Friday, May 8, 2009

Zucchini Chocolate Muffins


Yes, this might seem odd, but chocolate and zucchini muffins are delicious! Having just finished a series of recipes featuring zucchini, I had to include these slightly unusual sweet treats. The muffins don't overwhelmingly taste like zucchini, but zucchini does adds a lovely texture to the muffins and keeps them incredibly moist... and who could say no to a little added dose of vegetable in the day?

I really like coming up with different recipes around one ingredient. Not only does it show the wonderful range of produce like zucchini, but it also allows you to play with what's in your fridge. Do you ever buy a basket of zucchini, tomatoes or lemons to use for a specific recipe and then aren't sure what to do with the rest? Well, that used to happen to me a lot, which is why I like to plan a couple recipes around a same ingredient to spice things up a little and make sure not to waste food.

Zucchini Chocolate Muffins
(makes 12-14 muffins)
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
7-8 ounces of zucchini (about 2 small zucchinis)
6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4cup of canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
Grate the zucchini and reserve.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, and reserve.
In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, vanilla extract and sugar. Once incorporated, whisk in the flour mixture in small batches. Add the grated zucchini, and chocolate and mix.

Line a muffin pan with liners and add a big ice cream scoop of muffin batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a cooling rack before serving. Enjoy!

29 comments:

Mary Bergfeld said...

I can just imagine home moist these must be. They are beautiful to look at,

ZOMT said...

Yay! Chocolate AND another serve of vegetables!! :)

anna said...

Mmm, I love chocolate and zucchini! My mom made a really awesome tender chocolate-zucchini cake when I was growing up - almost as good as her spicy zucchini bread. :)

Anonymous said...

These muffins look really good! Can't wait to try them!

Cakebrain said...

If you put a veggie in it and it has chocolate too, it's definitely health food in my books! What a great way to incorporate a veggie into my kids' "cupcakes"!

Anonymous said...

As we all know, everything is better with a little addition of chocolate. Even zucchini.

Jade said...

this looks and sounds magnificent

Amanda said...

This is one of my favorite combinations! Who knew zucchini could be so good when baked?

Justin said...

if I hadn't seen the photo first, I'd probably say, "zucchini... no thanks", but yum. might have to try this out.

vanillasugarblog said...

I have never tried these because I always though the zucchini would taste strong, but if you say no then I believe you AND I would like to see what the texture is

pigpigscorner said...

I've only tried zucchini cake. Can't imagine how zucchini+chocolate would taste like but they do look lovely!

Coco Bean said...

Yum, chocolate and zucchini. I used to help out at the University weekly dinners that had to be vegan and we always had some sort of chocolate cake with zucchini for dessert. I miss it!
So we finally decided that we will be going to the photography show tomorrow. Did you end up going?

MaryBeth said...

These look so good, I love choc. with my zucchini bread. Awesome looking muffins!

Deborah said...

I love chocolate zucchini bread, so I'm sure I'd LOVE these!

Jools said...

Choc & zucchini just works. I experimented earlier this year and came up trumps. Nice work!

Jools said...

Choc & zucchini just works! Such a good combo of decadence and healthy ingredients. I experimented earlier this year and came up trumps. Nice!

stephchows said...

I love zucchini bread! A little chocolate sounds like a good addition to me :)

Dennis said...

uhmm they look soo tastefull!

- Dennis
witU Restaurant bookings

Jude said...

I'll have to agree, zucchini and chocolate go really well together. Can't believe it's that season already.

CookiePie said...

Not odd at all! I love choc and zucchini together -- I must try these muffins! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

Talita said...

I love zuchinni! I always add it in muffins and cookies! Obviously I copied the recipe!

Liliana said...

These muffins look absolutely delicious! Zucchini and chocolate are a wonderful combination.

Love your photos!

Sha said...

Maybe I'm gonna do these muffins tomorrow :) Actually I have no kitchen scale or nothing to measure where I am... I should wait a bit...

Iva said...

This looks nice eventhough I havent tasted it.

Very nice photography too. I get so hungry just looking at your photos.

Thanks for sharing.

Holly said...

I love zucchini bread and these zucchini chocolate muffins look great! I'll have to remember these when I'm up to my ears in zucchini this summer!

Aggie said...

I'm on a zucchini kick lately...never would have thought to pair zucchini and chocolate but I am very intrigued now!! These look delicious!

Your blog is awesome and I'm loving your photography!! Thanks for stopping by and visiting me!!

Dhruv Blanc said...

Wow... these look fantastic. I love chocolate and zucchini. I love the pictures of chocolate and zucchini muffins... so delicious. My most favorite chocolate cake is actually my chocolate zucchini cake. It's absolutely the best. I also make chocolate zucchini muffins and so needless to say, it tastes good too. I love zucchini.

Anonymous said...

Just tried these muffins. They tasted great but I found them dry....possibly from over mixing the dry and wet together???

Unknown said...

I just put my batch in the oven so excited to try them :)

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