Healthier Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

These Healthier Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are moist, delicious, and perfectly fluffy. Made with whole wheat flour, zucchini, and chia seeds, they are nut and egg free, perfect for school and work snacks and lunches. 

Does the internet really need another Zucchini Muffin recipe? I’m not too sure. BUT, I know that I need more and more ways to work more vegetables into our daily diets. My family of 5 ADORED these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.

Did my kids know that they were made from whole grain flour and packed with 2 cups of zucchini? Nope. All the saw and tasted were fluffy, moist chocolate muffins … that they called cupcakes actually.

And isn’t that what a muffin kind of is? A cupcake on a diet? There’s just enough chocolatey goodness to fool anyone that these muffins are packing fibre, omegas, and vegetables.

They feel like a mini cake, but are on the healthier side of life.

Our preschool is riddle with food allergies including egg and I rely heavily on easy homemade snacks like muffins to round out school snacks. I also need ways to work more vegetables into my picky eaters diet without raising any flags.

These Healthier Chocolate Zucchini Muffins fit seamlessly into our snack rotation, especially since they freeze well, are made easily (no kitchen appliances required) and quite frankly, have enough chocolate to make them feel like a treat (even when they’re not necessarily).

Other healthy muffins and freezer muffins we lean on during the school year:

• School-Safe Mini Muffins 5 Ways
• Pear and Vanilla Muffins
• Mini Buckwheat Blueberry Muffins

* This recipe was amended to reflect readers opinion that there was too much sugar in the recipe. Please see the notes in the notes to reflect the difference with the reduced sugar. 

5 from 2 votes

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Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

These Healthier Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are moist, delicious, and perfectly fluffy.

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: backt to school snacks, chocolate zucchini muffins, muffins, zucchini muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

Author: Samantha

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole grain flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 6 tbsp water
• 1/3-1 cup sugar or honey*
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1/4-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips**

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F and line a standard sized muffin tin with muffin cups or grease. In a large bowl stir together chia seeds and water, set aside. 

2. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
   

3. Whisk chia seeds mixture with sugar, yogurt, and canola oil in the large bowl until combined.

4. Stir flour mixture into dry ingredients, then zucchini and chocolate chips. Scoop batter into a greased 12-cup muffin pan. 

5. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean, about 25 min. Cool muffins in pan.

6. Muffins will last in fridge for up to 7 days in an airtight container or freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

* The photos for this post are muffins made with 1 cup of granulated sugar. This recipe is equally delicious with 1/3 cup of honey to make the muffins refined sugar-free, but they won't have the same fluffy texture. The fluffy texture comes from using sugar and the full cup. That being said, looks aside, my kids adored both versions. 

** my kids couldn't tell the difference between the 1/4 cup and the 1/2 cup. 

Recipe adapted from Chateline Magazine.

Enjoy! xo