Zucchini is the secret hidden ingredient that you slip into the muffins and then have your kids guess at. Yes, that’s right, you are eating your vegetables. You cannot taste them at all. Not even a little bit. For the times during the summer when zucchini is in abundance, I will definitely be making more of these muffins. Though the muffins only use about a cup of zucchini, I would feel perfectly comfortable making double (or triple) batches and taking them into the office or to parties to share. When cooking, just make sure to ring out any excess moisture from the zucchini so that it doesn’t make a way into the muffins. That’s not the kind of moisture you want.
Something this rich and delicious might normally be associated with cupcakes. But that word suggests only dessert, when the opposite is true. These would make a good grab-and-go breakfast or a healthy snack. I would even feel comfortable putting these in a kid’s lunchbox. Kids would satisfy their sweet craving, not knowing they are eating their proteins and healthy fats.
Almond butter is really the star of the recipe, similar to these brownies. I believe almond butter is the main reason the muffins turn out so moist. I ate three of these over the course of one day. That’s not showing any kind of self-control, and I may not make a great role model, but I had to tell you to help explain how delicious these muffins are. They are sweet, and moist, and above all (my favorite feature), chocolaty. Just try not to end up with chocolate all over your face.
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 1-2 tbsp paleo approved dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cups. Squeeze any excess moisture out of the shredded zucchini. In a medium bowl, mix together the almond butter, eggs, syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the coconut flour and cocoa powder. Add the vinegar and baking soda and stir to combine. Fold in the shredded zucchini.
- Add about 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with the dark chocolate pieces. Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.
Curious how the muffins become “Chocolate” or at least brown colored if there is no chocolate in the recipe except for sprinkled on top??? Could I add some cacao powder? Thanks!!
Thanks for pointing this out, we have corrected the ingredient list to include the cocoa powder!
You know cocoa powder is chocolate right??
How can these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins look so chocolate when there is only 1-2 Tbsp of dark chocolate chips sprinkled on top? Shouldn’t there be some raw cocoa in there?
Hi Mary – yes we used cocoa powder, and it is now listed in the corrected recipe.
There’s cocoa powder in the recipe
Is there cocoa or something missing from this recipe? My muffins turned out delicious except they are a very light brown and tastes more like the almond butter than chocolate.. I feel like something is missing
That’s correct, sorry about the confusion, there is cocoa powder in the recipe!
Very Yummy Recipe! The consistency is right on- moist and velvety! I was just wondering if there is purposely no cocoa powder?
Thanks Shawni, and that was by accident- we have edited the ingredient list now and added the cocoa powder.
Taste and texture 10/10. Yours look much darker than mine. Is that because cocoa is supposed to be added to the mixture? Also, you say “They taste like they should not be good for you, but healthy fats from coconut oil and antioxidants from dark chocolate are both beneficial to your health.” There is no component of coconut oil in the recipe.
What I made was great all the same though.
Hi Mitchell, I’m glad you enjoyed the taste of the muffins! We have corrected the ingredient list to reflect the cocoa powder that I used in the recipe. Also I had meant healthy fats from the almond butter, rather than coconut oil. Thank you for pointing that out!
THANK YOU for correcting the recipe. I’ve been waiting to make these as I have a zucchini waiting for it! 🙂
What might be some alternatives to using the almond butter?
Any other Paleo nut butter should do, such as cashew butter or sunflower seed butter.
These muffins are awesome! I also made a cake from the recipe, with fresh sliced bananas and coconut cream as the filling, chocolate coconut cream for the frosting. The non-paleo people thought it was really good. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow, that cake sounds great! I may have to try that myself as well!
Mm mm how do you make frosting out of coconut cream? I might add some cocoa powder to that and frost them like cupcakes for my boys.
Mm mm how do you make frosting out of coconut cream? I might add some cocoa powder to that and frost them like cupcakes for my boys. Also u say to serve warm hut I would like to pack them in lunches or provide them as an alternate when the class is having cupcakes- will they freeze well or even just keep a day or two in the fridge or on the counter?
This sound very good. Are they good to freeze?
These were AMAZING. I am craving them again!! I plan to make a big batch and freeze them for breakfasts (bad! but still better than Starbucks). I thought they saved just fine for two days, so I am hopeful that they’ll freeze well. Obviously they were amazing when warm, but still quite moist and delicious when cooled! They only thing I noticed was that they did get oily on the bottom of the wrappers after sitting. Perhaps it’s because I used half almond butter and half sunflower seed butter, and I had to add some coconut oil to the sunflower seed butter to get it to be the right consistency. I got 9 slightly-overflowing muffins out of this. Anyway, THANK YOU for the fantastic recipe.
These are FAB-U-LOUS!!! I can’t have maple syrup (or honey) so I used the same amount of erythritol instead. I also used a little bit of hazelnut butter (about 1/4 cup) instead of just almond butter. The downside is that I want to eat them all! Haha x
Can I replace almond flour for the coconut flour? Or any other flour?
just made these and they were absolutely delicious!! followed the recipe to a T (except maybe a little extra chocolate garnish for the top 🙂 ) and I got a full dozen muffins out of this! my previous experiment with zucchini left me hesitant, but these muffins just turned me into a huge fan! i can already tell these aren’t going to last long in my apartment!
