One Bowl Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Crazy delicious, these healthy chocolate chip zucchini muffins are a hit with both kids and adults. Bake these chocolate chip zucchini muffins for breakfast, lunch boxes or a quick snack. This recipe uses whole wheat flour, applesauce, and greek yogurt to lighten up a more traditional zucchini bread recipe while still creating an easy and delicious muffin.

Why We Love Zucchini Muffins With Chocolate Chips

There are two times that these yummy zucchini muffins always seem to call from the oven.

Drizzly days always make me think of delicious zucchini muffins coming out of the oven. Warm and slightly crumbly, baking warm muffins is a way to make your home instantly feel cozier. 

This deliciously sweet zucchini muffins recipe also always comes to mind in the middle of summer. The zucchini is rolling in from the garden and the farmer’s market in literal droves. 

Really this chocolate chip zucchini muffins recipe has been made so many times… I like that I only need one bowl to whip up these healthy zucchini muffins, and my kid always loves when mom makes muffins.

Ingredients For Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

• zucchini – about 6-7 inches in length, make sure to remove any excess moisture from the zucchini with paper towels. The amount of water in zucchini can vary a lot, and if their is too much moisture the muffins can become gummy.
• unsweetened applesauce homemade applesauce can also be used, but store bought works just fine
• brown sugar
• egg
• plain Greek yogurt – you can swap in vanilla greek yogurt and they are still delicious!
• vanilla extract
• whole wheat flour – you can also swap out half all purpose flour for a more tender muffin, or even swap out all the whole wheat flour for all purpose flour.
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• cinnamon
• chocolate chips

How To Make Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins?

Making these chocolate chip zucchini muffins is fast and delicious when you follow these simple steps!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin pan by greasing the cups with nonstick cooking spray or lining each cup with paper liners.
2. Rinse your zucchini well and pat dry. Shred the zucchini using a food processor or hand grater. Dry the shredded zucchini well with either a clean kitchen towel or several paper towels.

3. Combine the unsweetened applesauce, brown sugar, egg, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Using a silicone spatula, spoon or whisk, stir until the wet ingredients are combined well.

4. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to the bowl. Stir until the dry ingredients are just combined. Fold in the zucchini and stir to mix with your silicone spatula, spoon or whisk.

5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way full. Top each muffin with three chocolate chips… or a sprinkle of chocolate chips!

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffin.
7. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  Remove muffins to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Are These Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins Good For Kids?

Muffins were just made for breakfast and make great snacks! Try these muffins with your kids, they will love them!

These chocolate chip zucchini muffins work well in lunchboxes. If you put them frozen in your child’s lunch they will usually be defrosted by lunchtime. Depending on when lunch is,  I leave them frozen on the counter overnight before packing them in lunchboxes. 

This also recipe can be a great way to start helping picky eaters with vegetables. I don’t hide vegetables in my kid’s food purposefully, but I also don’t see a problem with boosting our muffins with vegetables and fruit.

Do You Peel The Zucchini?

No you do not need to peel zucchini when you are baking it. Zucchini almost literally melts when you bake it so peeling it is not necessary.

Do rinse and dry your zucchini well before baking it.

Do You Take The Seeds Out Of Zucchini?

With a bigger zucchini that you often find in summer, you may want to scoop the seeds out before your grate or bake zucchini into you recipe. The bigger seeds can add an unpleasant texture to your muffins if you leave them in and can occasionally be bitter.

Some smaller and thinner zucchini can sometimes be grated without removing the seeds. These zucchini tend to be slightly smaller around than the size of a quarter.

Can I Use Frozen Shredded Zucchini?

Yes, shredded zucchini can be frozen and then used in these muffins. Defrost the shredded zucchini and pat it dry with a kitchen towel to dry it well before adding it to your recipe.

Often in the summer, I shred zucchini when it is plentiful with my food processor to use in other recipes later.  Try zucchini in these pork and zucchini meatballs too, they are delicious! You can also stir a handful or two into soups like this supper easy chicken noodle soup.

How Long Do Zucchini Muffins Last?

This zucchini muffins recipe usually last for about 2 days if stored in a covered airtight container on the couner. If you refrigerate these muffins, they can last up to four days and still taste their best. 

Freezing zucchini muffins makes them last even longer, and they do freeze well.

One Bowl Healthy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Course Baking

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

These healthy chocolate chip zucchini muffins are an easy, one-bowl recipe. Made with applesauce, yogurt and whole wheat flour, your family will love them!

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin pan by greasing the cups with nonstick cooking spray or lining each cup with paper liners.

• Rinse your zucchini well and pat dry. Shred the zucchini using a food processor or hand grater. Dry the shredded zucchini well with either a clean kitchen towel or several paper towels.

• Combine the unsweetened applesauce, brown sugar, egg, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Using a silicone spatula, spoon or whisk, stir until combined well.

• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to the bowl. Stir until just combined. Fold in the zucchini and stir to mix with your silicone spatula, spoon or whisk.

• Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way full. Top each muffin with three chocolate chips… or a sprinkle of chocolate chips!

• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffin.

• Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.  Remove muffins to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

The batter for these muffins is a little on the thicker side because we’ve used swaps like applesauce and yogurt to make them a little more nutrient dense.
Try adding nuts to this recipe, both walnuts or pecans are delicious. Try adding 1/2 cup of nuts to this recipe! 
You can make these muffins without paper liners, but the pan needs to be greased well or the muffins wouldn’t come out. I also recommend letting the muffins cool for a few minutes before removing them if not using paper liners.
Check your muffins with a toothpick to make sure they have cooked all the way through. Insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin taking care to avoid the chocolate chips. If the toothpick comes out clean without any batter, your muffins are ready!

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 126mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg

Keyword baking, breakfast, healthy

Did You Make This?

I would love to see it! Share your thoughts with me in the comments below!