Super moist & fluffy muffins that you'd never know are packed with fruit and veggies! They're a great way to satisfy a morning sweet tooth yet give your body nutrients to fuel the day.
Why This Recipe Works
99.9% of the time we have a stash of muffins sitting on our counter. I make them weekly because they're so easy to just grab for some fuel any time of day. Plus, they're delish! I love this chocolate zucchini banana muffin recipe so much for a few reasons:
- I'm a Registered Dietitian so I love that these zucchini muffins have a fruit and veggie punch in there
- I'm all about intuitive eating and not depriving yourself of cravings. Which includes chocolate in the morning- a frequent craving of mine!
- They're so freaking EASY to make!
Yes, I'm a dietitian but I HATE recipes that "taste healthy". Ya know what I mean? Like bland, dry, and just NOT satisfying. I believe in gentle nutrition, so sure, add some extra fruit and veggies, but I also believe that satisfaction and enjoying your food is key! This recipe is the perfect combo of those!
Plus? These zucchini banana muffins are a fab way to use those spotty bananas. If you need more ideas for that check out my recipes for banana donuts, swirled peanut butter banana brownies, banana protein muffins and dairy free banana bread!
Ingredients Needed
- Bananas. Make sure your bananas are spotty! This allows them to mash easily and to add extra sweetness. Checkout this post from Spruce Eats for how to quickly ripen bananas if you only have non-spotty ones!
How To Make These Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place liners (I love these silicone muffin liners! 45 of them for $12 is such a steal.) in a muffin tin and set aside.
In a large bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher until uniformly smooth.
Next add in butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
Add in sugar, flours, cocoa, baking soda and salt, stir until just combined.
NOTE: It's important to press your zucchini between two sheets of paper towel before adding it to the batter. This will remove excess water that can make your muffins turn out mushy. See below for photo directions!
Next, fold in pressed zucchini.
If you're adding chocolate chips, nuts or coconut fold that in now.
Pour batter into muffin tin, filling until ~3/4 of the way full.
Bake for ~25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean!
ENJOY!
Recipe FAQ's
Nope! You don't need to peel the zucchini, just shred it in there!
Yes! You'll see the photos above in the recipe instructions showing how I press the shredded zucchini between two sheets of paper towel. This step is KEY! Otherwise, you'll end up with mushy muffins (yuck!). Don't skip this step, it takes all of 30 seconds!
Your muffins might not be fluffy or sink if you over mix the batter, use non-room temperature ingredients (too hot or too cold) or you over bake them.
You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or 1:1 gluten free flour. I wouldn't recommend using other flours like almond flour, casava flour, coconut flour, etc.
Expert Tips
- When scooping my muffins in to the muffin tin I like to use an ice cream scoop to make sure they're uniform in size. This helps them all to cook evenly so you don't wind up with some under cooked and over cooked muffins!
- If you're adding chocolate chips or nuts reserve a few to add onto the top of the uncooked batter. This just makes them a little prettier!
Other Muffin Recipes You Might Like:
If you love this recipe be sure to leave a star rating on the recipe card and a comment below!
Want to learn more about intuitive eating and finding food freedom so that you too can feel comfortable enjoying ALL foods without guilt, stress or anxiety and in ways that feel good? Get started by taking this quiz which will give you a personalized workbook to stop dieting and get started!
XOXO
-Colleen
Loaded Chocolate Zucchini Banana Muffins
Super moist & fluffy muffins that you'd never know are packed with fruit and veggies! They're a great way to satisfy a morning sweet tooth yet give your body nutrients to fuel the day.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe, spotty bananas
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 medium zucchini, shredded
- Optional: 1/2 cup nuts, chocolate chips, shredded coconut or other mix-ins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees; place liners in a muffin tin or grease the tin if not using liners, set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher until uniformly smooth.
- Next add in butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
- Add in sugar, flours, cocoa, baking soda and salt, stir until just combined
- Next, fold in zucchini. (NOTE: It's important to press your zucchini between two sheets of paper towel to remove excess water. See blog post above for photo directions)
- Pour batter into muffin tin, filling until ~3/4 of the way full. Bake for ~25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean
- Dig in!
Notes
- Bananas. Make sure your bananas are spotty! This allows them to mash easily and to add extra sweetness. Using unripe bananas can make your muffins dry.
- Zucchini. Be sure to shred and press excess water from the zucchini.
- Flour. You can sub whole wheat flour or 1:1 gluten free flour for the all-purpose flour. The recipe likely won't work with other flours like almond flour.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 155Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 197mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 3g
Monica Riley
I made these this weekend to eat as an afternoon snack throughout the week with my yogurt, and holy chocolate-y goodness! I love the gentle nutrition of the zucchini and banana (I don’t even taste them). Also, I used gumbo chocolate chips because I bought them on accident; 10/10 recommend using them on purpose!
Colleen
Oooh! Delish! So glad you enjoyed!
Jessica
I made these muffins last night! Very good and moist! I did use maple syrup in place of sugar and still pretty amazing. They fluffed up perfectly. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for great recipes, advice/info and humor!
Colleen
Yay! Happy you liked them!
Chelsa
These are so good! I could hardly wait to let them cool a bit before devouring one. They smelled amazing baking. I forgot to add chocolate chips (oops my kiddo was distracting me) and I used frozen zucchini. A note on using frozen zucchini. I wasn't sure how much to use since mine was already grated in the freezer and the recipe just said a med size zucchini. But I thawed a 2 cup bag I had and then I put it in a fabric dishtowel and squeezed it really good. It ended up looking like a very compacted 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini. My muffins turned out very fluffy and soft. Thanks for sharing! These are delish!
Colleen
So happy you loved! Thanks for sharing these tips!