These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are moist, fluffy, and made healthier with whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, shredded zucchini and zero butter or refined sugar. Loaded with warm flavors and chunks of chocolate in every bite!
I have been on such a muffin kick lately and let me tell you, these chocolate chip zucchini muffins always hit the spot! Fluffy, moist, and made healthier with 100% whole grains, shredded zucchini and zero butter or refined sugar. You’ll love baking with zucchini because not only does is make these muffins so moist and flavorful, but it’s a great way to sneak in veggies for those picky eaters because I promise you can’t taste the zucchini at all! Feel free to swap out the chocolate chips for chopped nuts, shredded coconut, fresh berries or dried fruit.
Enjoy these delicious chocolate chip zucchini muffins for breakfast with your morning coffee or serve it to your kids as a great after-school snack!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Whole wheat pastry flour – I love baking with whole wheat pastry flour as it has all the nutritional benefits of whole grain flour while giving these muffins a light and fluffy texture. I highly recommend using this, but if you don’t have any on hand you could use white whole wheat flour or regular all-purpose flour
- Baking soda – acts as a leavening agent to help these muffins rise
- Zucchini – adds nutritional benefits and makes these muffins nice and moist, just make sure to really squeeze out the water from the zucchini after grating
- Eggs – adds protein and gives these muffins their structure and height
- Maple syrup – sweetens these muffins without using any refined sugar, but you could also use honey or regular sugar
- Coconut oil – for additional moisture and fluffiness! Feel free to sub with another type of oil if you prefer or even butter
- Greek yogurt – this helps to reduce the amount of oil we need to use and helps keep the muffins moist. You could also use applesauce, mashed banana or pumpkin puree as well
- Milk – I used almond milk, but any type of milk will work in this recipe
- Cinnamon + vanilla – warm boost of flavor!
- Chocolate chips – I used Lily’s chocolate chips which are gluten-free, vegan and sweetened with stevia making the sugar content really low and they taste delicious! You could also of course use regular chocolate chips, but the sugar content will be much higher.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
This particular recipe makes 12 regular size muffins or 24 mini muffins. You will make the batter the exact same way, you’ll just need to adjust the cooking time for smaller muffins. Here’s how to make them!
- zucchini grate. Using a box grater, shred the zucchini and remove all the moisture using a cheesecloth or paper towel, squeezing all the liquid out into the sink.
- Mix ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, then set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, milk, melted coconut oil, vanilla and shredded zucchini until all combined.
- Make the batter. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips and divide the batter evenly between 12 muffin cups sprayed with non-stick spray (or use liners), making sure to fill each cup almost all the way full.
- BAKE! Bake the muffins at 350 degrees F for 18 to 22 minutes (mine came out perfect at 20 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
- Make sure you DON’T over mix the batter. This results in super dense muffins which we don’t want. We’re going for fluffy and soft!
- It’s important to squeeze as much water out of the shredded zucchini as you can. No need to peel the zucchini.
- Feel free to sub the whole wheat pastry flour with 1:1 gluten-free baking flour or even all-purpose flour. I don’t recommend using almond flour or coconut flour in this recipe.
- You can easily swap out the Greek yogurt for pumpkin puree, mashed banana or applesauce.
- Mix in other fun additions like chopped nuts, coconut flakes, dried fruit or fresh berries!
Other Baking Methods
- You can easily make this recipe into healthy zucchini bread! Simply pour the batter into a 9×5-inch loaf pan sprayed with nonstick spray and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- You can also make three mini loves which is perfect for gifting. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. When making for friends and family, I like to double this recipe and make 6 mini loaves!
- This recipe also makes 24 mini muffins. Distribute the batter into 24 muffins cups sprayed with nonstick spray (or muffin liners) and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 17 minutes. Perfect treat for little hands!
Prepping and Storage
To Store: You can keep these muffins stored in a sealed, airtight container at room temp for up to 3 days, but make sure to refrigerate after that to keep them longer. These muffins will last up to a week in the fridge in a sealed container.
To Freeze: These muffins freeze really well too! Make sure to let them cool completely then wrap the muffins individually or store them all together in freezer-safe bags. When ready to eat, just pop them in the microwave for 3o to 40 seconds or simply thaw out at room temperature. These will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Muffin Recipes You’ll Love
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup grated zucchini, water squeezed out
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Lily’s chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, milk, coconut oil, vanilla and grated zucchini until all combined. Add wet ingredients into flour mixture and mix with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups sprayed with non-stick spray (or you can use liners) making sure to fill each cup almost all the way full.
- Bake the muffins for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, then let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Nutrition Facts:
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 180
- Sugars: 9.7 g
- Sodium: 177.4 mg
- Fats: 6.9 g
- Saturated Fats: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.3 g
- Fibers: 4.6 g
- Proteins: 5.4 g
* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.