The best healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins recipe! These easy zucchini chocolate chip muffins are made with nutritious ingredients. They’re moist, chocolatey and can be made gluten-free. Plus, they freeze well for a quick healthy breakfast you can grab on the go!
I really enjoy making recipes with sneaky veggies. I love baking with zucchini, spinach, carrots, etc. to make healthy treats my kids love eating! These Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are the whole package. They are loaded with zucchini, full of fiber, rich in protein, and have a deep chocolate flavor!
The combination of oat flour and all-purpose flour makes them light, fluffy and nutritious – and they can easily be made gluten-free! The addition of Greek yogurt adds protein. Two heaping cups of zucchini packs them full of nutrients. Plus, you can earn serious cool-mom points by letting your kids eat chocolate for breakfast.
How to make Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
These chocolate zucchini muffins are easy to make in a blender (and you can also make them without)! We’ll walk through the process step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video!
Use a Vitamix
This is another recipe that deepens my love for my Vitamix. You can take oatmeal, zucchini and a bunch of other good-for-you ingredients and create muffins that are smooth, slightly sweet, and blissfully chocolatey. Zucchini, where? Zucchini, who? Be sure to check out my Vitamix Buying Guide!
Make Oat Flour
The first step in this chocolate zucchini muffin recipe is to make the oat flour. If you regularly purchase oat flour, then simply use that and skip this step. I always make my own because it costs less and I always have oatmeal on hand.
To do this, simply put oatmeal in the container of your Vitamix (or another high-powered blender) and blend for 15-30 seconds until it resembles flour.
Combine Dry Ingredients
Transfer the oat flour to a medium bowl and combine it with the rest of the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside to add to the recipe later.
Blend Wet Ingredients
Next, blend together the wet ingredients until a homogenous (smooth, uniform throughout) mixture forms. It will be green at this point because you haven’t added the cocoa powder yet. You can also use a food processor.
If you don’t have a blender/food processor
Mash the bananas, add all the rest of the wet ingredients except for the zucchini. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe, and add the zucchini in at the very end after all the rest of the ingredients have been mixed together by hand.
Add vanilla & sugar
Place the vanilla and sugar into the blending container and blend until the sugar is dissolved.
Add dry ingredients
Next, add the dry ingredients to the blender and blend until the mixture is smooth.
Add chocolate chips
One the mixture is smooth, add the chocolate chips and stir by hand.
Pour into muffin pan & bake
Next, scoop about 1/4 cup of the prepared batter into each well of a greased muffin tin. Bake until the muffins are set and spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. You can use muffin liners if you prefer.
Remove and cool
Release & remove the chocolate zucchini muffins from the muffin pan and transfer them to a wire rack to cool before eating.
Serve!
Serve these zucchini chocolate chip muffins with your favorite fruit for a delicious breakfast! Here are some suggestions of spreads that taste great on top of these muffins!
- Homemade peanut butter tastes amazing on these healthy chocolate zucchini muffins.
- Slather on some homemade cinnamon honey butter.
- A dollop of this homemade vanilla almond butter tastes amazing!
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Old-Fashioned oats. You can substitute oat flour (in a 1:1 ratio, so in this recipe 1 1/2 cups) for the old-fashioned oats. You can also use solely all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- All-purpose flour. 1:1 gluten-free baking flour can be substituted to make these chocolate zucchini muffins gluten-free. You can also use all oat flour, but just know the muffin texture won’t be as tall and fluffy. Whole wheat pastry flour is another great substitution for all-purpose flour too.
- Greek yogurt. Any plain or vanilla Greek yogurt will work well in this recipe. To make these chocolate zucchini muffins dairy-free, simply use a dairy-free Greek yogurt.
- Granulated sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe, including brown sugar or coconut sugar for a refined-sugar free option.
- Honey. maple syrup can be used in place of honey.
FAQs about Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Do you peel zucchini for muffins?
No! No need to peel zucchini to make these zucchini chocolate chip muffins. There are loads of nutrients in that skin, so leave it on!
How do you store zucchini muffins?
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days, in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How many zucchinis is 2 cups grated?
Two cups of grated zucchini equals about two small/medium zucchinis.
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Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt (vanilla or plain)
- 1 banana, ripe
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 TBS honey
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease two 12-cup muffin tins and set aside.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of oats to your blender (Vitamix) and blend until ground into a fine flour. Remove from blender and put in a medium bowl.
- Mix in dry ingredients (oat flour, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt) and set aside.
- Add zucchini, Greek yogurt, sugar, banana, and honey to your blender and blend until smooth.
- Add vanilla, sugar and eggs and blend on low speed until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients and blend until combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips by hand (do not blend)!
- Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, making sure each well is only 3/4 full.
- Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are set and spring back when touched. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with very few crumbs.
- Let sit in the muffin pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes.
- Run a spoon around each muffin to release from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
- Old-Fashioned oats. You can substitute oat flour (in a 1:1 ratio, so in this recipe 1 1/2 cups) for the old-fashioned oats. You can also use solely all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- All-purpose flour. A 1:1 gluten-free baking flour can be substituted to make these chocolate zucchini muffins gluten-free. You can also use all oat flour, but just know the muffin texture won't be as tall and fluffy. Whole wheat pastry flour is another great substitution for all-purpose flour too.
