These muffins are MIND-BLOWING and full of chocolate love with zero zucchini taste. I love it when vegetables can taste like chocolate, don’t you?
I made these easy, absolutely delicious healthy chocolate zucchini muffins all the way back in 2014 (OMG I know), and every summer-into-fall when I make them, they’re just as amazing as the first time. They’re perfectly fluffy, moist thanks to the zucchini, and filled with chocolate flavor thanks to rich cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
These beauties are truly a MUST MAKE during the rest of the summer with all of your extra zucchini. Enjoy them for breakfast, as an easy snack, or as a healthy treat, and don’t forget to share with the kiddos!
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Ingredients in these chocolate zucchini muffins
Most recipes for chocolate muffins call for more than a cup of sugar and at least a 1/2 cup of oil. Healthy fats are absolutely wonderful, but I’d rather put them on top of my muffin (like a big scoop of peanut butter). So I thought I’d try my best to make these with nutritious, good-for-you ingredients, yet still keep them tasting amazing and moist. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Zucchini: of course, this veggie adds the perfect amount of moisture to the muffins.
- Banana or applesauce: instead of lots of extra oil, we’re adding mashed banana or applesauce to keep the muffins moist and add natural sweetness. I prefer using mashed ripe banana, but applesauce will also work well.
- Sweetener: I love using all natural sweeteners in baking, and honey or pure maple syrup will work in this recipe.
- Coconut oil: you’ll just need a bit of coconut oil to add moisture to the muffins.
- Almond milk: delicious and dairy free. I’m cool with that. Feel free to use any milk you’d like.
- Egg: you’ll need one egg to help the muffins bake up properly.
- Whole wheat pastry flour: probably the best wheat flour out there. You can’t even tell these muffins are whole-grain.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: cocoa powder is my favorite way to boost chocolate flavor in recipes. I like using this brand. If you want a more nutritious alternative, you can try cacao powder (I use it all the time!)
- Chocolate chips: feel free to use regular or mini chocolate chips, dairy-free if desired.
Can I make them vegan or gluten-free?
- To make vegan: I think a flax egg will work well in place of the regular egg in these muffins! Get my tips & tricks for making a flax egg here. Remember to then use your favorite vegan chocolate chips.
- To make gluten-free: simply use an all-purpose gluten-free flour or oat flour. Learn how to make your own oat flour here!
How to make healthy chocolate zucchini muffins
- Prep your pan. Preheat your oven, line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners, and generously spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- Squeeze out your zucchini. Squeeze shredded zucchini of excess water with a paper towel. This is important, so don’t forget!
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk all of the dry ingredients together.
- Make the batter. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the oil, honey, vanilla, and egg, and mix until smooth. Add the banana, zucchini, and milk, and mix again. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Bake & enjoy! Evenly divide the batter into the liners and bake them up until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and then devour!
Tips for making healthy chocolate zucchini muffins
- Squeeze out ALL of the extra moisture from your zucchini. This will ensure that they bake up well and aren’t too moist.
- Use an extra ripe banana for the perfect amount of sweetness. The more brown spots, the better!
- Be careful not to overmix the batter. Mix the flour into your wet ingredients until it’s just combined. If you overmix the batter, your muffins may turn out dense and almost rubbery, which we don’t want.
Turn it into chocolate zucchini bread
Yes, you can turn this recipe into a loaf! Simply pour the batter into an 8×4 inch loaf pan greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Freezer-friendly chocolate zucchini muffins
These healthy chocolate zucchini muffins are freezer-friendly! Wrap muffins individually in freezer-safe bags or store them in a large freezer bag. When you’re ready to enjoy them, reheat for 30-45 seconds in the microwave or simply thaw them at room temperature.
Tools you’ll need
Get all of my fav kitchen tools here!
More zucchini recipes you’ll love
- The Best Zucchini Brownies You’ll Ever Eat
- Orange Zucchini Cake with Orange Frosting
- Salted Brown Butter Banana Zucchini Baked Oatmeal
- Morning Glory Zucchini Carrot Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Bread
Get all of my zucchini recipes here!
I hope you love these healthy chocolate zucchini muffins! If you make them, I’d love for you to leave a comment and rating to let me know how you liked them. Enjoy xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup (141 grams) whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup (27 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled (or sub olive oil)
- ⅓ cup (111 grams) honey, agave nectar or pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)
- 1 ripe mashed banana (or you can use ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce)
- ½ cup (120 grams) unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- ½ cup (90 grams) regular or mini chocolate chips, dairy free if desired
Instructions
- Prep your pan: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and generously spray inside of liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- Squeeze shredded zucchini of excess water with a paper towel. This is important, so don’t forget!
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In the bowl of an electric mixer, add coconut oil, honey/maple syrup, vanilla, egg; mix on medium-low until smooth and well combined. Add in zucchini, banana (or applesauce) and almond milk; mix again. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
- Bake: Evenly divide batter into prepared liners. Bake 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. After 5 minutes, remove muffins and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on July 14th, 2014, republished on June 15th, 2020, republished on August 24th, 2022, and republished on September 14th, 2025.
I love all of your muffin recipes, Monique, but this one is my very favorite! Perfect amount of sweetness, excellent texture, and feels indulgent, yet packed with nutrition! Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
So happy to hear that!
I can’t rave about this muffin enough. I rarely review recipes! However, I did make some minor changes. Replaced all flour with oat flour except for 1/4 cup all purpose, heaping 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup agave plus a bit more, peeled zuchini skin before shredding. I’ve also tried with a dash of cinnamon and fantastic. They were plenty sweet, super moist and you couldn’t tell it had any zuchini and the banana flavor is NOT overwhelming at all. My son who can pick up on banana couldn’t notice. Absolutely do die for muffins.
