The Best Zucchini and Chocolate Muffins to Bake

These Gluten-Free Zucchini and Chocolate Muffins are about to become your new favorite breakfast treat and snack! And I guarantee your kids will love them, too!

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Unbeatable Texture & Flavors

Gluten-free baking can be tricky, often resulting in muffins that are either too crumbly or too dense. After several attempts, I've perfected these Gluten-Free Zucchini and Chocolate Muffins, achieving a soft, light texture that's hard to find. The rich chocolate flavor, complemented by a hint of zucchini, makes them kid-approved, especially with added chocolate chips. The real highlight is their pillow-like texture, and I’m sharing all my tips in this blog post to help you master this recipe!

First Thing's First: The Zucchini

To sneak vegetables into your kids' diets, try adding finely grated zucchini to baked goods. Its mild flavor becomes almost undetectable when cooked, making it perfect for breads, cakes, or muffins. The key is to remove excess moisture from the zucchini, which is 94% water.

Start by lining a bowl with paper towels and grating the zucchini into it. Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the grated zucchini and let it sit for 10-20 minutes to absorb moisture. Afterward, wring out any excess water with the paper towels. This ensures your baked goods remain moist without being chewy!

The Dry Ingredients

To make delicious gluten-free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, you'll need a few key ingredients:

Baking Flour: I recommend Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for its ideal consistency and built-in xanthan gum, which simplifies gluten-free baking.

Brown Sugar: This adds more flavor and moisture than granulated sugar due to its molasses content.

Espresso Powder: A pinch enhances the chocolate flavor, deepening the overall taste.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt. Mix well and set aside to create the perfect muffin base!

Mixing the Batter

Now that the dry ingredients and grated zucchini are ready, it’s time for the wet ingredients. Combine two room temperature eggs, vegetable oil, unflavored Greek yogurt, almond milk, and vanilla extract. The Greek yogurt ensures a light, fluffy texture while adding a tangy flavor.

Vegetable oil provides the perfect texture, but you can substitute with:

• Canola oil: Enhances rich chocolate notes.
• Safflower oil: A healthy fat rich in Vitamin E. Health benefits here.
• Butter: Amplifies chocolate flavors.
• Coconut oil: Yields a light, airy texture but less richness.
• Smashed bananas: Adds creaminess but may clash with chocolate.
• Applesauce: Adds moisture and sweetness.

After mixing your chosen oil with the wet ingredients, sift half of the dry mixture into the wet. Use an electric mixer to combine thoroughly, ensuring even distribution.

Time for Chocolate and Zucchini!

The best part of this baking process? Adding the stars of the show! After mixing both the dry and wet mixtures together, we get to finally add our chocolate chips in and zucchini. First thing's first though... what kind of chocolate chips do you use?

Let's talk about why and what chocolate chips we use! It may come as a surprise, but this part does matter as it can make a big difference in your recipe. It's best to use sweet baking chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks. Here, I am using dark chocolate chunks with 74% chocolate. It's also important to note that semi-sweet chocolate baking chips will melt better, while dark chocolate will hold its consistency while giving you that "ooey gooey-ness" that we love so much!

Alright, now that the chocolate is in we can move to the zucchini. It's important to use the paper towels to wring out any moisture left in the zucchini before adding it to our muffin mixture. Now it's time to remove the grated zucchini from the bowl and add to the batter. Use a spatula to fold the grated zucchini into the batter. Voila, you now have your finished zucchini and chocolate muffin batter ready for baking!

All That's Left To Do...

At long last, it's time to pour the batter into the muffin tins. First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a muffin tin with liners to prevent the muffins from sticking to the tin. Then, carefully pour the batter a little more than three fourths of the way high in the muffin tin. The muffins won't rise or spread much, so they'll remain on the smaller size. This is purposeful to ensure the consistency is the same throughout.

Once the muffin tins are filled with batter, bake for 20 minutes in the center rack. To test if they're done, place a toothpick in the center of the muffin in the middle rack. If it comes out clean, it's ready to be taken out of the oven. If there's still batter on the toothpick then it needs another few minutes- depending on how much batter there was on the toothpick. Usually three to five minutes will do the trick.

When the muffins are done, pull them out of the oven and allow them to rest for 15 minutes. The muffins with the liners should come out clean and smoothly from the tin. If you have any trouble, run a clean knife along the edge. Then, all that's left to do is enjoy your zucchini and chocolate muffins!