Skinny Raspberry & Chocolate Banana Muffins

Now I don't know about you, but I always find myself gazing longingly at those delicious looking blueberry-oozing muffins sitting behind the counter whilst on a coffee run at Costa.  Of course I unwillingly resist these 447 calorie, 21g fat little monsters each and every time, but the craving for moist fruit-packed bakes aren't all that easy to shake off.
I spent the last couple of days googling several "skinny" muffin recipes (there are a lot out there) and with a little bit of tweaking came up with these little beauties!
The slightly sour kick from the fresh raspberries evened out by the smooth rich dark chocolate teamed with banana makes for a flavoursome and incredibly moist muffin. Even better, these muffins only contain around 227 calories and just 4.1g of fat, so there's no need to ruin your diet or feel guilty about indulging in one of these!

Skinny Raspberry & Chocolate Banana Muffins:  Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction - makes 15 cupcake-size muffins
1 cup plain flour (I use Doves Farm gluten-free) 1 1/2 cup wholemeal plain flour (I use Duchy from Waitrose) 1tsp baking powder  1/4tsp salt 1/2tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 cup honey 1/2 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed 1 cup mashed ripe banana (equal to 2 large bananas) 1/4 cup non-fat greek vanilla yogurt 1 large egg, beaten 3/4 cup almond milk 1/2 cup 90% dark chocolate, roughly chopped 1 cup fresh raspberries 1. Preheat oven to 160C and lightly grease a silicone cupcake pan.  Silicone works best.  Do not use cases as the muffins will stick.
2. In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and put to one side. 3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar and honey.  Add the mashed banana, yogurt and beaten egg and whisk until thoroughly combined. 4. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold gently.  The mixture will be very thick but that's okay! 5. Little by little add the almond milk.  This will help to loosen the mixture slightly, but it should still be a thicker consistency than your typical cake batter. 6. Fold in the chopped chocolate and then fold in the raspberries.  This needs to be done so incredibly gently so the raspberries stay as whole as possible.  If you want pink muffins then please feel free to mix as vigorously as you wish! 10. Using 2 teaspoons, fill up your cupcake pan.  You want to fill them all the way to the top and as evenly as possible.  I baked my muffins in batches of 6, so don't worry about leaving the mixture sitting out waiting its turn, it'll be fine.

*Handy tip from Sally: when it comes to baking the last 3, or if you have any unfilled holes, fill the empty ones halfway with water to ensure even baking.  

Clever huh! 

11. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden and a cocktail stick comes out clear when inserted. 12. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.  Repeat steps 10 onwards if using a 6 hole pan. Enjoy as a breakfast treat, with your mid morning coffee or whenever you fancy! Happy baking :)