Healthy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins: Moist and Decadent!

These healthy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins are one of the best ways to use up zucchini and eat some sneaky veggies. They turn out moist and decadent but are filled with all real food ingredients you can feel good about. Kids and adults love these for breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Photo byThriving Home

Ingredients

Here are the stars of this Zucchini Muffin show…

• White whole wheat flour – Regular whole wheat flour works but the cake will be a little denser than with white whole wheat flour. The best substitution would be half whole wheat and half all purpose flour.
• Avocado oil – We love the neutral flavor and high smoke point of avocado oil, but melted, cooled coconut oil would work, too.
• Honey – I haven’t tested this with pure maple syrup but that would be my go-to for a honey replacement. Note: It will alter the flavor some and be a little sweeter than honey. Leave a comment and let me know if you try this.
• Plain Greek yogurt – Nonfat is fine. Use vanilla Greek yogurt if you want to make these even sweeter.
• Finely shredded zucchini – Make sure to squeeze most of the excess moisture out by wringing it in a hand towel or pressing on it in a colander over the sink. This is an important step.

Tip: How to Freeze Shredded Zucchini

If you have extra zucchini that you can’t use up, go ahead and shred it and freeze it! Here’s how…

Photo byThriving Home

How to Freeze Zucchini

How to Make Zucchini Muffins

Find the detailed, printable recipe at the bottom, but here’s an overview of how this recipe goes…

Prep

Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. (You can also use paper liners or silicone liners if you’d like, but they will be very full!)

Dry Ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Wet Ingredients

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, eggs, Greek yogurt, and vanilla.

Combine

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir just until it starts to come together (do not stir a lot here). Sprinkle the shredded zucchini and mini chocolate chips over the top. Stir until fully combined, being careful not to overmix. The batter will be thick.

Bake

Spoon at least 2 heaping tablespoons of batter into each hole, until each one is filled evenly (they will almost be filled to the top). Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of one comes out mostly clean. Place on a cooling rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

Can You Freeze Zucchini Muffins?

Sure thing! Zucchini Muffins freeze well using this method:

Freeze For Later: Bake muffins as directed in recipe. Let cool completely. Then place in a gallon-sized freezer bag or container, seal tightly, and freeze.

Prepare From Frozen: Thaw muffins in the refrigerator or warm in the microwave.

Photo byThriving Home

Variations and Substitutions

This muffin recipe is fairly forgiving, so feel free to make some of these tweaks if you’d like.

• Dairy-Free Version: Use plain dairy-free milk (like almond milk) and dairy-free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life brand from the health food section.
• Gluten-Free Version: Use gluten-free 1:1 baking flour like Bob’s Red Mill brand in place of the wheat flour.
• Substitute for Honey: I haven’t tested this with pure maple syrup but that would be my go-to for a honey replacement. Note: It will alter the flavor some and be a little sweeter than honey. Leave a comment and let me know if you try this.

Why Is White Whole Wheat Flour So Important?

If you spend much time browsing through our baked goods, you’ll find that we almost always use white whole wheat flour (instead of just “whole wheat flour”). We’ve found that white whole wheat flour yields much fluffier/lighter-tasting results. It works in most recipes as a replacement for whole wheat flour. Here is a bit more about the difference between the two.

Here are some of our favorite recipes that use white whole wheat flour:

• Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

More Zucchini Recipes You’ll Love

If you’re a fan of these Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins, be sure to try some of these other popular recipes. Yum!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Waffles

Zucchini Pancakes

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cake