Chocolate & Zucchini Muffins

Kitty FloridoJuly 31, 2016

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

On Friday mornings I like to get to the supermarket early, almost as they open to get the weekly shopping done out of the way. This lets me organize the weekly cooking by planning out the meals ahead of time and sticking to a budget. I whip the shopping list the night before and I don’t shop for anything outside of it.

Well, some extra fruit or veggies its ok, but goodies or anything extra is out of the shopping plan. One of the things I got extra last week was two big stunning zucchini. Turns out they were for sale, and they are a winner in my list. I love to add them to salads instead of cucumber, and even though I’ve already baked with zucchini a few months ago, I wanted to try my luck again with chocolate.

On the last #GuateBakers meet from the girls of TBR Magazine we were given a set of goodies by Kron Guatemala, which included Gunthart chocolate chips and… OMG! They are amazing. Even though I added and thoroughly mixed them with the batter, after baking they still held their shape… meaning that when you took a bite of the muffin, you actually had a more solid piece of chocolate than with your usual chocolate-chip anything. It’s a revelation!

Oh, and the thing for me, was to see if I actually could get away with hiding from my dad the fact that I added two whole cups of shredded zucchini to the batter. My dad is a master figuring out if I added something different to any baking good, he caught on when I used beets in a chocolate cake.

I baked recipe early on a Tuesday morning, I served them for dessert later that day. After everyone had tasted them, I asked if they liked them and everyone said yes… and I confessed! My dad said he figured they had something different, but… he couldn’t pinpoint it. Success!

All around I loved the recipe. You use oil instead of butter, so it’s an easy go-to-recipe to whip up in a hurry. You don’t use much cocoa powder or chocolate… And you get plenty of veggies in a bite.

I used a set of colorful sillicone liners, which you can find them in almost every store around. If you haven’t tried them before, read this post when using them for the first time. You’ll find that they are perfect for muffins, as you can reuse the liners over and over again!

Kitty

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Recipe adapted from Passion for Savings
Yields 15 muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups of grated zucchini
2 eggs
½ cup of vegetable oil
½ cup of sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
½ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1 ½ cups of bittersweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 350ºF and line a muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
Grate the zucchini and place it in a strainer over a bowl. Squeeze some of the water out of the zucchini to avoid sunken muffins.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugars and vanilla. Mix with a whisk until combined.
In a big bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Make a well, add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
Add the strained grated zucchini and mix with a spatula.
Add the chocolate chips and mix again until combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans and bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from pan and cool completely before serving. They keep at room temperature for up to a week.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen

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