Double Choc Zucchini Muffins (GF) (DF)

Here they are! The highly anticipated double chocolate GUILT FREE MUFFINS! Gluten Free! Low Sugar! Dairy Free!

Let me start by saying these were a HUGE hit in my family! My hubby who usually stays away from chocolate - I know, CRAZY, but he did love these. Not too sweet, but just sweet enough if that makes sense.

Because of the zucchini I find that anytime you bake with it, it makes the bread very moist. I know we hate the word but there really is nothing better to describe it. Simple as that. Very rich and filling!

For this batch, I made two versions though. One WITH chocolate chips, and one without. My almost 2-year-old has not been introduced to chocolate yet so I figured why start now. She did like the regular muffins just as well! So all good.

Its always fun to find ways to incorporate veggies into delectable treats and for me, I don’t really eat sweets unless I make them myself and this was a way for me to do that and enjoy the delectable chocolate chewy cake and not be on sugar high overwhelmed by sweetness.

As far as the recipe goes my process is pretty streamlined. I don’t like all of these different preps with wet ingredients and dry ingredients. I like to just throw it all in, blend and then add to the cupcake tins. I like to keep things very simple. I don’t like lots of steps.

But if you’re one of those people that do, go right ahead!

I started by putting the oats in the blender first and blending those so they were more of a floury consistency, however if you have oat flour you can use that too. And they will never be super finely blended, and that’s ok.

I then add in the almond flour and all the other dry products, sea salt, cacao powder, baking soda, coconut sugar. Then I add in all the wet ingredients - eggs, zucchini, almond butter, vanilla, coconut oil and 1/2 the almond milk. Then I blend. Once I see the consistency, I add a bit more almond milk depending on how wet the better is. If it looks good, I keep it as is. Its completely up to you. However, I used about a 1/2 cup.

Without further adieu, here are the ingredients:

1 1/2 cup zucchini raw chopped (or 1 large or 2 small)
2 eggs
2 tbsp almond butter or peanut butter
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 - 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips (since I didn’t add chocolate chips to all of them, I give a range here) - I used these!
1/2 cup unsweetened cacao powder
1 cup whole grain oats
1 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup almond milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse and chop zucchini into cubes.
*Put oats in food processor and blend to refine before adding other ingredients if desired. Completely optional here. If you just want to use the oats as is, go ahead!
Add all dry ingredients including almond flour, cacao powder, coconut sugar, baking soda, sea salt.
Add in all wet ingredients including coconut oil, eggs, almond butter, vanilla and zucchini.
Blend. Add in almond milk. Blend until smooth.
Fold in chocolate chips and mix with large spoon.
disperse about 1/2 cup into muffin tins either lined with paper or using oil to grease the muffin tins. I’ve done it both ways!
Go through until all muffin cups are equal or close to full. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips if desired.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350
Let cool for 5 min. Remove from tins, if using tins dump upside down to remove, and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! I’d love to hear your feedback! Please tag me if you make these! I’d love to see your creations! My Instagram is @AngieReneeFitLife

Thanks again for following along!

Angie