It’s zucchini time again! Our garden is overgrown with it, the neighbor’s garden is full of it, and zucchini is being passed around in all shapes and sizes. While we are trying to make the best use of this lovely green vegetable, we couldn’t bear the thought of another loaf of boring old zucchini bread. Jackie had this idea in her head to make muffins instead. To make things more interesting, she insisted on adding some delicious dark chocolate. These muffins are moist, decadent and fluffy; they couldn’t possibly be good for you… but they kind of are!
I always think of zucchini bread as summer’s fruit cake. Zucchini gets passed around among co-workers, turned into zucchini bread, and passed back around for all to “enjoy”. While the sentiment is endearing, the bread itself has never been my favorite. I find it sitting on my counter for weeks because I feel too guilty to throw away someone’s hard work. These zucchini and chocolate chunk muffins change all of that. Their subtle sweetness totally revitalizes grandma’s old fashioned recipe; it makes great use of the green vegetable that grows out of control.
Jackie is obsessed with trying to make things a bit healthier without sacrificing flavor. For these muffins, she experimented with different kinds of flour (we even tried gluten-free), but ultimately we decided that the combination of whole wheat flour and rolled oats provided the best taste. You can’t even taste the full cup of zucchini in this recipe, but it’s there, and it makes the muffins extra moist. This is almost a meal in itself, with the ingredients from all the areas in the food pyramid (did I confuse some younger readers with this reference?). Any way you slice it, these muffins taste delicious. I prefer them right out of the oven with a pat of butter. That’s the kind of guy I am.
Zucchini and Chocolate Chunk Muffins
a healthier muffin made with wheat flour garden fresh zucchini and chunks of dark chocolate
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1 ½ C whole wheat flour
- 1 C rolled oats
- ½ C brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ C zucchini, grated
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ¼ C buttermilk
- ¼ C canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 3.5 oz dark chocolate bars, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Fill muffin tins with paper cups
- Mix dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar) together in large bowl.
- Combine eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, and vanilla extract in separate bowl.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir together by hand to combine. It is okay to have a lumpy texture.
- Mix in shredded zucchini and chocolate chunks (reserving a handful of chocolate for topping)
- Using and ice cream scoop, fill muffin cups to the top for a full-sized muffin
- Sprinkle remaining chocolate over tops of muffins before placing in oven
- Bake muffins for about 25 minutes (until tops are golden brown)
- Serve warm with a pat of butter.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Cuisine: baked goods
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
They look great Jackie. And I'm sure they taste delicious. I like the chocolate chunks in place of the chocolate chips. Beautiful pictures as always!
Claudia | The Brick Kitchen says
YUM this is seriously exactly what I feel like right now - a warm muffin straight from the oven with gooey chocolate (and the thought that with zucchini it might be a tiny bit better for me!). Great photos too!
Jackie says
thanks so much Claudia! We really appreciate your kind words!!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
Your muffins look super delicious! I would like to have one for my breakfast right now. Love the duo chocolate and zucchini!