It’s that time of year when the zucchini start coming from the garden in quantities and sizes that are impossible to consume! Of course we could share them with our friends, but once I started making chocolate zucchini muffins for my kids, they don’t want to give any away and they are excited when they find one that has gotten too big in the garden. I’m actually starting to wonder if they leave them there on purpose so we’ll be forced to make muffins out of them.

I love chocolate, and I love to have an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast. If you eat zucchini disguised as chocolate, then you have the perfect excuse for a chocolate breakfast. These muffins are made with no eggs and no dairy, so it is yet another egg free, dairy free breakfast option.

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Egg Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

We always make two pans of these because our family will eat them all in two days. Sometimes we freeze the extra muffins to use as snacks in lunches or quick breakfasts throughout the week. This is a great recipe to use up any of those extra large zucchinis from the garden. I find a food processor with a shredding disc to be the fastest way to shred the zucchini in just a few quick seconds, but a fine cheese grater works too. If you want to add a little extra protein to your breakfast, try adding a scoop of Vegan chocolate protein powder.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour (we prefer Montana Prairie Gold white wheat)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Optional: Add 1 scoop dairy free chocolate protein powder (e.g. EAS soy protein powder) for a protein-packed, extra filling muffin.

Optional: Add 1/2 or up to 1 cup Nestle Simply Delicious semi-sweet chocolate chips or Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips, if you like them extra chocolaty.

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray. 

2. Shred zucchini.  Squeeze the shredded zucchini with your hands over the sink to remove excess water before measuring out the zucchini. 

3. In a medium bowl, mix both flours, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (and protein powder if desired) with a whisk. Set aside. 

4.  In a large bowl, add oil, both sugars, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat the wet ingredients until smooth. Add zucchini and mix until well combined. 

5. Add dry ingredients and mix until dry ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over-mix.

6. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Freezing Muffins

If you would like to save some of the muffins for later, you can freeze them. They will taste great out of the freezer for around 3 months. Just let the muffins cool completely, then individually wrap them in foil or cling wrap and place in a Zip-lock freezer bag before freezing.

Thawing Frozen Muffins

1. Let them thaw at room temperature OR
2. Microwave the unwrapped muffin on a microwave safe plate for 30 seconds on high, OR
3. Heat foil-wrapped muffins in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. I am too lazy to do this, so I always choose one of the other options above. 🙂

Muffins as Snacks

Don’t limit your muffins to breakfast only! Throw them in your kid’s lunches or pull them out for after school snacks. They have more fiber and protein than most store bought snacks, plus there is even zucchini hiding in there. We will just pretend that there isn’t any sugar in them, because, let’s be real, they wouldn’t taste very good without it.