This is a favorite recipe of mine to make in late summer when my garden is overflowing with zucchini. These Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are a good mix between a chocolatey brownie and a decadent chocolate cupcake. My whole family loves them, and I love that they’re made with less sugar and contain some veggies. In fact, my almost 5-year-old daughter, Adeline, has found a love for baking (with my help, of course), and these muffins have been one of our favorites to make together as a healthy snack.
Recipe Highlights
Here are a few reasons why I keep making these yummy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins:
- They are easy to make. Simply mix the ingredients all in one bowl then bake in a muffin tin (I like to use a silicone muffin pan for this recipe – no paper liners needed).
- There’s no need to squeeze the excess moisture out of the zucchini, which is often a step when baking with shredded zucchini. This recipe relies on the liquid from the zucchini to create a perfectly moist muffin.
- We’ve scaled back the sugar in this recipe to just ½ cup granulated sugar (and no other sweeteners, like brown sugar or maple syrup). I’ve found that cane sugar creates the best texture, but we call for far less than traditional chocolate muffin recipes.
- This recipe can be made with all-purpose gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour.
- It’s a great way to use up extra zucchini that I have growing in my garden as well as spotted bananas that I almost always have on hand.
- These Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are made with only half of a cup of sugar and can be made with coconut sugar instead for a refined sugar-free sweetener alternative.
- This recipe can be easily modified to be gluten free, dairy free, and nut free.
- A yummy recipe that I like to make ahead for lunchbox treats and meal prep snacks.
Ingredient Benefits
As a dietitian, I always aim to develop recipes that provide nutritional benefits. And don’t let the chocolate flavor of these muffins fool you. They pack some incredibly nutritious ingredients, including:
- Zucchini – adds moisture and nutrients, including vitamins A and C, potassium, and antioxidants. It’s also the main star in this popular quick bread
- Unsweetened cocoa powder (or cacao powder) – a surprising source of fiber, as well as powerful antioxidants that can help tame inflammation
- Avocado oil – contains mostly hearty healthy monounsaturated fats, and which we love to use in a lot of our baking recipes (may sub olive oil)
- Bananas – also add moisture, natural sweetness, fiber for improved digestions, Vitamin C & B6, potassium and magnesium. No bananas? You can add in 1 cup of applesauce instead.
The Easiest Way I’ve Found To Shred Zucchini
I personally like to keep a minimal kitchen when it comes to appliances and gadgets. So to shred the zucchini in this recipe, I simply use a box grater. This makes the zucchini the perfect texture and allows for easy mixing so that you get some grated zucchini in every bite. With this method, the zucchini pieces get small and tender, so you really can’t even tell there’s zucchini in them, which is a bonus if you have little ones who inspect every bite!
How to Serve
You can enjoy one of these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins any time of the day, but I’m pretty partial to enjoying one for breakfast. To make it a blanched meal, I like to add a high-protein food, such as a hard boiled egg, scrambled eggs, Greek yogurt, a high-protein smoothie, or even breakfast sausage. It’s an easy and satisfying breakfast that tastes so good. Store these muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. I like to wrap one in a paper towel and send it off to work with my husband or tuck them into cupcake liners in my kids’ lunch boxes or as after-school snacks.
Make it Dairy Free
This muffin recipe doesn’t call for any butter or yogurt, so it is naturally dairy free when you use dairy-free chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips.
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Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
These Double-Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are one of my favorite ways to use up zucchini. I love that they’re made with less sugar but still perfectly chocolatey. Made with wholesome ingredients, these muffins are a treat that everyone who tastes them falls in love with.
Ingredients
- 2 medium spotted bananas, mashed (1 cup)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup avocado oil (may sub melted coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (may sub all-purpose flour)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of fine salt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (do not squeeze liquid out)
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips (use dairy-free if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with muffin liners or use a silicone muffin pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine the wet ingredients by adding the mashed banana, eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Stir together until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the same bowl, including the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined, and do not over mix.
- Add the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips and gently fold them into the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among 12 standard size muffin cups. Top with a few extra chocolate chips if you would like.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or the internal temperature of the center-most muffin reaches 200°F.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freezer for longer storage.
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 Muffin
- Calories: 174
- Fat: 7 g
- (Sat Fat: 2 g)
- Sodium: 132 mg
- Carbohydrate: 27 g
- (Fiber: 1 g
- Sugar: 13 g)
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 34 mg
Dietary
How to store
After the muffins have cooled to room temperature, I like to store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. You can also store them on the counter for up to 3 days or in the freezer for longer storage.
Tip! Switch Up How You Make These Muffins
I like to change this recipe up sometimes by making Chocolate Zucchini Bread instead of muffins. I use a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and bake the bread for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Then cool it on a wire rack in the pan for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto the rack and allowing to cool completely before slicing or storing.
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My new favorite muffin!!
Fabulous Karen!
My family loved these! And I’m excited to serve them to visiting guests this week. I may add walnuts next time, but that’s just a personal preference. Will definitely make again.
We are so happy this will be a repeat on the menu!
Delicious!!
Great Beverley! Thank you so much for the 5-star review!
My kitchen smells so good! Second time making these, this time I added chopped walnuts to half of my batter. My timer is about done but just wanted to say to anyone who relies on reviews before trying a recipe – do not hesitate! These are easy and delicious!
We appreciate this great feedback, Courtney! Thank you for the 5-star review!
The most moist, delicious gluten free muffins I have ever tasted.
Most gluten free sweets are so dry and crumbly and cardboard tasting to me, but these are mouth-fulls of double chocolate goodness.
Thank you.
You are so welcome, Bernadette!