I’m glad those adjustments worked out well! Such a great snack 🙂
I made these without adjustments and they turned out amazingly! They are very moist, dense, and are sweet enough even though they’re sugar-free. I really appreciate how the ingredients are given in cups and grams because my ADHD hates cups and loves to just tip stuff into a bowl on a scale. Learn from my mistake though – grate that zucchini on the fine side of the grater! 10/10 recommend making these!
Love it! Glad these turned out well 🙂
These are the best chocolate muffins I think I have ever had. They are moist, healthy and I love that they aren’t very sweet. My veggie-hating child asks for them all the time! I do have a very hard time finding whole wheat pastry flour near me though, is there a different flour I can substitute it for without changing the taste or texture?
Amazing! All-purpose flour should work fine 🙂
Can you save them at room temp after baking them?
Yes! I’d recommend storing them in the fridge after 1-2 days.
Made these multiple times during zucchini season family favorite.
So happy to hear that!
These turned out great, the kids loved them!
I’m so glad!
I have been making these for my kids for so long as little toddlers and they are still a hit for my teenagers! They work out well every time…literally made them 100 times!
I love that! Glad they’re a staple in your home!
Another one of my go-to toddler friendly recipes! I love making these as mini-muffins and freezing in bags of 3 for easy snacks! I usually sneak in one cup of shredded carrot as well. I have tried blending the veggies to keep them discrete for my toddlers and you would never be able to tell! Next time I make a batch I am going to try blending spinach with the milk to add extra nutrients. Do you think this will turn out okay?
Thanks for all the toddler friendly recipes. I am always so desperate to try to sneak in veggies since my boys will not eat them otherwise!
Love that! If you’re already blending the veggies and it works well, I think you should be able to sneak some spinach in there or swap out some veggies for spinach. Alternatively, try out my chocolate spinach muffins!
Most delicious muffins! Soo moist and tasty and I was surprised at how long they stayed moist for! 4 days in the pantry and they were still perfectly moist. My 4 year old son loved them and couldn’t tell there was any zucchini in them, win!
Absolutely! So glad they were a hit!
I haven’t made these yet and I’ve had it in my browser for a long time bc they looks sooo delicious. I wanted to know if it’s recommended to use a flaxseed egg in replacement of the egg? I’m willing to try **fingers crossed** thank you
Check out the full post for tips like that! A flax egg should work fine 🙂
OMG I can’t stop making these!! They’re like chocolate cake! I used gluten free flour (same amount of flour it says on the recipe), 2 whole bananas, olive oil (instead of coconut oil), and loads of chocolate chips. So good I love having these as a sweet afternoon snack!
Perfect! Such a great snack!
These were really delicious! I’m trying to get my 5yo to eat more veggies, and she loves snacks, so this is a good way to incorporate veggies into her snack. I followed the recipe as is, but used rice malt syrup instead of maple. I also placed them in unbleached patty pans and it worked well. I made less than 12 muffins because I made them large. Also, instead of regular choc chips, I used pana baking chocolate to make it healthier 🙂
Perfect! Such a great snack!
These were amazing!!!
So glad you loved them!
Worked well with gf flour! Added some shredded coconut and pecans as mix-ins.
Perfect!!
I have made these muffins numerous times and given away many as gifts to friends and neighbors. Everyone loves them and they are my favorite muffins. I will try some of your other recipes too. I bet they are all winners. Thank you so much for this great recipe. This time I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour. I just tasted a cooled down one and they are fantastic!!! I will be using Bob’s GF All Purpose flour for these from now on.
So happy to hear that! I’m glad that flour worked out well, too!
These are a favorite “muffin” of mine! I say “muffin” because they taste just like a cupcake, but I know they’re much healthier! An indulgent treat, but one I don’t feel as guilty about lol I’ve made these multiple times now, and I know I’ll keep baking them for years to come!
So good! Glad you love these!
These are perfect! Easy, healthy, and toddler approved which is exactly what I was looking for. I used AP flour and olive oil instead of what was called out in the recipe. And baked in a silicone mini muffin pan for 25 minutes. Thank you! I will be saving this recipe for sure!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Perfect snack 🙂
I make these religiously every week and they are spot on. Super moist. Kids and husband devour them. I wonder if I could add a grated beetroot to it as well to up the veg intake?
So happy to hear that! I haven’t tested baking with beetroot so I’m not 100% sure if it will change the texture. You could try swapping some of the zucchini for it if it’s similar in the amount of water it has after grating?
These are absolutely delicious and super easy to make. My family loves them too! Thank you for sharing
I’m so glad! Such a great snack 🙂
A friend made the zucchini chocolate/ banana muffins and gave me 4. they were delicious, Almost fudge like. Thank you for developing this recipe.
So good! Glad you enjoyed!
I subbed cocoa powder with a 1/4 cup vanilla Orgain protein powder because my daughter doesn’t like whole chocolate muffins. I probably could’ve cut the maple syrup to 1/4 instead of 1/3 cup since the protein powder is sweet, but otherwise followed the recipe and they’re delicious. Thanks for sharing great, healthy options.
I’m glad that swap worked out well! Great snack or treat 🙂
Wonderful! My picky 2 year old gobbled it up and a win for sneaking a veggie in! I used a flax egg, mashed banana, and almond oil. Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy to hear that!
So happy to hear that! Perfect snack 🙂