Is this a side dish? A cupcake? Or a muffin?? Well maybe it’s all 3?! 🙂 Looking for a way to get more vegetables in your child’s diet? Well, here is your solution! Moist chocolate muffins with a little secret we won’t dare mention to the kiddos! These muffins are easy to make and you don’t need any special flours! Even call them cupcakes if you like. Ok, I really don’t advocate using these muffins to get your child to eat their veggies but these muffins (or cupcakes) are a nice treat that happen to have some of summer’s most delicious produce as an ingredient. These are a spin off of my Elvis Cupcakes. The addition of the zucchini actually makes these even more delicious because the added moisture helps keep these muffins moist but not soggy. In actuality, I am sure you could use grated cucumber, squash, carrot or really any shredded fruit or vegetable (well, almost any).
These muffins are gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and can be nut-free by using sunflower seed butter. Really, these muffins are a win-win! I hope you enjoy!
Note: I used nut and seed butters that contain sea salt so if you are using an unsalted one, be sure add 1/8-1/4 tsp. salt or to taste! 
- 2/3 cup natural peanut, almond or sunflower seed butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 small banana, mashed (6 inches in length) or 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 small zucchini, shredded (approximately 2/3 cup)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. vinegar
- 1/8th tsp plus 3 servings of Organic Kal Pure Stevia OR 1/4 tsp. Organic Trader Joe's Stevia or sweetener of choice, to taste
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or sunflower seeds (for nut-free)
- 1 oz. extra dark chocolate chips (dairy & soy free)*
*Homemade Chocolate Chunks, 80% Chocolate Bar, 70% chocolate chips, "Milk" Chocolate Chunk Dreams, Enjoy Life Chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add all ingredients (EXCEPT nuts and chocolate chips) to a medium bowl and blend well with whisk. Taste for sweetness and adjust if needed. Using large scoop (1/4 cup), divide batter into 8 cupcake liners. Sprinkle batter with chocolate and nuts.
Bake for 14-16 minutes or until center is set. DO NOT OVER BAKE! Carefully remove and cool on cooling rack.
- Nutrition per muffin using banana: 223 Calories, 16 grams Fat, 10 Total Carbs, 3 grams Fiber, 7 Net Carbs, 7.5 grams Protein
- Nutrition per muffin using applesauce: 216 Calories, 16 grams Fat, 8 Total Carbs, 3 grams Fiber, 5 Net Carbs, 7.5 grams Protein
- Nutrition information from this site: http://caloriecount.about.com
I was going to make these muffins right after breakfast this morning but then I thought, why not HAVE one for breakfast? I made them nut-free, using sunflower seed butter, since we have nut allergies in the house (but maybe I won’t share them – they are THAT good!). I also used the applesauce option and 70% dark chocolate chips. Next time I may cut down on the amount of sunflower seeds on top, but maybe not. The things that took the longest in the preparation was getting all the ingredients out and shredding the zucchini – all of 5 minutes! A quick 25 minutes from start to the finished muffins!
The muffins are very moist, but not gushy, and hold up well. They are definitely a sinfully delicious taste treat! Thanks Melissa! You did it again!!
These are the best! I think your best muffin (but we think it’s a cupcake!) yet! Seriously, the batter tastes like pudding! I doubled it to make it worth the trouble but I found that I made 18 plus 12 minis instead of only 16. So you get good bang for your buck! They turned out bigger than most of my GF muffins. Bonus! They are moist and don’t need to bake long at all! Great work Melissa! My kids helped out which was great! Super! Seriously!
I discovered what I did! I missed the 2/3 C peanut butter! Duh!
I made these tonight. LOVE them! I had to bake them much longer than you recommended (I live in a high altitude area though) and will need to add more stevia next time, I like my muffins on the sweet side (I stubbornly refuse to try raw batter) lol….thanks for another HIT Melissa! I appreciate it so VERY much!
Is a “serving” of Kal Stevia a level spoonful of that tiny spoon that comes in the jar? And 1/8 t. is referring to a regular measuring spoon, not the tiny Stevia spoon? Thank you! Looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try!
Jane one serving is that itty-bitty spoon in the KAL container.