I made these last night after seeing them on Pinterest and oh my gosh, these were so good! My boyfriend who is usually skeptical of gluten free baked goods loved these muffins. They’re moist and chocolately and I love that you can’t even tell that there’s zucchini in them!
These muffins are beyond amazing. They’re so decadent and moist. Love them. FYI. I actually puréed the wet ingredients and then folded in the dry as I didn’t want bits of zucchini. They were like chocolate molten cakes. So good!! Thanks!!
These were nice. I love the texture of the top of the muffins. I think I’m going to try pureeing the wet ingredients like Julie recommended because the zucchini was a bit too prominent for my liking.
I wanted to ask about the almond butter. I’m in the UK and the almond butter I buy from Wholefoods is quite dry, not oily at all. Should I add some oil to it? I think the products you buy from the supermarket in jars have oil added.
I may have missed it in the comments, but above the recipe it says, “They taste like they should not be good for you, but healthy fats from coconut oil and antioxidants from dark chocolate are both beneficial to your health. ” I didn’t see coconut oil in the recipe. It does show coconut flour. I made them with the flour, but wondered if it was supposed to be oil. They were good.
oh my, these far exceeded my expectations! They were amazing! I loved them so much I’m considering trying it in cake form for my birthday cake later this month. Has anyone tried that? I’ll just go eat another as I wait for a reply 😉
Could these work with another type of squash as well?
I’m sure they would work! I’ve often substituted different squashes in recipes. For baking these though, you might want to use a squash with a mild flavor, just to make sure it doesn’t overpower everything else. Good luck!
Ok, so I do a LOT of baking. Mostly paleo. I’ve never had muffins this delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe!! These are absolutely perfect and I will be making them again and again!!!
This recipe is WONDERFUL. I have been struggling since switching to a grain/dairy free lifestyle to find baked goods I can actually enjoy. I’ve had many recipes go awry, but this is my new trusted treat recipe.
I made a few minor modifications:
I used Jif Natural Peanut Butter with honey (I know, it’s not 100% paleo approved, but for me it works!), I added a splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (the batter was super thick and I was worried it wouldn’t mix!) and I also did about a half cup of 60% dark ghiradelli chips INTO the batter rather than sprinkled on top. I also didn’t make muffins, I just dumped it all into a cake pan for lack of a muffin tin.
Delicious! Wonderful! 🙂
I made these tonight and substituted the almond butter for a 1/4 cup peanut butter (because I didnt have any almond on hand) and they turned out delicious and amazingly moist! Great recipe!!
Accidentally turned my almond flour into almond butter by leaving it in the Vitamix too long. Since I had about a cup, I decided to try this recipe. Nice texture and moisture, but not very chocolate-y. I think I will try increasing the cocoa powder and decreasing the coconut flour by a tablespoon, and doubling the dark chocolate. I also didn’t squeeze out much moisture from my zucchini as the batter seemed a bit thick and dry once it came out of the blender.
Delicious!!! I followed the recipe to a “T” and they came out moist, crumbly and delicious. They rendered 12 muffins instead of 8 but the more the “merrier”.
can you use PB2 powdered peanut butter instead of almond butter
I’ve made this recipe a dozen times and you do need the “liquid” factor from the almond butter but if you mixed it with whatever you’re supposed to mix it with to get the same consistency as almond butter I’m sure it would work !
This is an unbelievable recipe ! It’s my go to for before or after a good workout …
Thank you for this !!
They freeze wonderfully . Just pop them in the micro or leave them out on the counter for half an hour.
You can substitute any kind of nut or non-nut butter, and it works.
Only modification is that I add 1.5x more cocoa powder than the recipe calls for, every time 🙂
I never rate ANYTHING! We run our own company. I homeschool. It’s late. We have band practice tomorrow. But, I have to comment on these muffins. THEY ARE AMAZING! I’ve made them 3 times; and each time I bake a new batch, I’m blown away that theres no ‘real’ flour in them! They’re delicious. Chocolate…without guilt..for breakfast. Yay! I swear you could top them with sugar free frosting and people wouldn’t believe they’re not cake!
I make these all the time. My whole family loves them!
These are the absolute best muffins in the whole wide world! No one would ever know they are paleo.
Made these as mini muffins with my almost 3 year old and we both give them two thumbs up! They turned out just a smidge dry so I need to adjust the baking time a bit I think but we’ll definitely be making these again soon!
This was a huge hit in our family!
This is my “go to” GF muffin recipe! I wrap them Individually in wax paper and freeze them for a quick breakfast or treat. Been making them for a couple years now. Even my non-GF friends and grandkids love them. They raise and have the best consistency of any other GF muffin recipe I’ve found!