Whole Wheat Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Fluffy whole wheat muffins studded with fresh zucchini and chocolate chips! Sweetened with maple syrup and applesauce, these tender muffins are the perfect wholesome snack or breakfast, and a great way to use up excess zucchini!

Current favorite muffin alert:

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP

They’re just so tender, fluffy, and perfectly spiced… I can’t even handle it.

I made these muffins last week after getting overly excited about the arrival of local zucchini and buying way, way too many at the farmer’s market.

Other than bake them into muffins, most of the leftover zucchini has been cubed and frozen to blend up into smoothies (it adds zero flavor to smoothies, so I like to use zucchini in place of ice cubes!), and diced into itty bitty pieces to use as dog treats, which Peanut is 100% loving right now. Other random bits of produce she’s going crazy for at the moment: purple cabbage, strawberry tops, and blueberries. Clearly our best girl has a taste for the finer things in life.

Like these muffins, which she laid in the kitchen sniffing the entire time I made and photographed, hoping that maybe I had baked them for her.

Spoiler alert: I hadn’t.

But the humans in the house are pretty obsessed with them, too. Like me, who ate three of them the day they were baked, then two for breakfast every morning until they were gone, and promptly baked another batch to ‘make sure they were perfect’ so I could continue on this muffin spree.

If your family is used to muffins baked with all-purpose flour, rest assured: for a whole wheat muffin, these are surprisingly light and soft. Applesauce, olive oil, and maple syrup all help keep them nice and moist, cinnamon and nutmeg make them taste like zucchini bread, and chocolate chips add a touch of extra sweetness to every bite.

Seriously, I can’t get enough. I might just have to hit up the Farmer’s Market again this week to buy more zucchini, because I need another batch of these breakfast beauties in my life ASAP.

If you’re a muffin lover, you are going to OBSESS over these Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins made in 1 bowl with simple, wholesome ingredients.

If you make them, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below, or taking a picture of your muffins and sharing it with me on Instagram so I can see! And, don’t forget to save a few pieces of zucchini for Peanut. She’ll be sniffing her way to your house as soon as you turn on the oven.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 9 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 small-medium zucchini (to yield 1 cup, shredded)
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 9 paper liners or grease 9 of the muffin holes with nonstick spray.
2. Shred zucchini on a box grater, measuring out 1 cup of tightly packed zucchini. Scoop up the shredded zucchini with your hands and squeeze it over the sink to get out as much moisture as possible. Set aside in a small bowl for later.
3. Whisk together the egg, applesauce, olive oil, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, including squeezed zucchini and chocolate chips, and stir well to combine.
4. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to evenly portion the batter. Distribute any remaining batter among the 9 muffins, or, if you happen to have enough for a 10th muffin, bake 10 instead of 9!
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until muffins are puffed and golden. Let cool for 5 minutes in muffin pan, then remove and let cool completely on a cooling rack before storing in an airtight container at room temperature. Muffins keep for 3 days at room temp, and can be frozen for up to a month.

MAKE IT GLUTEN-FREE: use an all-purpose gluten free flour blend in place of the whole wheat, or try using oat flour for a slightly more dense whole grain muffin.

MAKE IT VEGAN: swap out the egg for a flax egg.

SWITCH IT UP: try using shredded carrots or sweet potato (no need to squeeze) in place of the zucchini, nuts or dried fruit in place of the chocolate chips, or other spices like ginger and cardamom instead of the cinnamon and nutmeg.

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