and family. Such good quality!

  • Hello! Today was the first morning of me trying dairy free, and my very kind neighbor dropped off some gluten free whoopie pies. Not knowing if they had dairy in them, I had to pass on them. ;-( But I knew I’d want something sweet when my family ate the pies, so I decided to do a quick recipe search, and somehow found these gorgeous muffins via Once a Month Mom. My family doesn’t need gluten free, by my neighbor does, and I like to keep my eye out for new recipes to share with her.
    I made 1/4 batch, not knowing how they’d be and not wanting too many if they weren’t good.
    Anyhow, I’m sad I didn’t make a whole batch. These were GORGEOUS! I loved the taste and the texture! And they were so simple to make.
    These are a new favorite. Thank you!

  • These are WONDERFUL! Moist and fluffy w/o falling apart with a nice crisp muffin top. Absolutely love ’em! Thx!

  • These were amazing. I honestly can’t believe they don’t have any form of flour in them!

    Trialled the recipe ahead of baking rota duties at work this week…a bit skeptically.
    They were so easy to throw together, rose well and cooking time and temperature was spot on (unlike so many recipes).
    I was slightly worried when they came out the oven that they would fall apart as soon as the cake wrapper came off, but they held together fine.
    Definitely making these again! Thanks!

  • I am seriously addicted to these muffins they are divine!

    Off on a walking holiday tomorrow with my family, my son and I are baking these again for energy packed healthy treats. Can’t believe I am saying this but now I have tasted these, the flour and sugar based muffins just aren’t doing it for me. Thank you so much my sugar cravings have seriously dropped xx

  • I’ve made these several times and they always get an almost burned ring right above the muffin liner. Bake fine everywhere else and my daughter does not seem to mind as she devours them. Any thoughts?

Leave a Reply to ally Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *