Paleo Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

You may have heard (I can’t seem to stop talking about it) but our garden is overproducing zucchini like crazy and I ain’t mad! Not mad, but I am feeling a little pressure to come up with recipes to use up our overabundance of summer squash.

This week, we “gorged” on zucchini noodles with our Chicken Parmesan, and have had our fair share of grilled zucchini on the BBQ these past couple of weeks.

I was ready to turn to something a little more…exciting to use up more of our zucchini. I haven’t baked in a while, and the temperatures cooperated with me to be able to use the oven (temps have been in the high 80s/low 90s this week…which is a total deal breaker for mid-day baking when you don’t have AC…)

So, with the idea for zucchini bread in mind, I turned to one of my favorite Paleo bloggers for inspiration…Paleo Running Momma. When it comes to sweets/treats/baked goods, she just nails it every time!  I did make a couple of minor adjustments based on what I had on hand…but the recipe seems to be pretty forgiving and easy to throw together (both of which are requirements for me!)

The thing about making Zucchini Muffins is that, since they have vegetables in them, you can eat them anytime and with zero guilt! I don’t typically eat chocolate for breakfast, but the green factor totally balances out the chocolate chips, so you are totally good to go.

Plus, the dampness from the zucchini makes the muffins so perfectly moist and fluffy!

I am willing to bet that these would be a total hit with just about anyone…Paleo skeptics, kiddos, husbands that roll their eyes when you try to “sneak” vegetables into their diet…you name it. Total crowd pleaser!

I love to bake, but I also don’t have a ton of time to “play” in the kitchen. So I love that this recipe has a relatively short ingredient list of things that are mostly Paleo pantry staples, and comes together in a snap! You could even make mini muffins to cut down on the baking time.

I think you get the point…these muffins are TASTY, simple, and as far as treats go, healthy to boot! If you or anyone you know is having trouble using up their summer squash, this recipe is made for you! (Or if not, don’t let that stop you…add 2 medium zucchini to your grocery list now!) 🙂

Ingredients 

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (in liquid form, at room temp)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour or arrowroot flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini), water squeezed out
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life brand)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º and prepare your muffin tins with parchment liners. 
2. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients: eggs, almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, and vanilla. (It’s best if all of the wet ingredients are at room temperature.) 
3. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: almond flour, tapioca or arrowroot flour, baking soda, and salt. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix well with a spatula. The batter will be on the thick side, which is ok…the zucchini will moisten it up. 
5. Shred the zucchini. Using a paper towel, squeeze as much of the water out of the zucchini as you can. I squeezed mine in 2 batches. 
6. Add the shredded and squeezed zucchini to the batter and mix it in evenly. Then add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
7. Scoop the batter into the muffin liners, filling about 3/4 full. The recipe made 12 good sized muffins, muffin top and all! 
8. Place in the oven and bake for about 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. 
9. Allow to cool, and enjoy!!

It won’t be easy to eat these beauties in moderation, but like I said…they are full of vegetables, so why try!? 

Breakfast, afternoon snack, dessert…it just works! At this rate, they’ll be gone by Sunday! 

Print

Paleo Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

24 mins

Total Time

34 mins

 

Perfectly sweet, moist, and delicious muffins to help use up some of that summer squash! 

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Servings: 12

Author: Maggie @ Our Fine Day

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil in liquid form, at room temp
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp  vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour or arrowroot flour
• 1 tsp  baking soda
• 1/4 tsp  salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini about 2 medium zucchini, water squeezed out
• 1 cup chocolate chips I use Enjoy Life

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º and prepare your muffin tins with parchment liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients: eggs, almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, and vanilla. (It's best if all of the wet ingredients are at room temperature.)
3. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: almond flour, tapioca or arrowroot flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix well with a spatula. The batter will be on the thick side, which is ok...the zucchini will moisten it up.

5. Shred the zucchini. Using a paper towel, squeeze as much of the water out of the zucchini as you can. I squeezed mine in 2 batches.

6. Add the shredded and squeezed zucchini to the batter and mix it in evenly. Then add the chocolate chips and fold them in.

7. Scoop the batter into the muffin liners, filling about 3/4 full. The recipe made 12 good sized muffins. 

8. Place in the oven and bake for about 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
9. Allow to cool, and enjoy!!