Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are all you need for morning cravings. Your favorite quick bread now in a muffin!
Our family recipe for chocolate zucchini bread is one of only a few recipes I have from my dad’s side of the family. Most family recipes that I share come from my mom’s side, but this special recipe is from my dad’s mother, my Grandma Bessie.
I don’t have nearly as many recipes from Grandma Bessie. She lived in Florida while I was growing up in Pennsylvania, so we didn’t get to see her as much as my other grandma, who lived right down the street. But her chocolate zucchini bread is a family favorite that we’ve loved for years. As kids, it was one of my brother’s and my favorite foods. As adults, we still love it. We’ve been baking and enjoying this recipe for decades now.
It’s tried and true, and never fails. It’s taken on many, MANY variations, and it turns out perfectly every time. I’ve made it into a Bundt cake and mini Bundt cakes. I’ve used whole wheat flour, oat flour, and substituted applesauce or Greek yogurt for oil. I’ve added walnuts, chocolate chips, and even bananas. It’s withstood all that experimentation, and turns out beautifully.
In fact, my brother made and entered this bread into a baking contest when he was 10 or 11 and won 2nd place. Don’t ask him what I placed. 😉 He’s still bitter about it.
It’s so decadent and delicious that you almost feel like you’re eating rich and chocolatey brownies, when you’re actually eating a pretty wholesome vegetable-filled bread! Of course, my favorite version includes mini semi-sweet chocolate chips though. The mini chips are perfect. They disperse the chocolate flavor throughout the bread much better than if you used regular, larger chips, and they add just enough creamy chocolate flavor without turning this bread into a dessert! Naturally, I had to include them in these chocolate zucchini muffins. The muffins are lovely without the chips, but why would you want to leave out chocolate chips??
As much as I’ve tinkered and played with this recipe, it didn’t occur to me until recently that this bread would make for fabulous muffins. I tweaked a few ingredients, and it made for perfectly moist, rich, and chocolatey muffins that are fantastic for a snack or breakfast on-the-go. I pack a couple to take with me for the day and they make for an awesome snack.
I’m thrilled to have discovered yet another way to adapt this longtime family favorite recipe for chocolate zucchini bread into portable and tasty muffins, and I’m thankful to my Grandma Bessie for passing down her wonderful original recipe!
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Chocolate Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Egg
- 1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- 2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups Grated Zucchini
- 1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 cup Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, Greek yogurt, vegetable oil, vanilla, and grated zucchini.
- In a separate large bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Place paper cupcake liners in each of 24 regular-sized muffin cups.
- Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes.