Are chocolate muffins really good for your health?

Popular already in the 19th century

Many people do not know that there are roughly two types of muffin: English and American. The former use yeast as a leavening agent and are flatter in appearance. American muffins, which are also more familiar to us, use baking powder and baking soda. They look like small cakes, and the way they are made is not very different from that of cakes or cupcakes. They have a special mushroom-like shape and are usually slightly less sweet than regular cakes and cupcakes.

Another special feature is that they can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner (or in between), depending on the taste and preferences of each individual. Despite the fact that they have only reached the height of their popularity in recent years, with almost every bakery and café offering them, they are not really a new discovery - recipes for them can be found in 19th century American cookery books.

Chocolate muffins in a hundred and one ways

Wondering what kind of muffins are the most popular among people? Chocolate, without a shadow of a doubt! Chocolate as the main ingredient of this confection is by no means a limitation in its preparation - again, it is possible to combine different types of chocolate with different ingredients. Chocolate muffins go perfectly with a variety of nuts, coconut, cocoa, raisins or fruit.

For all you chocoholics who prefer to combine muffins with the latter, here are some tips on how to combine the right type of chocolate with the right fruit:

• White chocolate muffins go well with sour fruits such as citrus fruits and certain berries, but white chocolate and very sweet fruits such as melons and peaches are also a great combination,
• dark chocolate muffins, with their slightly more bitter flavour, go well with bananas and citrus fruits,
• milk chocolate muffins are good with both sweet and more acidic fruits, as milk chocolate is an intermediate version of white and dark chocolate.

Of course, you can also combine different types of chocolate and flavour the muffins with chocolate or hazelnut spreads, which add a nice touch of flavour.

Chocolate for breakfast?

And here''s another piece of cheering news for those of you who perked up at the mention of muffins for breakfast at the beginning of this article - researchers at Syracuse University in New York have recently discovered that chocolate, if consumed regularly, has a number of positive effects on our health. For example, it improves our cognitive abilities, memory and abstract thinking. But that''s not all - Tel Aviv University has even found that those who eat a piece of chocolate cake every morning are more motivated at work and even lose weight more easily.

It all sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn''t it? But it''s not - the reason for all these claims is that our brains need a lot of energy during the day, right from the moment we wake up. Because the body processes food and energy more efficiently in the early morning, a piece of chocolate cake (or in our case, a muffin) can help to provide the brain with energy more efficiently. And because metabolism is faster in the morning than later in the day, there''s also less chance of unpleasant fatty deposits.

But why is chocolate so good for our health in the first place? One reason is the high content of flavonoids, which, as powerful antioxidants, help to preserve memory, protect us against cancer and certain cardiovascular and other degenerative diseases associated with ageing.

A little jokingly and a little truthfully, we can say that one chocolate muffin a day keeps the doctor away!

For those who are already convinced by chocolate muffins, here''s a quick tip - if you want to make delicious muffins with reduced carbohydrates, we recommend using the excellent Low Carb Chocolate CakeMix , which allows you to make chocolate cakes without added sugar. Healthy and delicious!