These Double Chocolate Zucchini Blender Muffins are one of my favorite creations to come out of my garden, and a sneaky reminder that zucchini can and should belong in baked goods.
When my friend @Olivia.Adriance and I paired up last summer to make a few recipes at the same time my garden was bursting with zucchinis, this is what we came up with, and when I tell you we inhaled these veggie muffins…
They’re chocolatey and indulgent, but somehow include literally one whole serving of veggies, and are gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free. What’s not to love about these easy-to-make, delish little muffins?
EAT YOUR GREENS, CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI MUFFIN STYLE
There is a high probability you’re familiar with the lifetime supply of zucchini I harvested from my garden last summer. And if you’re not, here’s a video for proof. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
But I’m glad it happened because now we have these decadently delish, better-for-you Double Chocolate Zucchini Blender Muffins.
Zucchinis are such a great veggie. They’re easy to incorporate into any meal, and are packed with nutrients. They’re rich in antioxidants (making them great for skin health), high in carotenoids (aka vitamin A), and also provide fiber for healthy digestion and gut microbiome.
But when they’re blended together with cacao powder, creamy peanut butter, cinnamon, flour, applesauce (yep, we snuck a fruit in this one too), and a few other key baking ingredients – omg, you’ll be weak.
Best part is, for any picky eaters out there, you won’t even taste the zucchinis. You’ll be too caught up in the overall chocolatey goodness to remember what it is you’re actually eating.
Let’s all just agree now that whoever said veggies don’t belong in baked goods couldn’t have been more wrong. We’re really giving “eat your greens” a whole new meaning in this recipe.
A MUST-BAKE, DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BLENDER MUFFIN RECIPE
Better yet, these Double Chocolate Zucchini Blender Muffins are easy to make, require minimal dishes and are done in under 30 minutes. Convenience is key, people!
Only catch is once they’re baked, you have to give them some time to cool before indulging, but they’re 1000% worth the wait. I’m telling you; they taste phenomenal.
To quote Bridge, “Never have I ever been more attracted to a zucchini.” LOL. When you top the muffins with a little peanut butter drizzle and flakey sea salt, and take just one bite, you’ll know exactly why he said that.
Add these to your baking list immediately, because now there’s just no excuse not to get a serving of greens in today. Let’s put those late-summer zucchinis to good use!
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:
- Zucchini
- Gluten-free flour mix (I like Bob’s Red Mill Paleo flour)
- Eggs
- Cacao powder
- Creamy peanut butter
- Applesauce
- Honey (or maple syrup)
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Baking soda
- Flakey sea salt
- Dairy-free chocolate chunks (we used @enjoylifefoods chunks)
HOW TO MAKE DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BLENDER MUFFINS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray or line your muffin tins. This recipe will make 12 muffins.
Add your chopped zucchini to a blender, and blend until minced.
Add the remaining ingredients, except for the chocolate chunks, and blend until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chunks, then add the batter to the muffin tin.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 45 minutes.
Top with creamy peanut butter and flakey sea salt. Enjoy!
To Store:
Store muffins, covered, on the counter for the first day or two, then move to the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.
RECIPE SUBSTITUTIONS & QUESTIONS
Olivia and I love this recipe with a creamy peanut butter, but you could definitely use almond butter instead if you’d like. If any nut allergies, you could try making with sunflower seed butter or tahini, but we haven’t tested those.
Regular flour works instead of the gluten-free/paleo flour we used here, and almond flour may also be an option, but we haven’t tried that so I’m not 100% sure how that would work out. Also, mashed banana may be a good sub for the applesauce, but that’s another one I haven’t personally tested. Let me know how it goes if you try any of these subs, though!
I prefer cacao powder, but cocoa powder is another swap you could make, though cocoa powder tends to be more processed, so just make sure to read your labels, especially if any dairy sensitivities! For the sweetener, maple syrup or honey both work.
