Double chocolate, with both cocoa powder and chocolate chips, they hold their own in the chocolate department. The zucchini, you wouldn’t guess it’s even in the recipe, yet it’s the zucchini that makes them moist. Naturally sweetened with honey and nutrition-bumped with whole wheat flour, these chocolate zucchini muffins are rich enough to qualify as cupcakes!
Click here to PIN Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!
Without the swirl of creamy frosting, they’re muffins, and if they’re frosted, they’re cupcakes, right? There is no need to frost these babies anyway. I have a girlfriend who serves them for dessert. Her kids love them! They’re fun for lunch boxes and after-school snacks too. The next time you have a leisurely brunch, you’ll be adding chocolate zucchini muffins to your menu!
This recipe is adapted from the chocolate zucchini bread in my Chocolate Snowball cookbook. (Affiliate link.) Here, instead of spreading the batter in a loaf pan, I divided it into muffins. In place of white sugar and flour in the original recipe, these muffins are made with honey and whole wheat pastry flour.
Time saving tip for making muffins:
- To release muffin batter into the tins, use a multi-purpose ice cream scoop with a rotating metal bar. Ice cream scoops are super handy tools for uniform clean portions of both muffin and cookie dough.
- The scoops come in different sizes. Look for a number engraved on the metal bar that moves inside the scoop, which tells approximately how many scoops to a quart. My go-to muffin scoop is a (#16), which holds a little less than 1/3 cup, like this, or this. (Affiliate links.)
You might also want to make these Double Chocolate Maple Pear Muffins!
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Honey Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
- 1 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup avocado oil or grapeseed oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ½ cups grated zucchini
- ¾ cup plus 1/4 cup whole almonds , chopped in 1/4-inch pieces
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate morsels
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 16 muffin cups generously with cooking spray, or line with paper cupcake liners, or coat the tins with melted butter and dust lightly with flour.
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and honey until homogenized, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time. Scrape the bowl again as needed. Mix in the oil and vanilla extract.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the cream cheese mixture, blending well. Mix in the zucchini, 3/4 cup of the chopped almonds and the chocolate morsels.
- Divide batter among the prepared muffin cups, about 1/3 cup batter per tin. Sprinkle with the remaining almonds.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched with a finger or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool about 10 minutes, then remove from the tins.
Hi! I recently bought your cook/baking book — thank you for making a high-altitude one! I love zucchini muffins and would like to make some w/o chocolate and am at 6800 ft. Could you recommend a recipe? Also, I desperately need a yellow cake (super moist) recipe and would love to have a red velvet. (obviously a high altitude one). Could you help me? Big thanks!!! sharon@sharonbice.com New Mexico · 15 September, 2011
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for your comments and questions. For zucchini muffins without chocolate, why don’t you try substituting zucchini for both the grated carrots and apples in the Sunshine Muffins from Chocolate Snowball. Use a different nut or keep the sunflower seeds and be sure to make the high altitude adjustments of reducing the sugar and baking soda.
Can your yellow cake have almond paste in it? Try the cake I use for Stein’s Favorite Marzipan cke in Chocolate Snowball. If you don’t want that almond flavor–start with a chiffon cake and make altitude adjustments.
Re: Red Velvet cake for high altitudes: We took a standard velvet recipe and “altituded” it. I like a bit more cocoa, so we doubled that in the recipe. I also know it is unnecessary to have all that food coloring and we cut that amount in half–cake still bleeds red. We also reduced the leavenings and sugar and we are pleased with the recipe we use at Deer Valley.
Have fun experimenting!
Letty · 25 September, 2011
I LOVE your chocolate zucchini bread… one of my favorite recipes in your cookbook… and I’m pretty crazy about you, too. Just catching up on your blog and you have so many new, wonderful sounding (and healthy!) recipes. The only thing better would be if I was perched on your stool in your kitchen, watching you cook. xo · 2 October, 2011
I am excited to make these! My neighbor is bringing me some zuccini and these will definitely fit the bill 🙂 · 25 August, 2014
Thanks Karen. I wish they used more zucchini than 1 1/2 cups. I made a 48 batch over the weekend and that helped! · 25 August, 2014
Love these muffins! They look so delicious…thanks for sharing! · 25 August, 2014
Thanks Jodee. I have eaten way too many of them with all the testing! · 25 August, 2014
Doing the Rhine and Alsace region after the Wedding of Erika.
Any chocolate must see in Eastern France.
We are lunching at Auberge de ills as our splurge in Colmar · 25 August, 2014
Have fun in Germany, Switzerland and France. I haven’t heard to any must-see’s in Eastern France–have a search around. Hugs to all. · 25 August, 2014
I’ve been waiting for these, Letty, since you posted a pic on Instagram. They’re gorgeous. I don’t have any honey on hand…could I use maple syrup or is that too thin? I need to get some honey at the market this week. These are SO happening this week! · 25 August, 2014
Kelley,
If I were you I’d go out on a limb and use maple syrup if that’s all I had. They’ll come out differently of course, but I think it could work because ms and honey both very sweet. Let me know what happens…. · 25 August, 2014
Hi Letty.
This recipe looks amazing. I hate to mess with the original recipe, but I typically don’t cook honey. Is there a substitution that would work? I have raw agave, coconut sugar, Medjool dates, and more….Thanks! · 26 August, 2014
Thanks Sam! I would go for the raw agave. Though I have been using the coconut sugar as well and it works great. Just haven’t tried it w these muffins.
Another person didn’t have honey on hand but she does have maple syrup–which I think she is going to try. · 26 August, 2014
is whole wheat pastry flour different than whole wheat flour? · 26 August, 2014
ww pastry flour is different–softer spring wheat–better for pastries. · 26 August, 2014
With the choco/zucchini muffins what can I substitute for cream cheese. We are non-dairy · 3 December, 2014
Felicia,
Are you comfortable with substituting dairy-free “cream cheese?” That’s where I would start. There are several varieties out there–Daiya, Go Veggies and Tofutti. · 3 December, 2014
“This was great! Really enjoyed it – thanks for sharing. I do agree with another commenter who said it was a bit sweet – I will definitely reduce the sugar next time (I used regular granulated sugar).
Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow! :)” · 12 June, 2020
Thank you Hannah. I’m so glad you enjoy these. I’m sure you can reduce the sugar and they will still be good. (The original recipe with sugar calls for 1 1/3 cups sugar! · 12 June, 2020