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Delicious and fluffy, these double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are the perfect tasty treat. Made with an impressive three cups of shredded zucchini, they’re so good and packed with amazing flavor and chocolate chips.
Pair the natural sweetness of bananas with healthy and nutritious zucchini, add a few chocolate chips/chunks, and BOOM, breakfast is served with these chocolate zucchini muffins!
You’re going to love these healthy(ish) zucchini chocolate chip muffins for a fast make-ahead breakfast. Park the extras in the freezer and sit back and watch while your family gets their own nourishing breakfast in the morning. BOOM.
Ingredients and Variations
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a full list of ingredients and measurements, but I wanted to highlight a few here because they’re both delicious and important!
- Zucchini – 2 medium-sized zukes will do the trick here. This is a great opportunity to use frozen shredded zucchini from last year (related: How to Freeze Zucchini). Allow the zucchini to thaw and then squeeze all excess water from it before adding it to the muffins.
- Bananas – you’ll want something very ripe and about to cross over the produce bridge.
- Flour – I used all-purpose, but a previous version of this recipe recommended whole wheat pastry flour. You can absolutely use either! If you do use whole wheat flour, add 2 tbsp of vital wheat gluten in step 2 below in the recipe card.
- Oil – you can use your favorite neutral-flavored oil like coconut, avocado, or plain ol’ vegetable. You can also sub in butter if you’d like.
- Eggs – to make these muffins truly plant-based, sub in your favorite egg replacement product.
- Chocolate – I love dark chocolate cocoa powder for these muffins and I used chocolate baking chunks (72% cacao), but chocolate chips will also work.
Can You Freeze Chocolate Zucchini Muffins?
Yes, absolutely! My kiddos LOVE these muffins, so I keep 4-6 in an air-tight container at room temp and freeze the others for fast breakfasts.
Allow muffins to fully cool and then transfer them to a freezer bag (we love these reusable silicone bags). You can freeze them for up to 3 months.
To thaw: set at room temp for ~4 hours, or thaw overnight in the fridge. You can also microwave them in 30-second bursts until they’re fully thawed.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Whip up a batch of Make Ahead Scrambled Eggs, Gluten-Free Quiche, or Air Fryer Bacon for a complete meal.
You can also serve alongside some Cold Start Instant Pot Yogurt, Air Fryer Potatoes, Steamed Apples With Cinnamon, or Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs.
Pro Tip/Recipe Notes
- If you’re making these zucchini banana muffins for picky eaters, you’ll have better luck sneaking in the zucchini if you peel it first. The green color of the peel is a dead giveaway to eagle-eyed eaters.
- If you’re out of brown sugar, check out my post on How to Make Brown Sugar.
- These muffins don’t have a lot of oil in them so they can be prone to sticking a bit to conventional cupcake liners. I use these parchment liners and they work great, or you can lightly spritz your favorite lines with a non-stick cooking spray prior to adding the mixture.
- I use a stand mixer but you can also use a hand mixer, or a mixing bowl, a whisk, and a silicone spatula.
More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup oil {coconut, avocado, vegetable}
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 3 cups shredded zucchini {drained of excess water}
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin liners.
- In a bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine oil, eggs, both sugars, vanilla, bananas, and zucchini.1/3 cup oil, 2 eggs, room temperature, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 2 medium ripe bananas, 3 cups shredded zucchini
- Mix on medium-low for 1 minute, using the paddle attachment on medium-low speed.
- With the mixer on low, fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips, mix until just incorporated.3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Fill muffin liners about 75% full.
- Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Remove from pan and transfer to cooling racks.
Notes
- a previous version of this recipe recommended whole wheat pastry flour. If you do use whole wheat flour, add 2 tbsp of vital wheat gluten in step 2 above in the recipe card.
- If you’re making these zucchini banana muffins for picky eaters, you’ll have better luck sneaking in the zucchini if you peel it first. The green color of the peel is a dead giveaway to eagle-eyed eaters.
