Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
This recipe is from Good and Cheap.
Good and Cheap is a gorgeous cookbook for people with limited income, particularly on a $4/day food stamps budget. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. I have more cookbooks, too!
Zucchini in chocolate cake sounds weird, but it’s a very mild flavor and the truth is you barely taste it. It adds tremendous moisture to these beautiful dark chocolatey muffins. The yogurt, oats, and zucchini make these so moist and soft and then you get a little gooey meltiness from the chocolate chips. Wow. Anyway, give them a try. They are a delicious breakfast treat, but they are yummy enough to have for dessert as well!
As it gets later in the summer, the zucchini grows bigger and bigger. The big ones are not as tender and delicious as the smaller or medium ones. BUT they are perfect for baking! This is another recipe from Good and Cheap.
Growing up my mother made a chocolate zucchini cake that I really wanted to hate as a child (ew mom, zucchini in cake! Seriously!) but unfortunately when I tasted it I loved it and had to decide between deliciousness and stubbornness. Well I chose deliciousness!
- 2 cups zucchini grated
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups oats
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
- Cut off the round end of the zucchini (which is a little tough), but keep the stem to use as a handhold. Shred the zucchini with a box grater, stopping when you get to the stem.
- Butter or oil 24 muffing tins, or just line them with muffin cups.
- Measure the dry ingredients (flour, oats, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt) into a medium bowl.
- Mix the zucchini, eggs, and yogurt in a larger bowl. Add the dry ingredients, then mix until everything is just combined. Add the chocolate chips if you're using them, then stir once.
- With a spoon, dollop the batter into the muffin tins until each cup is 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes.
- Pull the muffins out and poke with a toothpick or knife. If it comes out wet, bake the muffins for 5 more minutes. Let the muffins cool in their tins for 20 to 30 minutes, then eat them warm!
12 Comments
These were absolutely divine! I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, but it didn’t affect the taste at all. Delicious! Thank you!
Yeah! Totally okay to use whole wheat. I should put that in there somewhere 😉
I have made these several times and I actually have them in the oven as we speak! Thanks so much for all you do. I have made several of your recipes and they have all been wonderful. Keep up the great work!
I’d love to make these! I would like to know if there’s a way to make this recipe as a loaf, rather than muffins? If not, I’ll break out the muffin tins.
Hey Erica,
Yes I’m sure this would work as a loaf, but I haven’t done it myself so it would be an experiment. Butter a loaf and bake for longer (would guess maybe 45-1 hour) or until a toothpick comes out clean. 🙂
My husband made these a couple of weeks ago. Tonight is the third time he’s made them because I’m kind of addicted to them! My mouth says, “I’m having chocolate cake EVERY day!” My brain has calculated that they aren’t as bad for you as they taste, but nobody is telling my mouth! 😉 Tonight, we had mini-bundt chocolate zucchini cakes for dessert – oh, YUM!
*We used nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt and dark chocolate chips, because that’s what we buy 🙂
The first time, these were good, but overbaking led to a little dryness. The second time they were much better. I had no idea they could get any better, but tonight, my husband decided to wet the oats before adding and it made the end product that much moister and cake-like. There just aren’t words!
THANK YOU!!!!
This is so wonderful to hear! The bundt cakes and moistened oats sound so wonderful! Delighted you guys are making this your own!
I have shredded zucchini stored in my freezer. Can I use that or will they be too wet?
That should work, just be sure to fully defrost and maybe squeeze a bit of the liquid out before you add it. You may just need to cook the muffins for a little longer if there is increased wetness, but it should still work and moisture in baking is a good thing!
I love your recipes, but I do not see any mention of the nutrition facts?
Obviously I will add chocolate chips to my next batch 😉
Wonderful flavor. I did sqeeze the moisture from the zucchini. Also peeled it. Added a pick of cayenne pepper with the cinnamon. Love the cookbook