Healthy Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Made with nothing but wholesome ingredients and loaded with intense chocolate flavor, these Zucchini Chocolate Muffins will please even the kid in you!

Oops, I did it again… sorry! I’m almost over my crazy muffin obsession, I promise.

But trust me when I say that you’re gonna be happy I didn’t keep my word and decided not to wait to test my inspiration for Zucchini Chocolate Muffins after all.

I mean, just feast your eyes on these bad boys! They taste every bit as amazing as they look!

I have to admit that, compared to my usual muffins, these are a bit on the “indulgent” side, because they do happen to contain *some* sugar, in the form of a rather generous amount of chocolate. Yes, that’s real chocolate. BUT, in my defense, I used good quality 70% cocoa chocolate and chopped it into chunks, so they’re still good for you! 

And even though these bad boys are guilty of containing actual chocolate, they also happen to be absolutely LOADED with tons of wholesome ingredients, such as unsweetened applesauce, avocado, yogurt, pecans, and as their very name implies, zucchini.

Believe it or not, I managed to pack 2 whole large zucchinis in this dozen muffins.

Can you spot all the beautiful specks of green zucchini skin peeking through the chocolate dough? It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

The trick to packing so much zucchini in these muffins is to squeeze as much liquid out of the zukes as humanely possible. Seriously. You want your zucchinis to be as dry as possible. When you think that you’ve squeezed all the water out of them, squeeze them some more, and then go at it one more time. And maybe even once more. Just to be sure.

The best tool that you can use for this task is a nut milk bag, as shown in the above picture (borrowed from my zucchini cake recipe). If you happen to own one, I strongly suggest that you take it out now! Otherwise, a clean tea towel will definitely do the trick…

Before you start squeezing though, you’ll need to grate the zucchini first. Then, squeeze, and squeeze, and squeeze some more. Finally, once all the water has been forcibly removed, you’ll want to measure or weigh the required amount of grated zucchini and set it aside.

Next, preheat the oven to 450°F and line a 12 hole muffin pan with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the unsweetened applesauce, date paste, mashed avocado, buttermilk, Greek yogurt, honey and vanilla extract.

Mix well with a whisk until well combined…

Add the beaten eggs and resume whisking until they are completely incorporated.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well with a flat whisk until evenly combined, then add that to the wet ingredients, all at once.

Stir delicately with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined, no more.

Throw in the grated zucchini, chopped chocolate and pecans.

Oh, don’t forget to save a handful of chocolate chunks and chopped pecans to garnish your muffins later. That’s not absolutely mandatory, but it will make your muffins look so much prettier!

Before we continue, let’s take a moment to look at the content of that bowl… Does that look good or what?

Stir gently with the spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.

Again, don’t over do things here. Only stir until the ingredients are combined.

Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin cups. The batter WILL mound slightly higher than the paper cups, that’s perfectly normal — just try and shape the tops into nice rounded domes. Use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop if you have one: it’ll make your job much easier!

Also, you could divide the batter into 18 to 24 smaller muffins instead, if you preferred smaller muffins. Of course, you’d need to adjust cooking time accordingly.

Place the pan in the 450°F oven for 5 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for another 20 to 22 minutes, or until the tops appear set and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out almost clean.

Let the muffins cool for a minute or two in the pan and then push pieces of chocolate and pecans in the tops, if desired.

Delicately remove the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely and then transfer them to the refrigerator, where they will keep for up to a week.

Call me weird, but I prefer to eat my muffins cold. These guys are no exception. They are much tastier, much sweeter and much chewier straight out of the ice box. I’m not saying that you can’t pop ’em in the microwave if you prefer to eat your muffins warm… they’re still totally delicious in that state.

Ultimately, the choice is yours: cold, warm, room temperature. I’ve no doubt that you will love them any which way you choose to eat them!

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Healthy Zucchini Chocolate Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Made with nothing but wholesome ingredients and loaded with intense chocolate flavor, these Zucchini Chocolate Muffins will please even the kid in you!

Servings: 12

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Wet Ingredients

• 2 cups grated zucchini, squeezed dry (about 2 large, weighed after squeezing)
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup date paste
• 1/2 cup mashed avocado , (about 1 large)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup unpasteurized honey
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract, storebought or homemade
• 3 large eggs, beaten

Dry Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt

Add-Ins *save a handful of each to garnish the muffins when they come out of the oven

• 1 cup chopped 70% cocoa dark chocolate
• 3/4 cup chopped raw pecans

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 450°F; line a 12 hole muffin pan with parchment paper cups
• Grate the zucchini and then squeeze it as dry as you possibly can, and I do mean AS DRY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN. You want to be certain that your zucchini is absolutely, positively dry. Don’t stop squeezing until there isn’t a single drop of liquid coming out of it; Measure or weigh the required amount and set it aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the unsweetened applesauce, date paste, mashed avocado, buttermilk, Greek yogurt, honey and vanilla extract. Mix well with a whisk until well combined, then add the eggs and resume whisking until they are completely incorporated.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well with a flat whisk until evenly combined.
• Add dry ingredients to wet and stir delicately with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined, no more.
• Throw in the grated zucchini, chopped chocolate and pecans (don't forget to save a handful of chocolate chunks and chopped pecans to garnish your muffins later) and stir gently with the spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.
• Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin cups. The batter WILL mound slightly higher than the paper cups, that’s perfectly normal — just try and shape the tops into nice rounded domes. Use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop if you have one: it'll make your job much easier! Also, you could divide the batter into 18 to 24 smaller muffins instead, if you preferred smaller muffins. Of course, you'd need to adjust cooking time accordingly.
• Place the pan in the 450°F oven for 5 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for another 20 to 22 minutes, or until the tops appear set and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out almost clean.
• Let the muffins cool for a minute or two in the pan and then press pieces of chocolate and pecans in the tops, if desired, then delicately remove the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

Make sure that you measure or weigh your zucchini AFTER squeezing the water out - you'll need about 2 large or 3 medium.

Nutrition

Calories: 268kcal, Carbohydrates: 33g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 42mg, Sodium: 281mg, Potassium: 501mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 145IU, Vitamin C: 4.5mg, Calcium: 96mg, Iron: 3.3mg

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!

You can also FOLLOW ME on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER for more delicious, healthy recipes!