Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are a tasty way to use up the extra zucchini gardens always seem to produce!
Originally Published 06/28/2021
This recipe is also super quick and easy! But before we get on to the details of that … How is it the end of June!? How are we days away from the Fourth of July!? The summer is going by so fast!
Yesterday, with some friends, we went up to Lake Malone in Kentucky. We spent the afternoon jumping off moss-covered rocks into the lake’s cool green water! Floating, swimming, picnicking, kayaking … the only way to beat the heat!
After we got back, my hubby and I rode our motorcycles down to another friend’s house for dinner and sat out on the back porch shooting the breeze until the sun was nearly set.
As we made our way back home, the grass on either side of the road sparkled with fireflies and the air had started cooling but still smelled like warm grass.
It had been the perfect summer day. The kind of day that doesn’t come around often as an adult. Where you feel free, sunburnt, and pleasantly exhausted by the end!
I hope as we round the corner into July, you get to enjoy some of these kinds of days yourself!
And maybe a chocolatey bite of one of these Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins too!
The ingredients for these muffins are simple.
You probably have most of them in your pantry already!
So, start by preheating the oven to 350° and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Next, you’ll want to grate 3 cups of zucchini.
If you’re not blessed with an abundance of fresh zucchini from the garden, just grab two medium or one large zucchini from the store. Zucchini contains a lot of water. Luckily for us, when it comes to baking these muffins, that is actually a good thing!
King Arthur explains on their baking blog, “Zucchini recipes are written to accommodate their water content. The amount of dry ingredients properly balances the zucchini — in fact, it’s that water content that helps create such lusciously moist quick breads and tender muffins.”
So once you get it grated it’s ready to go!
Start by adding the cup of oil and the sugar to your mixing bowl.
Next add the eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla, and zucchini.
It helps if you mix all the dry ingredients before adding them so they get more evenly mixed into the wet ingredients. So grab a separate bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon. After a quick mix, add all of the dry ingredients to the wet!
Once everything is thoroughly combined, add in your cup of chocolate chips and the Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are ready to be poured into the liners.
I filled the muffin tin liners soooo full!
This recipe will make 12, on the large side, muffins.
But, the muffin tin liners I used are taller than the actual muffin cups themselves. I filled them to the top and I still had batter left over.
If you’re using regular muffin tin liners, you may be able to fill the initial dozen and then some. The batter will seem very wet. Don’t worry that’s normal!
For easier transferring to the oven, and to help protect your oven from the possibility of the muffins baking over the edge, you can place the muffin pan on a baking sheet before filling it. Once they’re full, place the tray in the oven on the middle rack and bake at 350 degrees for 35-35 minutes. Because of how much moisture zucchini has, it took all of 45 minutes for my Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins to fully bake!
You’ll know the Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
are done when they have risen nicely and the center does
You can also use the toothpick test to tell when it’s done! Stick a toothpick in and if it comes back out clean then they are ready!
Once they’re finished baking, remove the tray from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes in the tin. Then remove the muffins from the tin and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack.
They’re super good warm though, so maybe don’t let them cool all the way! Get a bite while the chocolate chips are still nice and melty! I topped mine off with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, although they’re delicious without it too! And there you have it, a recipe to offload some zucchini into! Let me know if you give this recipe a try and what you think!? If you celebrate the Fourth of July – I hope it’s a good time with friends and family! I also hope you’re getting out there and enjoying some wild summer sunshine days!
Quick and easy chocolate chip zucchini muffins are a delicious way to use up the extra zucchini your garden may be producing!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time40 minutesmins
Course: Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Snack
Servings: 12Muffins
Equipment
Kitchenaid Mixer
Measuring Cups & Spoons
Medium-size bowl
12-Cup Muffin Tin
Muffin Tin Liners
Rubber Spatula
Cheese Grater
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
1CupVegetable Oil
2CupsGranulated Sugar
3Eggs
1/4CupCocoa powder
2tspVanilla
3CupsZucchini grated
3CupsAll-Purpose Flour
1 1/4tspCinnamon
1tspBaking Soda
1tspSalt
1/2tspBaking Powder
1CupChocolate Chips
2tbspPowdered Sugar for dusting the tops of the muffins
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
Grate three cups of zucchini.
In a separate bowl combine the 3 cups of flour, 1 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of baking powder. Stir together and set to the side.
In your Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cup of vegetable oil, 2 cups of sugar, and three eggs. Mix.
Next, stir in the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 2 tsp of vanilla, followed by the 3 cups of grated zucchini.
Once the zucchini has been mixed in, pour in the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Then add in the cup of chocolate chips and again mix until combined.
Fill each muffin cup to the top.
Place the muffin tin on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. The muffins are done when they have risen, the middle is set, and when a toothpick is inserted it comes back out clean.
Remove from the muffin tins and cool on a cooling rack. Once they are cool, sprinkle with powered sugar and enjoy!
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