- These muffins don’t have a lot of oil in them so they can be prone to sticking a bit to conventional cupcake liners. I use parchment liners and they work great, or you can lightly spritz your favorite lines with a non-stick cooking spray prior to adding the mixture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are so yummy! Both my one year old and toddler loved the muffins. In fact my toddler told me they were better than grandma’s chocolate chip muffins (and you know those are good!) Thank you for another great recipe!
I’m so glad you and the kiddos enjoyed them, Jeni! 🙂
YUM! I was dubious I confess right up until trying them. Seemed like not enough sugar or fat and far too much zucchini
Perfect way to use up our neglected zucchini that transformed to a small marrow 🙂
The kids love them too, with our five year old proclaiming them to be the best ever (as she is one her third mini muffin for the day)
Thanks Sarah
I LOVE that you turned these into mini muffins! Smart lady.
So glad you liked them, and don’t forget these freeze really well. 🙂
I would love to try this recipe but don’t have whole wheat flour. Can I replace the whole wheat flour and vital wheat gluten with 1-1/2 cups white flour and keep the rest of the recipe the same?
Yes, you can absolutely use all-purpose in the same amount and leave out the vital wheat gluten.
I was comparing your recipe for these zucchini muffins with another and I like that yours has much less sugar and oil. Couple quick questions: coconut oil and veg oil are interchangeable, yes? And the bananas – is the taste of banana discernible? Or just add texture? We love banana bread but don’t seem to like banana+ recipes for some reason. Bananas good alone…bad in combination!
Thanks!
Laurinda
Yep, totally interchangeable. Virgin coconut oil will have a coconut flavor. Expeller pressed will not. I can never taste the banana in it, and I am not a banana fan.
I made these yesterday and they were so good! I’m glad my daughter was at ballet class, so I could lick the bowl alone. So, so delicious.
So glad you liked them Brandi. Thanks for reviewing!
Once we move in to the new house this is going to be the first thing I make, I love anything zucchini and chocolate
I’m a lousy baker, but these muffins sound delicious and I have all the ingredients (sans stand mixer). Can I use a hand mixer? If so, do I need to do anything differently in step 4?
You can do it!!
You could use a hand mixer. It’s been years since I have used one, so I would say to just go slow when you get to step 4.
If you were going to make this as chocolate zucchini bread/loaf, would you do anything differently?
Yes, I would increase the time. Check at 40 minutes with a toothpick in the middle to test for doneness.
I am neither a zucchini’s friend, nor its foe. Just curious:
Why do parents hide zucchini in otherwise perfectly good food, like meatloaf and chocolate muffins? I understand that every parent wants, or should want, their child to eat more vegetables, but hiding vegetables in a chocolate product…?
We are a family of four persons, each with a different list of favorite vegetables but all sharing a general dislike for zucchini and eggplant. Yet, last week a photo of Garlic Roasted Ratatouile appeared on Pinterest and I alerted the family of what to expect for dinner. Spoiler: the recipe is now in rotation, even with the eggplant and zucchini in full view.
I am a lost cause when it comes to spiralized zucchini, though. “Zoodle Pad Thai” is just sadness.
Jack will eat grilled zucchini at dinner when it is put on his plate. I love it, and we have it weekly.
Baked goods with zucchini is more a vehicle for using up excess produce than it is a way to hide veggies in baked goods.
My 4 yr old is still on the anti-squash bandwagon. She’ll eat broccoli, green beans, corn, and potatoes. So while it is a good way to use up the prolific zucchini I also use it to get extra nutrients into my kiddo. Just like putting canned pumpkin in chili and red pasta sauce.
Absolutely! I will put veggies into anything I think I can get away with.
My kids are no longer smoothie fans but spinach and kale were great sneaky additions to those. My friend Katie swears by frozen cauliflower florets in smoothies.
Hello! If I make these with white flour, is the vital wheat gluten still needed? Thanks!
Nope, you can leave out the vital wheat gluten!
Thank you!