5 from 2 votes

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Name: Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour; ½ cup granulated sugar; ¾ teaspoons baking soda; ¼ teaspoon salt; ¼ cup natural cocoa powder; ¼ cup steaming hot (or boiling water); ¼ cup avocado oil ((see note)); ½ cup sour cream; 1 large egg (lightly beaten); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips ((plus additional for topping, if desired)); ¾ cup shredded zucchini - blot dry after shredding ((see note))

By Sam MerrittPublished Jul 25, 2023

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6 Comments

Servings: 12 muffins

32 mins

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You’d never know there are veggies in these chocolate zucchini muffins! My recipe makes incredibly fudgy, moist, and chocolatey muffins. It’s perfect for using up an abundance of zucchini! Recipe includes a how-to video!

Chocolate zucchini muffins topped with chocolate chips on a metal cooling rack.

The Tastiest Way to Eat Your Veggies

If your garden is bursting with zucchini and simply you can’t bear to make one more loaf of zucchini bread, I’ve got you covered! These chocolate zucchini muffins are an easy and tasty way to use up summer zucchini or sneak veggies into a sweet treat. They are moist, fudgy, and incredibly chocolatey, thanks to the zucchini and a few other carefully selected ingredients.

This recipe comes together in minutes without a mixer, which I love. It’s adapted from my chocolate muffins, and I use the same technique of “blooming” the cocoa powder with hot water here. This simple step yields a more intense chocolate flavor and fudgier texture–it makes a big difference!

Personally, I love making these in the summer when zucchini is abundant, but really you can make them year-round with grocery store zucchini too. The good thing is, there is not one trace of green in the final product, which means these muffins are great for kids and picky eaters! I can’t wait for you to try them.

What You Need

While we are using only a handful of ingredients in this easy recipe, there are a few you should take note of before diving in.

Overhead view of ingredients including shredded zucchini, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and more.

Zucchini. How many zucchini you’ll need varies widely depending on the size. If using supermarket zucchini, which are often about the size of a cucumber, you can usually get away with a single one. Shred your zucchini, but don’t shred so much that it becomes a pulp. You will also need to blot the excess liquid from the zucchini before adding it to the batter; I provide instructions for this in the recipe notes below. If you’ve made my zucchini roll before, you know how to do this!
Oil. I’ve been trying to move away from using canola and vegetable oil in my baking, and using avocado oil in the recipe worked out nicely for me. It’s a neutral oil, which means it doesn’t impart any flavor into the finished product (which we want!).
Hot water. This is super important for blooming the cocoa and intensifying its flavor! You want your water to be very hot, steamy, or even boiling.
Sour cream. Sour cream adds a rich texture and depth of flavor, and it also helps keep these muffins moist.
Cocoa powder. Stick with natural cocoa powder here since we are using baking soda. Using dutch process cocoa could lead to leavening issues; you can read more about this in my natural vs. dutch process cocoa post.

SAM’S TIP: I always add chocolate chips to my chocolate zucchini muffins, but you can customize yours with other add-ins like nuts, dried fruit, or even just different flavored chips (white chocolate or even peanut butter chips would be good!).

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

mixing shredded zucchini into chocolate batter

Shred the zucchini making sure not to go too far that you turn it into a pulp. You can do this with a food processor or cheese grater.
Blot the zucchini with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture, then measure out the amount you need. Gently place the zucchini in the cup; do NOT firmly pack it!
Whisk together all dry ingredients except for the cocoa powder in a large bowl, then set aside.
Add the cocoa powder to a heatproof bowl, then pour in your steaming hot water. Whisk until the mixture is combined. This “blooms” the cocoa, which gives the chocolate zucchini muffins a rich chocolate flavor.
Add the remaining wet ingredients to the cocoa powder mixture and whisk until smooth and well-combined.
Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until 50% combined. At this point, fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips and continue to fold until just-combined.
Divide the muffin batter into a lined 12-count muffin tin. An ice cream scoop works nicely for this! Top with additional chocolate chips and bake until a toothpick pierced in the center of a muffin comes out with moist crumbs.
To prevent the muffin liners from becoming soggy, allow the muffins to cool for just 5-10 minutes in the pan before carefully removing to a cooling rack.

SAM’S TIP: Be careful to not over-mix the muffin batter when combining the wet and dry ingredients (and whatever you do, do NOT use an electric mixer!). Over-mixed muffins will turn out dense instead of moist and tender.

Overhead view of chocolate muffins made with zucchini on a metal cooling rack.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store them?

You can store these muffins in the fridge or at room temperature. They will last for up to a week in the fridge, but will only last a few days at room temperature (three days at most). You can also freeze your muffins for a grab-and-go breakfast or snack!

Are chocolate zucchini muffins healthy?

While zucchini itself is high in vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants, we can’t exactly skip over the fact that they also contain a fair amount of sugar and fat. I do like to use olive oil for a healthier fat, but still, these are meant to be a sweet breakfast treat or dessert. They can certainly be part of a healthy diet if enjoyed in moderation though!

Chocolate muffin that's been unwrapped and is missing a bite.

Would you like to see more sneaky hidden veggie recipes? Let me know in the comments!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook