Whole Wheat Zucchini Chocolate Muffins
Its summer time and Zucchini are in the season. I use Zucchini in various recipes like stir-fry, curry, raita, and paranthas. One of the ways my kids eat Zucchini is in this sweet treat. I have tried many variations of Zucchini muffins and found it goes really well with banana and chocolate flavors. I made this recipe with mostly natural sugars like dates, bananas, and maple syrup. I love the fresh taste of these muffins but the good news is that they freeze well. They can be used as a snack, breakfast or a delicious lunch box treat.
Health benefits of Zucchini:
- Good source of antioxidants and Vitamin C
- Anti-inflammatory
- Good source of Potassium
- Improves digestion
- Good source of B vitamins
- Can help control Diabetes
SERVES: 12 muffins
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 25 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 medium zucchini grated
- 1 medium banana mashed
- 6 dates
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil (or any other oil of choice)
- ¼ maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup coconut/raw sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
- ½ salt
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- semi-sweet chocolate chips, mini or regular (I used mini)
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease the muffin tin.
- Grate the zucchini, squeeze to remove excess water
- In a blender or mixer, blend the dates, bananas, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla extract into a liquid mixture.
- In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients -flour, cinnamon, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
- Make a well in the dry mixture and slowly add the liquid and mix well
- Add the grated zucchini and chocolate chips and mix well.
- Pour the mixture into the muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and wait for 5 minutes to let it cool.
Gobble them up!!