- Greek yogurt. Any plain or vanilla variety will work well in this recipe. To make these chocolate zucchini muffins dairy-free, simply use a dairy-free Greek yogurt.
- Granulated sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe, including brown sugar or coconut sugar for a refined-sugar free option.
- Honey. maple syrup can be used in place of honey.
If you don't have a blender/food processor
Follow the recipe as written, but instead of putting the wet ingredients into a blender, Mash the bananas into a large bowl. Then add all the rest of the wet ingredients except for the zucchini and stir to combine. Proceed with the rest of the recipe, and add the zucchini at the very end after all the rest of the ingredients have been mixed together by hand.Nutrition
More Zucchini Recipes
Here are a few more of our favorite zucchini recipes!
- We love muffins around here. Some of our favorites featuring zucchini are: paleo zucchini muffins, carrot zucchini muffins, and these pumpkin zucchini muffins.
- This chocolate zucchini cake with a fudgy chocolate ganache is seriously the best.
- Who doesn’t love healthy zucchini cookies?
- We love making these corn and zucchini fritters in the summer.
- Want to add nutrition to pizza night? Try this zucchini pizza crust!
- The simplest way to use zucchini is in this zucchini smoothie – it’s delicious!
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Chelsea @ Mae's Menu
Omg — my stomach was legit growling as I read this post! I *love* blender baking recipes. What a genius idea to use zucchin! I can’t wait to try these. Thanks so much for sharing.
Shana
Hello dear, I have just made this recipe and am so disappointed!! They were looking so nice and risen in the oven, but as soon as I brought it out, suddenly they all flattened to the bottom of the cups!!!! 🙂 why do you think this happened?
Laura
If your baked goods deflate like that it likely means they weren’t baked completely. A completely baked muffin will not deflate.
Emily Swanson
Ooh la la… :). I love how zucchini is disguised so well in chocolate. These are probably some of the most beautiful muffins I’ve ever seen.
Madeleine
Delicious! I didnt have any almond meal on hand so I upped the amount of oat flour and the muffins were still very tasty. I’m a big fan of anything with chocolate and banana, and these did not disappoint.
Laura
Yes!!! Chocolate and banana are a great pair for sure! 🙂
Faith
Made a double batch since I bought WAY TOO MANY yellow squash at the Farmer’s Market! Left out the honey and substituted gf flour for the almond meal (didn’t have any). Added extra cinnamon and cocoa. Superb! Even my non-veggie-eating brother enjoyed them. Thank you for your healthy recipe.
Laura
Thank you for stopping by to let me know that you enjoyed this recipe! We love it and I’m so glad that you made a believer out of your brother! 😉
Angela @marathonsandmotivation.com
These look delicious! I’m looking forward to giving them a try, Pinned 🙂
Laura
Thank you so much Angela!! I hope you enjoy them! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Ilka
This is such a great healthy gluten-free muffin recipe! Love all the high quality ingredients and the yummyness! 🙂 Pinning!
Laura
Thank you so much Ilka! 🙂 Nothing beats a good healthy muffin in the morning! 🙂
Charlotte
I’ve never considered adding zuccini to muffins before! these look delicious too – what a sneaky way to get extra vegetables into the kids – I love it! Thanks for sharing over at #YumTum this week!
Laura
OOooOOo! You must give it a try! Zucchini in everything! 🙂
Liz
I love being sneaky about vegetables too 😉 Love the ingredients you used in these muffins— definitely pinning to try soon 🙂
Laura
Thank you Liz!! Sneaky veggies are so great! 🙂 Hope you enjoy them!
Britney
I’m totally a science nerd too! I was a Biochemistry major before I switched my major to Nutritional Science – so many fun subjects in science 😉 Can’t wait to try these sneaky green muffins!
Laura
Woo hoo! Science nerds unite! 🙂 Once I became a teacher I wished I had studied food science along with chemistry! 🙂 Hope you love them!
Maria
Ok….I’m all about sneaky veggies too, so I’m definitely pinning and saving this recipe for later. My 2 year old loves muffins and chocolate is her favorite, so this is perfect! Thanks so much for sharing such a helpful recipe with us on #shinebloghop this week, Laura. It’s lovely of you to join us 🙂
Laura
Veggies that taste like chocolate are great for everyone…kids and moms alike! 😉 Thank you! Maria! Have a great day!
Edye
These look heavenly!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Blessings,
Edye // Gracefulcoffee
Laura
Thank you Edye! 🙂
Joanie Atwater
Oooo Yum! These are making me hungry lol. Love zucchini bread and chocolate. I’m sure these are super good 🙂
Laura
Thank you Joanie! 🙂
CakePants
These muffins look fantastic! I never would have guessed that there was zucchini tucked inside. That’s a pretty great trick to send the zucchini through a blender to disguise it. I wonder if my mom ever tried anything like that with me…
Laura
Thank you! 🙂 I bet all of our moms pulled some fast ones on us that we still don’t know about! 🙂 The secret society of sneaky ninja moms has to be a thing. 😉
Lela
Girl, these look fabulous! Gotta remember to make them! Thanks so much for sharing at Inspiration Thursday!
Cindy
I want these at my next visit!
Laura
Anything for you mom! 🙂