I never considered myself a big zucchini fan until this summer. Farmer’s market zucchini is what really sold me; before then, I could take it or leave it. I was used to buying small, shriveled up zucchini from the grocery store, so when I tried freshly picked zucchini it was a game changer. My favourite way to prepare it is to sauté green and yellow zucchini with patty pan squash in a bit of olive oil, Herbamare, and pepper. It’s so simple and incredibly tasty.
This morning I took advantage of our holiday Monday and made zucchini muffins for breakfast. I’ve had great luck in the past with oil-free zucchini bread and I hoped these muffins would follow suit. They are fairly low in sugar, completely oil-free, and have a nice dose of crunchy walnuts for healthy omega-3 fatty acids. These aren’t your typical heavy and dense muffins; they are light as a feather and almost cupcake-like in texture. I enjoy them with a pat of soy-free Earth Balance to add a bit of moisture and buttery flavour.
From start to finish, they were ready in 30 minutes flat. Not too shabby!
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Oil-Free Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Muffins
Yield
12 muffins
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Lightly sweet, whole wheat, and oil-free, these muffins make a special breakfast or take along snack. I love them with a pat of soy-free Earth balance to add a bit of moisture. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour works well in this recipe to create light muffins that are still 100% whole grain. You can also use all-purpose flour if that’s all you have on hand. I don’t recommend subbing the pastry flour for regular whole wheat flour as the muffins will likely turn out too dry and dense
Adapted from: Oil-Free Zucchini Bread.
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
- 1 & 1/4 cup lightly packed shredded zucchini, skin left on
- 1 & 1/4 cup almond milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life mini chips)
- 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly spray muffin with oil or grease with Earth Balance.
- Mix flax egg in a small bowl and set aside. Grate zucchini using a grater box (regular grate size). Set aside.
- Mix almond milk and apple cider vinegar (or sub fresh lemon juice) in a small bowl and set aside. It will curdle, but this is the point as we’re making vegan buttermilk.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar).
- Mix together the wet ingredients (flax egg, almond milk mixture, maple syrup, and vanilla) and then pour over dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, walnuts, and shredded zucchini.
- Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin filling each tin 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 15-17 minutes at 350°F, or until muffins slowly spring back when touched. A toothpick should come out mostly clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes. With a knife, loosen around the muffin edge and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool.
Have a great Civic Day to those of you celebrating the long weekend! I’m off to enjoy the last couple hours of the afternoon by the water. Why does three days of weekend always seem to fly by just as fast?
I love your website! I’m new to the whole vegan and gluten-free style of baking, but everything on your site is so easy to follow and always ends up turning out like your pictures! Quick question – what would you recommend to do for saving these muffins? Are they able to be refrigerated? I could seriously eat all of them now, they turned out so well…just trying to prevent myself from doing just that!!! :) Thanks!
My partner and I have been making a batch of these muffins every week for the last month and a half… They are absolutely amazing. I’ve been sending the recipe to everyone I know!
Fantastic recipe as always! Looking forward to receiving your cookbook in March :).
Would I be able to use Almond or oat flour? I am starting to realize I have a sensitivity to gluten.
Sooo delicious! I just made these and i tried to eat only one but i couldn`t resist :) These are so moist and perfect! Angela, you are incredible !
Could I sub coconut palm sugar for cane sugar?
Just made these and they were de-lish! We are avoiding processed sugar, so I used a 1/2 cup maple syrup instead of the 1/2 cup sugar and they turned out great. My 3 yr old son is gobbling them up. Perfect amount of sweetness, such a healthy, but yummy treat.
These were delicious, and oh so healthy! I substituted the white flour with brown rice flour, protein powder, flaxseed and sorghum. I didn’t add nuts but did sub cocoa nibs instead of chocolate chips.
I just made these and they are deleesh! What else can I use as an egg replacer besides the flax? I don’t enjoy the flavor of flax so would chia seeds work as we’ll?
I made these a few days ago and they rocked my world! Quick , easy and delicious. They are all gone.
great recipe! i’m allergic to walnuts so i subbed chopped medjool dates and made chocolate zucchini date muffins instead :-)
also used gf all-purpose flour to make them gluten free and they turned out well.
Hi I tried making these..nay be it was the type of flour I used (white whole wheat) but they came out very dense and weren’t very chocolatey. I even increased the apple cider vinegar to encourage the bubbling reaction with baking soda (i usually use 2 tbs for sweet bread and cupcakes and it always works well. ) I’ll try again maybe with half white flour, more cocoa and just use baking soda and no baking powder. Great idea and lovely photography though!
I made two batches this afternoon! They are moist and tender and the chocolate smell is wonderful!
I set out to make a double batch this morning to take to a meeting, and ended up with 24 muffins plus so much leftover batter that I made a small loaf of bread as well. These are some very tasty muffins, thanks so much! Mine looked just like the ones in your picture. I am puzzled as to why I had so much extra batter, but will be happy to have more to eat!
I also had a lot of leftover batter! I just added more to each muffin but regretted it – they took at least ten minutes longer to cook.
I just made this recipe and the results were fantastic. So good and so easy. I only needed to add extra time in the oven. Also, my kids ate them, of course I didn’t tell them there was zucchini in the muffins.
Thank you!
Loved this recipe – used less sugar, and made a batch of mini muffins, and a “loaf” – totally cannot stop eating them!
Yum. Thanks for the delicious, no oil, vegan recipe!
These sound perfect for my ‘what to do with all this zucchini’ plan.
Do you think I could sub in oat flour for ww?
I just wanted to let you know that everyone in my household (me, husband, and 3 elementary school aged boys) all love these muffins. I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count. Thank you so much for a delicious low-fat vegetarian recipe that makes everyone happy!
how can i make these gluten free? what flour would you recommend using?
Hey!! Just made these and the are AMAZING!
Just curious how you store yours after?? I like keeping them out to stay moist but I wasnt sure becuase of certain ingredients.
Thanks! :)
Delicious! For an extra nutritional boost I doubled the quantity of zucchini and threw in some chia seeds to absorb the moisture. Also tried it as a brownie because I’m too lazy to clean muffin pans – worked a treat!