Living for Zucchini Season
I live for zucchini bread season. Come mid-July in the midwest, fresh zucchini can be found left right and center and it’s so exciting to get to use it in a variety of ways. Zucchini bread specifically is a top way for me to use the fresh summer veggie. I’ll eat it for breakfast, snacks, and dessert and had the “aha!” moment this summer that I should make some batches in muffin form for easy, grab and go meals. I took my favorite zucchini bread recipe, spruced it up with some double chocolate deliciousness, and batched it into a dozen perfect little muffins!
This recipe has been a huge hit at our house. They are just chocolatey enough, a bit chewy with the oatmeal, and so moist from the fresh zucchini. It’s the perfect comforting, summery bite.
Tips For Making These Zucchini Muffins
If you plan on making these healthy chocolate zucchini muffins, here are a few tips to be successful:
- Mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately may seem frivolous and add another dirty dish to clean, but it will add some insurance to creating a delicious bake. Mixing the dry ingredients specifically, will make sure your baking powder and baking soda are evenly incorporated throughout the batter, which will create the best, most even rise throughout the bread.
- When baking with chocolate, try to purchase the highest quality you are comfortable with buying. You can taste the difference in chocolate even more than most ingredients, making it a worthwhile area to splurge.
- The cocoa powder can make it hard to visually tell when these muffins are baked, as they are already browned. To test for doneness, tap the top of the muffin with your finger to see how firm the top feels and insert a toothpick in the center, trying to avoid the melty chocolate chips. If the top feels firm and the toothpick comes out mostly clean (if it’s a little wet that’s ok, you just don’t want clumps of batter to come up with it) then you’re ready to take these muffins out of the oven!
Recipe Details
I love the relative simplicity of making these muffins! All it requires is a couple bowls, a whisk, and a muffin tin. To begin, you’ll first mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mixing these ingredients together first will make it easier to mix them into the batter at the end with all of the flavors and key baking ingredients evenly distributed.
In a separate bowl, you’ll mix the “wet” ingredients – including coconut oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla, and fresh zucchini. A great part about this recipe is that the recipe is dairy free – making it enjoyable by anyone with a dietary restriction! These ingredients will be whisked together to first incorporate a small amount of air and to get everything mixed up evenly. At this point, you can add the dry ingredients to the wet, give them a stir, and add in the chocolate chips.
Once you have a batter complete, you’ll evenly divide the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake for about 25 minutes in a 350°F oven. Let the baked muffins cool in the tin for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, you can store them in an airtight container for 3 days or enjoy them immediately! They are best eaten at room temperature or slightly warmed, either out of the oven or after microwaving for 10-15 seconds.
If you like the sound of this recipe, you should also check out these other recipes:
- Zucchini Bread with Oatmeal, Coconut, and Chocolate Chips
- Apple Crumble Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
Be sure to tag @laura.loves.to.cook on Instagram, Tik Tok, or Facebook to let me know how your recipes turn out. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Double Chocolate Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins
Description
A double dose of chocolate is added to these zucchini-packed muffins. A delicious bake for breakfast, snacking, or dessert they are a perfect muffin to embrace zucchini season!
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
-
In a medium bowl, add 1 cup old fashioned oats, 1 cup flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Mix until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
-
In a separate, large bowl add ⅓ cup melted coconut oil, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 large room temperature eggs. Whisk all ingredients until fully incorporated and begin to look a bit foamy, about 1-2 minutes.
-
Add 2 cups of freshly grated zucchini to the sugar and eggs mixture. Stir to combine.
-
Add the medium bowl of dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture. Stir until nearly combined and then add ½ cup dark chocolate chips. Stir until just combined and no streaks of flour are apparent.
-
Evenly divide the batter into the lined muffin tin. Bake for 23-27 minutes until the are just firm and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out nearly clean.
-
Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then remove from the tray and cool on a cooling rack until room temperature.
-
Enjoy slightly warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