Lastly, feel free to use whichever chocolate chips you prefer. Sometimes, I’ll just roughly chop a chocolate bar which is equally delicious.
HOW TO PREVENT MUFFINS FROM STICKING TO LINERS?
A couple tips for preventing your muffins from sticking to the muffin tin or liners include using a melted butter, oil or spray to grease the bottom and sides of the muffin tin. When using liners, you can spray with an oil spray as well, and if you don’t have liners, you could try cutting pieces of parchment paper to line each tin with.
Most importantly, though it’s tempting to dig right in when they are fresh out of the oven, if you let them cool, they’ll shrink/loosen their grip on the liners a bit as they come to room temperature.
DO I NEED TO PEEL THE ZUCCHINI WHEN BAKING?
No! The good news is there’s no need to peel zucchini when making these Double Chocolate Zucchini Blender Muffins, or really in any baking recipe. Since it melts right into whatever you’re baking, it’s an unnecessary step.
MORE ZUCCHINI RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE:
Healthy Fried Zucchini Blossoms
The Best Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread
Protein-Packed Beef & Zucchini Lasagna
Herby Greek Chicken Skewers With Tzatziki
Click here to watch the reel I made of this recipe 🙂
Double Chocolate Zucchini Blender Muffins
Equipment
- Blender
- muffin tin + liners
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups zucchini, chopped, no need to peel
- 1 cup gluten-free flour mix, we used Bob's Red Mill Paleo flour
- 2 pasture-raised eggs
- 1/3 cup cacao powder
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter, plus more for topping
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup honey, or sub maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon flakey sea salt, plus more for topping
- 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chunks, plus more for topping, we used @enjoylifefoods chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray or line your muffin tins. This recipe will make 12 muffins.
- Add your chopped zucchini to a blender, and blend until minced.
- Add the remaining ingredients, except for the chocolate chunks, and blend until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks, then add the batter to the muffin tin.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 45 minutes.
- Top with creamy peanut butter and flakey sea salt. Enjoy!
To Store:
- Store muffins, covered, on the counter for the first day or two, then move to the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.
Ultimately, all of your recipes are five-star but sadly I noticed that you use a lot of trendy large chain grocery store products and these honestly aren’t truly clean. I’m going to do your beautiful Paleo pears and even the mention of coconut oil cooking spray isn’t necessary and it’s far better to just melt a little bit of pure, cold pressed, virgin, organic coconut oil and brush it upon the surface with even a paper towel if you don’t have sophisticated kitchen tools. I don’t know if a lot of these trendy brands that you mention subsidize you at all, but you really should be buying your things from local co-ops and specifically from local, small farms and farmers markets. It’s truly surprising since you are located in the West Coast that you are so smitten with and mention so many trendy brands who market themselves as ‘clean label’. Whole Foods, Amazon, etc, are all owned by big corporations and are focused on 1000% profit & operated as mills- they do not honor true clean eating in any way at all. You need to really work on this aspect of your posts and shares- it really is a dark cloud over the sunshine of your gifts & creativity.
But how many eggs?!?
I’m so sorry I missed that! 2 eggs 🙂 – Rachael
Thank you so much! Just starting to make them ! Can’t wait and love the new cookbook! Thx!
Subbed coconut oil for the applesauce and used organic, extra-dark pure maple syrup (Coombs from my local Co-Op) which offered a fuller-body to the chocolate notes- they were divine!😘
No need for applesauce if it’s not in your baking queue- never is over here;) I used a couple of tbsps of organic cold-pressed avo oil instead and they came out perfect! You could also use coconut oil, ghee, olive oil even…
I noticed after I made these that the ingredients needed says eggs and your reel on insta includes eggs, but the recipe above doesn’t include eggs. Was just curious if the eggs are needed?? They still turned out great without the eggs but wondering what the benefits of the eggs are now since they still turned out fluffy and moist 🙃
I had the same question! Read this recipe on the site and made them and then read the Insta one and saw eggs! Maybe a typo here? Mine still seem good though!