Chocolate Zucchini Muffins as divine as a cupcake, but healthy & loaded with veggies! This is a great way to sneak in your veggies and have the kids begging more more.
Poor little muffins,,,,,. They’re never invited to be the star at a birthday party or baby shower, they don’t get all the beautiful frosting and decorations and most of the time, they are just wrapped up or boxed up only to be consumed as a quick and easy breakfast option.
I’ll admit, I don’t like very many store bought muffins. They are too dry, too fake tasting, too sticky, too sugary, too boring, too whatever. So I totally get why cupcakes are favored, however, what if there was a muffin that was soft & fluffy like a cupcake, rich & chocolatey like a cupcake, but healthy enough for breakfast and indulgent enough for dessert? Well, there is!
These Chocolate Zucchini muffins are made with cacao powder (superfood power), they have no refined sugar (only brown rice syrup was used), very little oil (2 tablespoons of coconut oil then natural applesauce for the rest), packed with veggie power (shredded zucchini) and they are free from MOST of the top food allergens (no dairy, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts & tree nuts). Of course, you can also make them completely allergy free by using your favorite GF Blend (Bob’s Red Mill 1-to1 produces amazing results).
Are you intrigued yet, or does the thought of zucchini in your muffin freak you out just a little?
This is not one of those chocolate zucchini muffins that tastes like it’s filled with veggies, if you get what I mean. We’ve all had something like that. It may have been a green smoothie that tasted like dirt, or a harvest muffin all in its chunky, veggie glory, or a feeble attempt at some bean filled brownie that actually tastes like a bunch of baked beans. Those are no fun & no good! BUT THIS IS!!!! I wouldn’t steer you wrong, because as much as I love eating my veggies, I don’t like tasting them in my chocolate.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention my secret ingredient which is NOT zucchini. IN fact, it is the type of coconut milk I used, Β So Delicious Coconut Chocolate MilkΒ . I just happened to have a fewΒ single serve containers in the fridge and decided to use this instead of plain coconut milk. Although I’m sure that would have still tasted wonderful, I feel like the extra chocolate boost makes this little muffin feel better when sitting next to its cupcake rival friend., especially when topped with a few extra mini chocolate chips.
And if you’re a fan of zucchini bread, you must also head over to Mindful Eats and print off Erin’s Gluten-free Zucchini Bread recipe for later.
So what are you waiting for? Say “no” to cupcakes (at least for today) and say “yes” to these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins. You’re kids will thank you for it!
The recipe
Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Surprise!!! Not only are these vegan muffins just as divine as a cupcake, they're healthy too. Your kids will gladly eat their veggies without all the sugar & allergens.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 C. Whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 C. Cacao powder (cocoa power also will work)
- 1 tsp. Baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. Himalayan sea salt
- 2 TB. Coconut oil
- 1/3 C. Brown rice syrup
- 1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
- 2 Egg replacers (see notes)
- 1 Zucchini, shredded & squeezed dry (approx 1 C.)
- 1/4 C. Natural, unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 C. So Delicious Chocolate flavored, coconut milk
- 3/4 C. Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips (divided 1/2 C. & 1/4 C.)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 12 cup muffin tins with liners and spray insides with nonstick spray.
- Shred your zucchini and place in a colander. Squeeze liquids out! You want this nice & dry, as best as possible.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cacao powder, baking soda & salt.
- In a large bowl (or your kitchen aid bowl), add coconut oil, brown rice syrup, vanilla & egg replacer. Mix on medium until smooth.
- Add zucchini shreds, applesauce, & coconut milk. SLOWLY combine (it'll splatter) then add in dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Fold in 1/2 C. chocolate chips.
- Evenly distribute batter into prepared liners. Sprinkle each with a few extra chocolate chips.
- Bakes 22-24 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let sit at least 5 minutes, then remove from tins and let cool on wire rack.
Notes
For Egg Substitute: Neat Egg works great. 1 TB powder + 2 TB Water. Mix quickly, it gels up FAST! Flax Meal is my other favorite. 1 TB. meal + 2.5 TB. water. Whisk & let sit a minute.
In case you’re craving more zucchini filled goodies, head over to get my Zucchini Bread recipe. It’s my kids favorite bread recipe!
Or if you’re wanting something a little more fancy, these Bundt Cakes would be perfect.
Pin for Later
Muffins are always invited to my party…especially chocolate muffins π
I would like your parties then π
Zucchini doesn’t freak me out one bit, in fact it makes me love them even more! Because this way I can talk myself into having a second one to get in more veggies π I don’t think I’ve ever used brown rice syrup in baking, more just granola bars and such, so I really want to try that now! I love everything about them, yum!
I like your thinking! I started using brown rice syrup in bars as well, but its great to use in place of maple syrup, agave or honey (if you use it). Substituting for a dry sweetener needs a little tweaking, such as lowering the liquid content slightly. In this recipe, you just want to make sure you get all the liquid out of the zucchini. You just don’t want a watery muffin.
Hidden veggies are the best (even though I love zucchini any which way). These look amazing!
Thanks Jenn! I know some parents need a way to “hide” the veggies, so this is a great recipe to do that in.
i need something portable for breakfast and snacking…this will be perfect!
These will be perfect then. You can even make them in miniature tins if thats more convenient. Just adjust the baking time.
I’ll pick a muffin over a cupcake any day, especially if it’s chocolatey and moist like yours π I’ve never been too much of a frosting person, it’s just too sweet and buttery.
Agreed, I usually wipe frosting off if I go somewhere and get a cupcake.
I love sneaking veggies into baked goods. Chocolate muffins for breakfast without the guilt, count me in! Thanks for the great recipe, Nicole.
You are so welcome! The goal is to enjoy breakfast, right?
Absolutely Linda. I’m so glad you like the recipe. I always use my group of friends to be my guinea pigs and if they love them, I share it. Hope you love them too.
These cupcakes look so ,moist and tempting,thank you so much for sharing.
Thankfully they are a healthier option, so it’s ok to be tempted by these .
Looks amazing, very tempting. loved your ingredients too π
SO glad Uma. Hope to hear what you think if you make it.
I think zucchini in a muffin is an awesome idea! These look so rich and moist and chocolaty, I know I wouldn’t want to share!
It is so hard to share!
I love sneaking veggies into baked goods and these muffins look absolutely perfect! Love that they are vegan and mmmm, so chocolatey!
Sometimes we just HAVE to sneak a few in wherever we can :). Hope you get to make these soon!
I am new to using the different ingredients such as Egg Replacers and Brown Rice Syrup. I love zucchini muffins and I definitely want to eat healthier so I took the plunge and made them. Dee-Lish! I also used Bob’s Red Mill 1- to 1 GF flour. These muffins almost were amazingly tender! They will satisfy any chocolate craving that you have! My husband thought they were great! I gave a few to a friend. She loved them so much that she made them the next day. She wondered if she could use the chocolate almond milk since that’s what she had in her refrigerator. Anyway, try these muffins! They are worth it and are easy to make! Nicole, more muffin recipes, please!!
So glad that you took the plunge and tried something new. It can be so much fun and so rewarding! Please tell your friend that she absolutely can use Chocolate Almond milk instead. We have a nut allergy, so we stay away from it, but it has a great, creamy consistency and would be a wonderful substitute.