Super moist and packed with zucchini, these Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are great for breakfast or snack. We love them when we have too much zucchini on hand—or when we just need a dose of chocolatey goodness.
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Friends, our garden has exploded with zucchini. And while I tend to think of myself as someone who can handle lots of produce, this has pushed even my abilities.
Enter: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins!
These muffins are super moist, super fluffy, and a great mix of nutrients and flavors. They have a full cup of zucchini, plus whole grains, proteins, and healthy fats.
They’re great on their own or topped with cream cheese, peanut butter, or almond butter. You can make them with chocolate chips or blueberries too. My kids love them as much as I do!
Ingredients You Need
To make this muffin recipe you’ll need:
- Whole wheat flour: This flour absorbs moisture well and has fiber and nutrients, so it’s a great option here.
- Cocoa powder: I use Hershey’s Special Dark usually for flavor that’s not bitter.
- Baking powder and baking soda: This helps the muffins rise nicely.
- Zucchini: Any variety of green zucchini works here.
- Sugar: A modest amount of sugar adds sweetness. You can sub maple syrup or honey if you prefer.
- Milk: Dairy or nondairy milk works in this recipe.
- Eggs
- Melted butter: I use unsalted butter in my baking so I can control the salt. If you only have salted butter, just skip adding the salt in the recipe.
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips or blueberries: You can choose one or the other to add, or add some of each.
TIP: I coat my muffin pan with nonstick classic Pam spray. There is not enough fat for these to come out cleanly from paper cupcake liners, so spray them lightly with nonstick spray if you want to use them.
Step by Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the simple process involved in making this recipe.
- Stir together the dry ingredients.
- Grate the zucchini.
- Squeeze it very, very dry with your hands. Measure it out.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet.
- Add to a muffin pan and bake.
TIP: You can make these muffins ahead of time and then store them in the fridge or freezer and serve them on busy mornings.
How to Store
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5. Freeze cooled muffins in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months.
Best Tips for Success
- Serve at room temperature, warmed slightly, or chilled. (They may firm up a bit if chilled.)
- If using blueberries, expect the muffins to be super moist.
- Mini Muffins: Cook for 12-14 minutes in a 24-cup mini muffin pan.
- Dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil in place of the butter and plain nondairy milk.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup style gluten-free flour in place of the whole wheat.
- Egg-free: Use a purchased egg replacer or omit the eggs, increase the milk to 1 ½ cups, and increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon. Bake for 18-22 minutes and check for doneness with a cake tester. (I tested them and it worked well, though they are moister than the regular recipe so they take a little longer to bake.) Let cool fully before eating for the best texture.
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I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you make it for your family, so please comment below to share!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup sugar (or maple syrup; up the sugar to ½ cup for a more conventionally sweet muffin)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup grated zucchini, squeezed very dry and packed tightly (measure after grating)
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (melted, or use canola or avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips (or 1 cup blueberries; you can also use up to 1 cup of chocolate chips if you prefer)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a standard size muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Grate the zucchini with a box grater and squeeze as much liquid out as you can with your hands. (I usually place it onto a clean kitchen towel and roll up to remove excess moisture, too.) Measure out 1 cup after this process.
- To a medium bowl, add the zucchini, milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
- Gently stir in the flour mixture. Gently stir in the chocolate chips (or blueberries).
- Divide batter among the prepared muffin pan, using a heaping ¼ cup in each. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean.
- Let cool for a minute or two in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
- Serve muffins slightly warmed or at room temperature.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5. Freeze cooled muffins in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months.
- Serve at room temperature, warmed slightly, or chilled. (They may firm up a bit if chilled.)
- If using blueberries, expect the muffins to be super moist.
- Use ½ cup sugar if you prefer your muffins to be sweeter. These are very lightly sweetened as written.
- Mini Muffins: Cook for 12-14 minutes in a 24-cup mini muffin pan.
- Dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil in place of the butter and plain nondairy milk.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup style gluten-free flour in place of the whole wheat.
- Egg-free: Use a purchased egg replacer or omit the eggs, increase the milk to 1 ½ cups, and increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon. Bake for 18-22 minutes and check for doneness with a cake tester. (I tested them and it worked well, though they are moister than the regular recipe so they take a little longer to bake.) Let cool fully before eating for the best texture.
- Use the same amount of honey or maple syrup in place of the sugar.
- Use white whole wheat or all purpose flour if desired.
Not just for toddlers! I made these for my husband for Father’s Day since he likes healthy treats. We loved them. I doubled the batch and put chocolate chips in one and blueberries in the other. I used Truvia baking sugar and 2% milk. Both tasted great and were super moist.
So glad to hear it!
Loved this recipe. My daughter made them fit my toddler grandson, and I loved them so much, I came home and made a batch. I am on a low cal, healthier whole food eating plan and this is perfect for my snack, or better yet, dessert!
I used almond flour and it came out too wet. Any suggestions for this particular flour? Will cooking it longer or adding more AF make a difference next time?
Hi- almond flour is never a good direct substitute for wheat flours as they work entirely differently in how they absorb moisture. I have a great almond flour muffin recipe that is designed for that flour though. https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/almond-flour-muffins/
Love these muffins! I made them gluten free and added collagen peptides (extra splash of milk to balance it), coconut, pecans, and hemp hearts. They came out so good!
Fantastic! This recipe is awesome. I added 1 teaspoon of white vinegar to the milk to make buttermilk, and the result turned out amazing. Thank you for a great recipe!
kids love these yummy ‘cup cakes’!
I actually FORGOT to the add the sugar in my last batch, and the kids still gobbled them up none the wiser!
This is a great recipe. It can be hard to balance “healthy” with “tasty” and this recipe nails it. It freezes well and you can also make it with frozen grated zucchini in case you’re overloaded with zucchini at some point.
ahhh thanks!
good to know! I was wondering about the freezing of the zucchini!
We loved this! I made half into mini muffins, and half into a sort of loaf. I used all purpose and added a couple tablespoons of hemp hearts. The batter was pretty wet since I didn’t use whole wheat, but it cooked up nicely. My 10 month old ate four mini muffins on his own, and my toddler even ate two! It was a hit.
Hi I tried this with regular flour and the muffins were too wet… how much flour would I need if using regular white flour? Thanks
1.5 cups would be my guess.
Thank you. I also used AP flour and it was a bit wet, but they were still delicious! Will add this to one of my healthy regulars. No toddlers here but healthy eating is good for everyone!
I have a bunch of cubed frozen zucchini (not squeezed before freezing). Could I use that in place of the grated squeeze-dried zucchini? If so, how much should I use? Thanks!
I ended up thawing 1/2 lb of frozen zucchini, drained some of the water, and chopped it in a food processor. The muffins came out great!
These muffins are soooo good. I was searching for a healthy chocolate zucchini muffin recipe and stumbled upon this one. I love it is low sugar and feel like it’s perfectly sweet with the 1/4 cup recommended amount. It’s on a recipe card and in my box for future use. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
We’re not a gluten free family but a sneak in protein bc my son isn’t a fan of the obvious options so I make these in the blender with a can of rinsed black beans instead of flour and they’re great!
These are the best muffins! We’ve been buying zucchini at the farmers market every week just to make double batches of these muffins so we have enough to eat for breakfast and snacks and then freeze the rest. They’re so good!
A big hit in our house! Thank you for all the great recipes. It really helps this mama out.
I’m so glad and you’re welcome!
Love the simplicity of this recipe. I made it with 1/2 cup sugar and did 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar and it was great. Excited to have my son try them as he’s been on a chocolate muffin kick lately.