Healthy Muffin Recipes with Way Fewer Calories Than Store-Bought Versions

Spice up your morning routine with a warm and crumbly apple and streusel muffin. Laced with brown sugar and packed with flaxseeds, pecans, and sliced apples, these healthy apple muffins are perfect as part of a seasonal fall breakfast menu. With 4 grams of protein, each makes a solid, well-balanced mini meal when served with a carton of Greek yogurt.

Healthy muffin calories: 163

A chocolate recipe as part of a nutritious breakfast? You bet, and this healthy banana muffin recipe is the proof that it’s possible. Instead of calling for all butter as the fat source, the batter is super-tender and lower in calories than most muffins thanks to a couple mashed bananas. A quarter cup of unsweetened cocoa powder ($5, Target) and a spoonful of instant espresso powder make them taste far richer than their nutrition info might let on.

Healthy muffin calories: 176

This healthy muffin recipe is a blank canvas for all kinds of fun flavors, including lemon-poppy seed, blueberry, cheese, and oatmeal variations. (For more fiber, use half each of all-purpose and whole wheat flour as the base.) Choose your favorite, then get to mixing—all told, you’re investing just 10 minutes of prep time. Before baking, top 'em all off with our sweet and simple streusel topping.

Healthy muffin calories: 136

Each 2-tablespoon serving of chia seeds packs in a whopping 5 grams of plant-based protein. Those superfood seeds star along with one of the most antioxidant-rich fruits in this healthy blueberry muffin recipe. A mix of oats and flour in the dry ingredient mixture makes these taste far more hearty than you might imagine for mini muffins.

Healthy muffin calories: 108

Goat cheese isn’t just for beet salads and crostinis. The soft and tangy cheese in this healthy muffin recipe is sure to satisfy your savory side, while dried apricots ($5, Target), brown sugar, and a drizzle of golden honey sweeten things up. Fresh thyme offers a burst of citrusy flavor to make this complex-tasting muffin ideal as part of breakfast, as a snack, or as a complement to your dinner main dish.

Healthy muffin calories: 166

If you’re firmly on Team Savory, this roundup is still for you! Featuring spaghetti squash, fresh chives, garlic powder, and Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers, this muffin under 150 calories makes one delightful (and fairly low-carb) dinner side. Try it as an addition to the meal next time you make grilled chicken, steak, or a pasta entrée.

Healthy muffin calories: 134

These low-calorie muffins taste like a classic corn bread recipe but in a portion-controlled, lighter package. Split the savory batter into three bowls, then fill each with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or roasted red peppers for a ready-to-share assortment. (We’re wild about the mini cayenne-cheddar muffin variation alongside chili.)

Healthy muffin calories: 71

Apples shouldn’t get all the glory come fall. We’re just as fond of pears and think you will be too—especially once they’re baked with oat bran, walnuts, and rolled oats. With all those whole grains in the mix, these pear-studded muffins offer a nice mix of fiber and protein. (Psst ... if you’re in need of a healthy vegan muffin recipe, this one can be easily adjusted to fit a vegan diet by substituting in a flax egg for the chicken egg.)

Healthy muffin calories: 149

A scoop of canned pumpkin boosts the vitamin C and K content and makes these healthy pumpkin muffins supremely moist. But don’t think of this recipe as a hard-and-fast rule that can include only squash and berries. We also have healthy muffin twists on the base that call for pear and pumpkin pie spices or shredded coconut and mashed banana.

Healthy muffin calories: 191

Warmly spiced and reminiscent of some of our favorite flavors from Indian cuisine, this is one of the most interesting and easy healthy muffin recipes ever developed in our Test Kitchen. Curry powder and roasted butternut squash pair up in the batter that clocks in at fewer than 150 calories per muffin. Dust the tops with powdered sugar for a sweet and showy finish.

Healthy muffin calories: 141

Here’s a delicious reminder that cranberry recipes can go beyond the Thanksgiving menu. The ruby red fruits lend a nice sweet-tart complement to the salty, heart-healthy chopped walnuts in these great year-round healthy muffins. In the base, white whole wheat flour and rolled oats add a little fiber.

Healthy muffin calories: 161

Worried that lightened-up muffins might be dense and dry? This recipe is about to convince you otherwise. Cake flour ($4, Target) gives these updated healthy blueberry muffins their fluffy texture. Thanks to molasses, fresh ginger, and other cozy spices, this might just become your go-to blueberry muffin recipe.

Healthy muffin calories: 167

Perhaps you’ve sprinkled your corn bread with bacon before. But have you tried stirring bacon’s delicious cousin, prosciutto, into bread recipes? A little bit goes a long way to add a hint of salty-savory goodness and some muscle-building power to these healthy protein muffins. (Each muffin has as much protein as an egg!) Don’t fret if it’s not fresh peach season—frozen peaches work wonderfully to balance out that savory element with some natural sweetness.

Healthy muffin calories: 184

Take a break from the oodles of zoodles and put your zucchini haul to good use in these healthy applesauce muffins. A cup of the shredded squash teams up with a half cup of unsweetened applesauce to make the crumb of these you’d-never-guess-they’re-gluten-free muffins remarkably tender and moist. Crown with a layer of vanilla-scented Greek yogurt frosting and you might just think you’re devouring a cupcake.

Healthy muffin calories: 164

Since we don’t have time every day to whip up a healthy breakfast muffin recipe from scratch, we love stocking a batch or two of the batter for these muffins in our freezer. If you, too, want to get a jump-start, mix up the wheat bran and buttermilk mixture entirely in advance, freeze for up to a month, then thaw, portion into muffin tin cups, and bake for a warm, fresh-baked batch. For a variety of flavors, portion out 1 cup of batter into three bowls, then dress one up with chopped dates and apples, another with shredded carrots and golden raisins, and the last with semisweet chocolate pieces and chopped toasted pecans.

Healthy muffin calories: 196